Mesa Verde National Park - Take 2

Monday, Oct 10th

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Today we woke to sunny skies after yesterday's rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon. With the laundry mostly caught up we decided to take another run into the park and visit the Step House on the Wetherill Mesa. The road to this house is quite long, about 12 miles with fabulous views including being able to see Shiprock in New Mexico in the distance.

Lovely fall colours with new snow on the mountain in the distance. Ray has been unable to get some sunrise shots yet as it has been cloudy in the morning when we get up so maybe Wednesday or Thursday morning he will have success.

Some of the ruins across the canyon. You start knowing where to look. Anywhere there is an arch in the rock usually has remains of a housing community. This was zoomed way in to see. 

Another view from the top of Wetherill Mesa

Another set of ruins we noticed that was not marked.

Shiprock New Mexico in the distance

 There was lots of "evidence" on the roads of the wild horses that hang out on this mesa but we unfortunately did not see them.

 Once we arrived at the parking lot for the Step House trail, we fortunately took the right path as we only had to walk a short distance  and were able to view it from the trail. There is a one mile trail that goes all the way around so we were glad we took the right fork trail ... no signage to indicate which way??? There does not appear to be much left of the structures so we didn't continue the hike.

Next it was back to the Top Mesa Loop to get to the Soda Canyon trail, to walk 3/4 mile down (and 3/4 mile back) to the Soda Canyon and the overlook to the Balcony House. This drive was about 20 to 30 minutes from the Wetherill Mesa. We first ate our lunch at the Soda Canyon parking lot before we starting our walk. This trail is fairly easy with little elevation gain through a "Pygmy Forest" of Pinyon Pine and Utah Juniper.

When viewing the Balcony House (which is quite small compared to the Cliff Palace) we were kind of glad we did not bother with that tour ... especially since you seem to only be able to see one part of it while the Park Ranger talks to you for 40 min. Ray and I could see all the people standing in the ruins from the overlook.

This shows the "100 foot" ladder (bottom right) you have to climb to access the site, 2 people side by side at a time. The park ranger is sitting on a rock to the right above the people and they all just stand there listening to him talk. I never saw anyone access the left side of the ruins, so not much walking around once you get up there.

The canyon view to get a perspective on how they had to climb down to the house.

A lovely warm day of about 68 F.

Driving back towards the exit, we stopped at the Far View Community Site again, to finish the walk through the sites. Down a short walk, we saw the Coyote House which was estimated to be built in  975 AD, 200 years before the cliff dwellings. Very interesting. It was one of the most complete ruins that you could walk around inside (although not a cliff dwelling) and get a good idea of what the rooms were for. Originally these would have all had roofs above the structures.

A kiva with drying racks for meat?

Storage bins for dried grains inside the first pit.

Entrance to the kiva from one of the living/sleeping rooms.

Next down the trail is the Mummy Lake

Love those fall colours.

This next ruin shows us the size of a family home with the example of the stones standing up (Megalithic) instead of laying down in rows.

The final ruin (today) is the Far View Watchtower.

This shows the ventilation hole for the kiva where they cooked and dried their meat and vegetables.

The last two examples of ruins on this circle tour we saw 2 days ago, the Far View House and the Pipe Shrine House, are in the previous post.

Once back home Ray walked Freya while I started the preparations for our little Thanksgiving Dinner. Awesome Day.

Touring Mesa Verde

Saturday, Oct 8th

This was supposed to be a stay at home day to catch up on laundry and cleaning, but with the weather deteriorating for Sunday, Ray and I decided to do the car tour of the Cliff Palace Loop and Mesa Top Loop today instead. We left Freya at home in the coach with the air conditioning on. There were lots of old cliff dwellings to see, some quite substantial and others just piles of stones. All through the drive and short walks to viewpoints Ray is cataloging where he will go back for sunrise/sunset pictures this week as the sun is supposed to be back out by Monday. The weather stayed warm and slightly overcast which was great for Ray's picture taking.

Mesa Verde Visitor's Centre

They have guided tours of the four main cliff dwellings, the Cliff Place, Balcony House, the Spruce Tree House and the Long House. The only one we could have managed as there were only a few short ladders was the Cliff Palace, but unfortunately it was closed September 26th for the season. The Balcony House requires you to go up a 100 feet on a series of ladders and steep stairs ... too much for me let alone Ray. Spruce Tree House is closed for now as there is a 7 ton boulder that looks like it will fall into the house. That will be a shame as it is the most accessible structure for people to walk through. The Long House has a 2 1/2 mile round trip trail to get to it, so again too strenuous for us. Ray's limit is about 1 1/2 miles or so. You really can see most everything from the road and viewpoints anyways. There are some structures you can get up close and personal to as well.

