Trip to Durango, Mesa Verde, etc. August 3-5

Hey guys, I've decided to update this blog kind of out of order, but I should get around to uploading the many pictures I took this summer sometime in the next few months (hopefully). I really lost interest in blogging for most of the year, as I'm sure you've figured out, but the trip we took to Durango and Mesa Verde this August really fascinated me so I figured I'd start here. 

On our way to Durango we drove down past the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, kind of in the direction of the Spanish Peaks. On a clear day here you can see all the way down from Colorado Springs to these mountains, in the area of Walsenburg, where we turned and started heading southwest, putting us in the general area of the Great Sand Dunes. It's a pretty drive to Durango, but there's not much in the way of civilization in southern Colorado in general so not a whole lot to see.

Durango boasts the last remaining passenger coal-powered train (or something along those lines), but it was sold out months in advance and the ride is five hours one-way so it was a no-go with Susanna. Really showcases how long it would've taken people to get around before cars and highways. 

The main highlight of the trip was visiting Mesa Verde, a surprisingly sprawling area. It took us about forty-five minutes, maybe an hour, to get there from Durango, and then another forty-five minutes to reach Step House, the only dwelling accessible to hikers during COVID. It was a short hike, probably about half a mile, but amusingly labelled "extremely strenuous" by the park. Much to my surprise the cliff dwellings have only been minorly repaired by the park and remain mostly the same as they did a millennium ago. While Step House wasn't the largest or most intricate of the "houses," it was still a rather large complex. I think it was said that seventy to a hundred people lived in each "house," if not more. 

I wasn't really able to capture it on camera, but there was a distinct staircase above this sign that you can tell used to be used to get up to and down from the mesa above. 

After hiking Step House we drove back to the main loop of the park and had the privilege of seeing some of the larger settlements which would usually be open to the public. I know the top picture is of Spruce Tree House and the middle picture is of Square House and if I'm not mistaken the bottom picture is of Cliff Palace. Back in the 1100s when the Ancestral Pueblo (not Anasazi, which we learned was the Navajo name for them and means "enemy") lived in the cliff dwellings they would climb up to the tops of the mesas to farm there, and their early settlements were built on top of them.

One of the more interesting sites on top of the mesas is Sun Temple, which is very large compared to the other structures. Modern Pueblo believe it was a ceremonial building, as no household items were found within and there is nothing to indicate that a roof was ever present, but its exact purpose is unknown.

There are cliff dwellings spread throughout the Chaco Canyon that aren't a part of the national park but can be seen from the road, which shows how expansive the settlement of the Ancestral Pueblo was. 

The beautiful Chaco Canyon.

This statue shows how the residents of Mesa Verde would've climbed to and from the plateau. Mom was wondering how, when they reached an older age, the Ancestral Pueblo would've climbed in and out of the cliff dwellings, or if they did at all.

The real "Mesa Verde" after which the park is named (featuring someone's rather obnoxious SUV).

On the second day of our trip we visited the Weminuche Wilderness, a ways east of Durango, and hiked there. At the trailhead we saw a whole bunch of very friendly fritillaries!

Does anyone know what this plant is? We were wondering and thought it might be poison oak, but I think it looks a bit different.

No time like summer for hiking. I can't wait to do some more as (more like if) the weather warms up. For context last Thursday it was sunny and 70 degrees, and today it's snowing. 

And that was our Durango trip from last summer! I ended up learning a ton at Mesa Verde and it was just plain cool to be able to see an ancient city and picture how people lived. While driving through the park we listened to this audio tour which helped bridge the gap between our lives and the Ancestral Pueblo's, which I found very informative. I'm glad to have been able to see a place like that once in my lifetime. 

Last summer was so eventful for me that it's going to take a while to get all the pictures uploaded, but I'll try to put up some posts about other trips I took sometime soon, as well as keep you guys updated about hikes and things we do around here. Thanks for giving this a read!

Bonus: our snowy backyard earlier this year :)