Great Sands NP, Pagosa Springs and Mesa Verde NP

 

We are rolling again and while the stay got shortened to only 1 night we did at least make it to Great Sand Dunes National Park and got to do some exploring!

 

One of those moments, while reading the trail guide I stopped and thought "Oh my, I have become my father!" 😄

A classic shot, Dave and a Spruce tree.

We hiked the Montville Nature trail and of course got a little sand in our shoes on the Great Sands. Think of them as Sleeping Bear Dunes but with no water (at least not at this time of the year here!).

The next day on to Pagoasa Springs on what we would later hear called "the most deadly road in Colorado", Wolf Creek Pass. Good thing I was driving!

We arrived at our Boon-dockers site to find an incredible view and the friendliest hosts. We enjoyed a glass of wine on their deck and exchanged RV "war stories".

Even the animals were friendly and came by for a visit.

Although the forecast called for rain (it has rained almost every day we've been in Colorado, usually between 3-5pm) we were not deterred and went to enjoy the hot springs in town. It was a lovely relaxing day!

Next on to Mesa Verde National Park with amazing expansive views of the mountain range, mesas and canyons.

We went on the Balcony House tour which required climbing a 32 foot ladder, crawling through a tunnel and a few smaller ladders. It is amazing to think of the engineering intelligence to create these dwellings!

 

 

The Pueblo people who inhabited this space for over 700 years had a tough life. Average life span was 35 years old and around 50% of children died by 5 years old.  They were an average of 5'0 to 5'4 tall so you can imagine the spaces were a little tighter for this girl!

The Kiva on the right was an important gathering place for the tribes. In their day they were covered by timbers and juniper bark and would have provided a warm place to help endure the bitter cold winters and cool place during the heat of the summer.

 

Even though Dave has had a harder time adjusting to the altitude of Colorado he rocked this tour and the ladders!

 

This was our guide Bonnie who followed up behind us. You can see the steps we climbed and the steep drop on the side...and to think the original residents had no chains to help protect them, no wonder they only lived an average of 35 years!

Back to the truck for a little lunch and then on to more hiking!

The views and the flowers were just amazing on the hike to the highest point in the park.

Yes, it was getting close to 4pm when the rain showers started rolling in. So cool to watch them from on high!

We made it back to the campground in time to see a spectacular sunset through the storm clouds and felt God's presence in our lives through His rainbow.

We have really enjoyed our time here at Mesa Verde RV Resort. In this case they weren't flying under false colors, it really is a nice resort with a pool, 2  hot tubs and extra long sites!

More hiking took us to Spruce Tree House but we couldn't go into it as there are rocks falling from the ceiling...don't need that!

 

On the Soda Canyon Overlook you hike about a mile to get to the overlook but some of the plants and trees were just as cool as the view.

 

 

Dave by a Juniper tree...

 

 

...and me in one! 😃

 

 

Juniper berries

Dave conquering the trail to the view of the "house with many windows" below. I think by today's standards this might fall short of "many" windows! 😆

Next trail was to the "Biltmore" of Mesa Vera, the Cliff Palace. With more stone steps to climb, small spaces to navigate as well as ladders, this was an epic adventure!

Cliff Palace was much larger than Balcony house and boasts about 150 rooms and 21 kivas leading archaeologists to believe it was home to about 100- 120 people. I'd say it sounds like the first condominium community to me!

Exiting out the community like may of the residents would do on a daily basis meant more ladders. It had to be quite a life to live back in these days. It was hard work during the day farming corn, making pottery or hunting game; whatever your contribution to the community was. Then family time in the kiva at night hearing ancestral stories to be passed down to the next generation. It is a sacred space to the people who are from here. It only feels appropriate to end this post with our this video of our ranger playing a tribal song on her flute.