Here we go!

Cliff Palace House  "It is the crown jewel of Mesa Verde National Park and an architectual masterpiece by any standard.  It is the largest cliff dwelling in North America." It sits in an alcove about 215 wide by about 90 feet deep and 60 feet high. The Cliff Palace includes about 150 rooms, 75 constructed open areas, and 21 kivas. Construction was between 1190 to 1280 AD. They estimate that this was inhabited by about 100-120 people.

Absolutely amazing. This exhibit was closed for work on September 25th.  The southern end of the palace structure was built on unstable ground.  Park staff have closed the area for visitor safety and the work required to support the structure can begin.

"Far View was one of the most densely populated parts of the mesa from A.D. 900 to about A.D. 1300. Nearly 50 villages have been identified within a half square mile area, and were home to hundreds of people. Today, several excavated and stabilized sites are linked by a trail system within a short walking distance. These surface sites include Far View House, Pipe Shrine House, Coyote Village, Far View Reservoir, Megalithic House, and Far View Tower."

Pipe Shrine House

In behind is the Far View House with the Pipe Shrine House in front.

Fire Temple House - See the steps in the rock to access second level

Fire Temple with the Dance Plaza above and  the New Fire Temple below.

Oak Tree House 

Spruce Tree House - "Spruce Tree House is the third largest and best preserved cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park. The vegetation here is well-watered by a nearby natural seep spring."

The alcove is 216 feet long and 89 feet deep. There is 120 rooms, 10 associated ledge rooms, 8 kivas and 2 towers. Estimated peak population was 60-90, about 19 households.

*** Unfortunately you can no longer get up and close as a large naturally forming arch within one of several cracks that exist in the cliff above Spruce Tree House is feared to fall as it is unsupported. They are waiting for a geographic survey report so they can make repairs. It was one of the most visited as it is located right at the museum and had the shortest distance down a paved path to visit it. 

Square Tower House - Ruins of house carved into adobe cliffs by ancient Pueblo; 28-ft. tower is park's tallest structure.

Sun Temple - Archaeological site of a ceremonial structure thought to be an ancient Pueblo astronomy observatory.

Sunset House 

Montezuma's Viewpoint

The fall colours are fabulous. Ray will try and get some sunrise/sunset pictures of the hillsides later this week.

After several hours of me driving us around it was time to go into Cortez, about 10 miles away for lunch at a brewpub I had Googled. It was really an eclectic place. We were quite fascinated with all of the artwork on the walls. The beer was pretty good and the food was excellent. Ray had a trout and I had beef dip from their homemade shaved prime rib. The place was fairly empty as we came in well after the lunch rush. When we finally got back home Freya was sure happy to see us so off to the dog park we went.

Sunday, Oct 9th

The rain did appear, without the thunder thankfully. Other than a quick run into downtown Cortez to pick up some Turkey Thighs for our Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow I spent the day cleaning and doing laundry. Ray of course was busy editing his pictures. We were definitely in need of a rest day as we have been going pretty strong since we left BC to beat the weather. By 2:30 pm the skies had lightened and blue sky appeared. The temps rose to about 65 degrees. It turned out to be a lovely afternoon. Now Ray's dilemma... try for sunset shots or is their too much cloud still!

Moab to Mesa Verde National Park

Friday morning we were up early again, 6 am, turned on the generator as it was cold. When we closed up the blinds last night there was only a couple of people in the row that we were in .... opened up the blinds and were shocked to see that the lot was packed. Oh well, we parked far away from everyone so the generator would not be a problem ... their loss. It was very cold and we needed to turn up the heat. I have not got out the Big Buddy and outside propane tank yet as it would be one more thing for me to set up when we move everyday. On the road shortly after 8:30 am. A short ways out of Moab, I noticed the sign for Wilson Arch. Can't believe we did not notice it last year right beside the road.

Wilson Arch

Further down the road we stopped at the Hole in the Wall Rest Area so Freya could have a walk and Ray and I a stretch. Freya was able to chase about a dozen rabbits so she loved that stop.

Hole in the Wall Rest Area

Ray and I stopped at the Walmart Supercenter in Cortez to stock up on a few groceries. We are kinda pissed at Walmarts in the States. Our debit cards (Bank of Montreal) are not working here from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and now Colorado with messages that the transaction is declined by the issuer. We called the bank (BOM) and apparently since last year Walmart's have not updated their processors to accept payments with our new technology so our debit cards are not working. Our cards do work at Costco and liquor stores etc. Sent an email to Corporate Walmart so we shall see what they have to say about it!

