What a wonderful, adventurous day! We drove 20 miles into Mesa verde NP, along winding roads, on the edge of steep cliffs making our way to the top of the mesas. We visited the museum, toured the balcony house dwelling, which had us climbing a 32 foot ladder up to the cliff dwelling, squeezing through a tunnel, exploring the dwelling, then squeezing through another tunnel and climbing up 2 15 ft ladders back to the top of the Mesa!! Such incredible history!, so amazing how ingenious the pebloans were, with what was available!! We had lunch after our tour and then soldiered on to the petroglyph trail! We had a winding, twisty trail with a 100 ft descent, on the edge of the Mesa!, quite scary at times, but plenty of caves to rest and enjoy the shade! The petroglyphs were on one small section of cliff, interesting to see! We ascended back up a steep, carved rock step incline, back to the top of the Mesa and journeyed back to our starting point, where we were greeted by a large doe, just passing through! Made the arduous trek that much more amazing!! Such a wonderful day!! Returned to our campsite to end the evening with a campfire & smores!!!