Mesa Verde

On our way through Colorado we stopped by quite possibly one of the coolest places I've ever been. The pictures turned out disappointing though, because the lighting was far from optimal and I didn't have my favourite lens on. It looked way more striking in real life. We got there in the very late afternoon, right before they closed, so we were lucky they let us in. It's too bad so much of the structures look so washed out from the harsh sun. Anyway, this is a Pueblo cliff dwelling- the most intact in the world, I believe. It's called Spruce TreeHouse and rests inside Mesa Verde National Park- which also houses several other cliff dwellings, but the sun went down before we could see them. We were lucky enough to have the place to ourselves- at closing time in the dead of winter- and the Ranger working there was willing to let us explore and talk to us about the history of the place and its inhabitants. Turns out he was from New York too!

I really loved that you could actually walk around inside this dwelling- at least on the designated paths, and there was even a Kiva with a wooden ladder we were allowed to climb into. I guess I don't talk about this on the blog that much, but I'm pretty much obsessed with Nancy Drew, and anytime I get to do something reminiscent of one of the books or computer games I have a slight freak out. The climax of Nancy Drew and the Secret of Shadow Ranch takes place in an abandoned cliff dwelling, and they find the treasure down a ladder in Kiva just like this, so I was kind of beside myself with glee.























Thanks, Colorado! We'll come again!