Why Live on the Ground when you can live on a Cliff???

We are at Mesa verde National Park, a place everyone should visit at some time in their life. There is a reverence here that the Rangers convey to all visitors.

 The  contemporary Pueblo people from Hopi. Zuni and Rio Grande Pueblos are the descendants of the Ancestral Pueblo people of Mesa Verde and their cultures are the only concrete evidence the archeologists have about these people. They lived in agricultural communities on top of the mesas for all most of their 900 years here. The last 90 years  they moved to cliff dwellings and there are conflicting opinions as to why they moved. By 1350 AD they had all migrated to other parts of the southwest - again- no one knows why.

These cliff dwellings are engineering wonders. Built under enormous cliff overhangs, they are several stories high with multiple rooms and common areas. Mesa verde has hundreds of ancient Pueblo communities, but only a few are open to the public.

First we visited the largest cliff house called "Cliff Palace"with over 100 rooms. Controlled Ranger tours only. We had to negotiate a lot of stairs and a few 15 foot ladders to get there but it was fine.

There are 23 "Kivas" or ceremonial rooms which are below ground level. They would have had a roof back then. Each was probably used by a different extended family.

This is a wider view of cliff Palace

In the afternoon, we visited "Balcony House" which required a bit more courage. After a steep walk and some steps, you have to climb a 32 foot ladder- two by two. ( yes, kids did this)

 Another great site- notice three stories in the buildings.

In order to leave we had to crawl 12 feet on hands and knees through a tunnel ( no photo- butt too big)
and then climb up a ladder to ancient hand carved foot holds to get to the exit. Ok- Joy survived because there were chains on both sides to hold on to and anyway, there was no other way out.

Today we visited Long House and Step House which are similar but different from the other two. The rangers are really interesting and all tell the stories slightly differently. One of the theories about why they moved to the Cliff is that dendrology of trees indicates a 25 year  drought. The sandstone cliffs have "seeps" where they could have accessed water. This is one at the far back of Long house. There are collector bowls and small channels carved into the rocks.

Tomorrow we start the journey home with an evening meal with our nephew Jake in Denver. We have to backtrack to Moab to take a different route home but it won't be bad. The terrible fires in Colorado have cause road closures in several areas.
We will stop in Kansas and twice in Ohio and then we are HOME! Hopefully July 1.

Canyon Lands National Park..or two

At first we thought, "What a cliche'd name for a park". But then on our first hike to the  Island In The Sky area we saw the difference. At the high level the Green River has carved a wide deep canyon like at Zion. But then the floor of the broad canyon is carved in to a huge network of smaller (but deep) canyons. The Green River joins the Colorado River south of here.

The next day we went to the other side of the park down into the lowest level of canyons. It was as if we were in a different park altogether. It was 11/2 hours to get to the trail head including some dirt road but it was worth it for yet another great hike. This side, called The Needles has Amazing, but different rock shapes!

No earth quakes while we hike through this passage between two cracked slabs please!

We found some shade for a break along the trail.

Canyon side table for lunch, please. 95 degrees and no shade available but the light breezes keep us comfortable.

Each layer of the rock erodes faster or slower depending on how hard it is.

Each layer can be a different color too.

When a plateau splits vertically as it erodes away, sections like this one can sometimes erode through more quickly in the center becoming an arch.

Today we're off to Mesa Verde  in Colorado to see where the cliff dwelling Pueblo Indians lived.

One Blog- Four Parks cause we finally have Internet!!!!

Internet has been really scarce out here. We're in Moab, Utah now and have good 3G so we're catching up. 

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK, UTAH

When is a canyon not a canyon? When actually, it is formed when rain and ice soak into the porous sandstone, freeze, expand, and breaks away stone between stone forming amazing towers.

The hikes at Bryce go up and down and through these "Hoodoos" so you see the views from high up...

up closer.... ( This looks like a congregation waiting for the sermon don't you think?)

and directly across from you so you can almost touch them.

Some rock is stronger than others . This is call " the windows"

Bryce had endless great photo ops like these queens and their court. Each is a hundred or so feet high.

KODACHROME BASIN STATE PARK, UTAH

 We took a day trip to nearby Kodachrome State Park. It had totally different rock structures.

Doesn't this look like a cooking pot of some sort. Wonder what Mother Nature is cooking in there??

CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK

We took the very curvy  Utah state highway 12 to go from Bryce to capitol Reef NP . A beautiful up and down and zig and Zag road. So, We're driving along and there are a bunch of  orange signs by the road with a picture of a cow. WE assume- ok look for wandering cattle. We come around a bend and this is what we see! There are more cows there than the photo displays.

We follow very slowly behind them  for a bit, then one of the teenage cowgirls rides over and tells us, "Just drive through, they'll move for you". We did, but the big cows didn't like us crowding the calves and quiet indignantly tried to block us off. They also pooped all over the road, which then got flung by the tires onto our truck and trailer. ICKY! and no campgrounds will allow washing of trailers!