Also noted was that buying alcohol in Colorado is worse than Utah which has at least state liquor stores. Here in Cortez it is only small hole in the wall places with $$$ prices. I will pass. I should have bought my gin at the Washington Costco and just paid the bottle tax! Apparently New Mexico Costco's in Albuquerque do sell alcohol so I will wait to stock up then.

We arrived at Mesa Verde RV Resort by 2 pm after shopping for a while and having lunch downtown Cortez. Our home base for the next week. What a lovely park and they even have a small hot tub for Ray. Freya enjoys the dog area which is a huge pasture. Ray even managed to scare up 5 stags (bucks) so he will see if he can get pictures of them later on. We are looking forward to exploring the area before carrying on. This has has been on Ray's bucket list for the past 4 years.

Oct 6th Continued - Spanish Fork to Moab Utah

Thursday morning we were on the road by 8:30 am. The sun was out and it was quite chilly. Highway 6 started out at 4500 feet and slowly climbed to the Soldier Summit at 7550 feet. There were not very many spots to pull over to take pictures and the sun was directly in our eyes so I copied some pictures from Google so you could get the idea of the gorgeous fall colours we saw. The road at the beginning is somewhat windy but there are lots of extra lanes going up hill for the slow vehicles. We would definitely take this way again.

From Google

From Google

From Google

About half way we stopped at a rest area to stretch and walk Freya. Absolutely gorgeous. Here is Ray's pictures.

Yup we are in Utah.

We were set up in the Moab parking lot near the Canyonland National Park turn-off by lunch. 

View from the campsite looking North.

After eating and relaxing for a bit, Ray took a drive into Arches National Park to take some pictures of the Delicate Arch which is featured on Utah license plates. Last year the road to the arch was closed due to flooding so we could not get to it. Freya and I stayed at the coach sitting outside soaking up the sunshine. I was able to get into shorts and t-shirt sitting out of the wind. Yeah.

There is the arch in the distance. Ray went to the Viewpoint and used his bazooka lens for the shots as he was not walking the 3 mile return trail to get to the arch.

This is Winter Campsite Wash. It is about 1000 feet down and no wonder the sign says no access to the arch on this side of the bluff.

First leg of our journey south for winter 2016/017

Oct 1st

Ray and I left Peace Arch Park by 8 am and made our way over to the Aldergrove Border Crossing. We like that one as there is usually no waits (us being the only vehicle!) and very few questions. By 8:30 we arrived at the border. This time the border guard was more concerned the passenger not walk to the bathroom in the coach while travelling.  His father and stepmom just got into an accident in Texas the day before as she was going to the bathroom and was thrown. Her status at that time was unknown. He wanted to make sure we told all of our friends so they would stay safe. Ray had to even remind him to enter the car’s licence plate as well. Quite a different experience crossing the border as we did not even get one question regarding what we were bringing into the USA. The only question he asked us for his own benefit, was do motorhomes typically have seatbelts for the couch as he had never seen them. Yes we do!

Stopping at several rest areas along the way we arrived in Tacoma shortly after lunch to “driveway surf” for the night at Ray’s sister Judy, and her husband Milt’s place. Nice travelling on a Saturday to miss all of the traffic through Seattle … it was smooth sailing. It had sprinkled on and off mostly around Seattle but the skies cleared once we reached Tacoma. Set up was a breeze for me (Ray just had to walk the dog) We all piled into Milt’s car and went out to dinner at the “Hub” brew pub. The beer was good, the pizza pretty good but the service sucked big time. Over an hour for 2 stone oven pizza’s. Maybe they had to start the dough from scratch and wait for it to rise! Anyways, we had a great visit. Ray was in bed by 7:30 to relax his back after the busy day.

Milt and Judy

Oct 2nd

We were back on the road by 7:30 a.m. so we could get through Portland before all of the Sunday drivers came out. The new front and rear jacks that were replaced the day before we left, retracted by themselves perfectly. Another thing Ray does not have to do anymore worked like a charm. Again stopping at several rest areas for Ray and Freya to stretch we arrived at the Woodburn RV Park before noon. We chose this RV Park as it has a good field to exercise Freya. I checked out the Walmart across the highway and it does have good overnight RV Parking … so next time we will stay over there and save ourselves $41.