Capitol Reef was beautiful with towering walls of rock but to be honest, we were hiked out so we took the scenic ride then relaxed at the campground before sharing dinner with an interesting Australian couple from the next site.

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK

Arches was worth the travel. This is "Landscape Arch" 306 feet long--longer than a football field. In 1991 some Hikers were standing under the arch, they heard a CRACK, looked up, and ran for their lives. The 60 foot slab of arch is on the lower right of the picture.

This is Pothole Arch. If you can make out the people under it you can see how big it is. It was actually one arch and a huge pothole eventually wore it's way through forming 2 arches.

Gary's favorite godess of the outdoors at broken Arch!

There is no end to what the imagination can do with the shapes these rock take. P.S. the wind was so strong, no way could anyone keep a hat on!!

Delicate Arch required a bit of a climb . Check out the proportion to the family posing for a picture under it.

Just one more amazing erosion mountain (about 500 ft high) at Arches. Note the old house. Someone thought this spot was heaven and tried to live here. His new wife insisted on this cabin upgrade to one with a wooden floor.

Finally, this is the view from behind our trailer at our campsite at arches NP. Sometimes it's worth it to forego electricity and water hook ups!

Horseshoe Bend On The Colorado

We're in Page, Arizona. Another 100 degree day, so we hiked across the sand to see Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado.

This is the view at the end of the short, but sandy hike.

It's a thousand feet down to the water! Check out the size of the boat. This picture is zoomed to the max.

 In the afternoon we took a smooth water raft ride from the Glen Canyon dam down river to horseshoe bend. The river water is released at the Glen Canyon Dam  and is a constant 47 degrees. This kept the ride relatively cool but only three of us tried to swim in it at our rest stop. ( Well, we put our feet in)

Recognize the Island from the photo of Horseshoe Bend?

At our rest stop, we walked to a wall with lots of petroglyphs. the stairs one is identifying a path up the walls.

Topped off the day with some Pizza and this morning we travel to the cool elevations of Bryce Canyon.

When Is A Canyon Not A Canyon?

When it's a sandstone slot canyon.
         Today we visited Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon in Page, AZ. This is Navajo land and you have to pay for guided tours. The guides are knowledgeable and very helpful with angles for camera shots.
          Flash flood waters over the ages carved down into the rock creating fascinating deep narrow "slot" canyons. Here we are at the entrance to Upper Antelope Canyon, which is more like a cave with a few holes in the roof that let in light. We were with a large group in this canyon.

The canyons are dramatically tall and beautiful inside!

Then we went to Lower Antelope Canyon which is less visited . Our guide is going into the entrance of the canyon and yes, it really is that narrow. after entering, we descended several flights of ladder-like steps There were only three of us so the tour was longer and much more fun.

It is huge inside also. (That's not water at the top--just the camera expressing amazement.) The level of the sand floor varies by many feet each year depending on the flash floods. Small floods deposit sand, large ones clean it out as much as 10 feet at a time.

The sandstone contains quartz, which adds purple coloring.

We went through narrow sections as well. This canyon was up to 150 feet deep and about 1/2 mile long. gary is actually stand on the path.

The lighting varies with every turn and every hour of the day. We took over 100 photos and it was not easy to limit them for this blog!

Intrepid Explorers Challenge The Heights Of Zion! and Grand Canyon North Rim was lots of fun and cooler.

Eight miles of trail roundtrip, 2300 feet in elevation , breathless views--- we braved it all-- to Observation Point! (by the way, it was either paved, easy rocks, or beach-like sand.)

On the way up we traversed a gorgeous slot canyon.

When we got to the top and walked across the mesa to the point, it looked as if we were walking through the dunes on the way to the water at Plum Island. The view from the top is amazing!

Since we are having considerable technical challenges creating this blog. Please excuse the combining of locations.

Two and a half days at the North Rim was perfect. The hikes are more gentle and wandering and the views of the canyon are great. You have seen pic of the canyon, not a lot different from the other side so we will stick with nature. This time of year, there are lots of random flowering cacti so they deserve recognition.
Hey girls! We found a fairy house with two pine cone fairies sitting by their campfire.

No photos on this next part, but imagine dinner our last night in the magnificent North Rim Grand Canyon Lodge. First, drinks on the veranda overlooking the canyon. Then we moved in for dinner. Every table had views of the canyon as the sun set.

Afterwards, there was an astronomy club set up on the veranda giving everyone views of Saturn and its moons, a globular cluster of stars, a binary star, etc. One of the telescopes had a 20" diameter mirror! (The famous Clark telescope at the Flagstaff had a 24" lens.) A nice way to finish our visit to The Grand Canyon