Oct 3rd

We waited until 9 am to leave so we would miss the bulk of the morning rush into Portland and took the Highway 205 bypass to I-84. There was a little road work that we had to stop for so I walked the dog and made us some sandwiches. We had just sat down to eat it and then it was time to go. My original plans were to stay overnight at the Walmart in Pendleton but since the traffic was minor, the road pretty straight so Ray was able to stay mostly on cruise control, we decided to push on a little further and were able to stay at a lovely little state park near La Grande called Hilgard Junction State Park at $10/night. What a treat. You can hear a little highway noise but there was a little creek and lots of green grass for Freya. I even made us a campfire for an hour. Again, we do (I do) a very minimal set-up so it is much easier on Ray. Elevation gain was huge! You are at around 1000 feet in Pendleton and at the top of the long, long, hill we were at 4900 feet. The next morning it was only 3 C. We were in bed again by 8 pm watching a little TV.

Here it is ... our little gem of a campsite. There were not too many spots that would fit us but apparently you can park in the spacious day use area if you cannot fit in the campsite.

By 8 pm several more campers came in but everyone stayed well spaced out.

We even had some deer visit us at dusk. There were actually 3 of them ... but we did not notice that until we zoomed in the picture.

Do you see the three deer?

October 4th

It was very chilly overnight, the furnace came on several times to maintain at 63 F. Woke up to some sprinkles of rain. By the time we had our breakfast and coffee it had quit. Jacks up again with no help (Yeah!) and back on the road by 8:30. Today's destination is Jerome's Walmart after a quick stop at a Costco in Nampa. Note to self .... Idaho only has State Liquor Stores so we were unable to stock up with inexpensive Kirkland brand gin and only were able to buy some wine. Shortly after we left La Grande, Oregon the skies lightened up and became mostly cloudy with sunny breaks for the rest of the day's journey. Only about 60 F. though .... need to get further south!The days drive was mostly straight long stretches, quite boring, so again, with several stops at rest areas, Ray was able to engage the cruise control and we could go for a longer stretch to get south to the warmth sooner.
Here is a beautiful view from one of the rest areas we stopped at.

Baker Valley Rest Area Eastbound ... see the snow!

We found a quiet spot behind the Walmart in Jerome by the tire center to make our home for the night. Again, Ray retired early to rest his back. Good .... now I can watch the Bachelorette!

October 5th

We had a pretty quiet night until 5:15 am when the lot came alive with truckers starting up to begin their day. Ray and I tried to go back to sleep but nope ... up at 5:45 am (we lost an hour yesterday so actually 4:15 am!)

After a leisurely morning with showers, coffee and toast (waiting for daylight) we were on our way with plans to get to the other side of Salt Lake City today.

The first part of the drive was smooth and we were making great time. Fueled up in Tremonton, 40 miles into Utah after checking Fuel Finder. This price was the lowest we'd seen at $2.28/gal. Stopped for lunch at the next rest area. Now for Salt Lake City. I hate going through it and today was no different. We got stuck in a section of the I-15 that was closed to traffic in both directions. By the time we figured out a way around so did the hundreds of other drivers and we crawled for over an hour before bypassing the highway and getting back on it further south. We had some very unhappy campers in the coach! It rained/sleeted and we had some thunder and lightening right through the delay. Anyways we finally made it to our nights stopover at the Canyon View RV Park Utah, a short distance down US Highway 6 to Price. $15 for power and water and they have a sani-dump apparently. After staying at the noisy Walmart last night it was a relief to be in a quiet spot, even if we have to pay. Basically the campground is a blacktop parking area with generous spots between painted lines.The power will come in handy as the temps get down to 37 F.overnight. Next week is supposed to go back to normal temps again with lows of 50 F and highs of 70F. As we were parking the rig I noticed 2 deer in the bush behind us... will need to watch Freya. This park, I think, is for the Golf Course below us mostly. Good enough for us especially as it was mostly empty.

Home Sweet Home

Down a bunch of stairs brings you to this. Great chuck-it territory for Freya.

Do you have any food?

Gorgeous with more of the Kiwanis Park in the distance.

Oct 6th

Woke up to clear skies but cold ... 36 F. It was nice to be plugged in. The furnace came on an off all night long to maintain 64 F inside. We will wait until the sun is up and the roads dry before leaving to travel US Highway 6 through the mountains to Green River and then on to Moab for the night. Apparently Highway 6 is fairly windy on the first part and there are lots of deer that come out in the early morning and at dusk that are road hazards. Apparently a death occurred on this highway near Price last Sunday morning at 9:30 am due to an impaired driver crossing the white line and hitting the oncoming car. Of course the impaired drive survived ... not so lucky for the other driver. Glad we are travelling down the road on a Thursday, not the weekend. This road shaves an hour off the drive to Moab and is very scenic.  To be continued.....