Tales from the Trail: Iron Rails and Anasazi Trails (Anasazi Part)

After the train ride to Silverton we went for a little change of pace and visited Mesa Verde National Park. Mesa Verde is west of Durango and up on a series of mesas. There are about 600 identified cliff dwellings and several times that many located sites on the mesa tops themselves.

This is the view from the top of the Mesa looking back toward the northeast. From here it is still another 15 miles or so to the Farview visitor center. It is mostly pinon-juniper forest, except for the thousands of acres blackened by uncontrolled forest fires in the past decade.

Side trail: Whether it's the result of a controlled burn run amok or letting a lightning started fire do its thing, this policy of letting fires burn uncontrolled has resulted in a lot of destruction and unsightly vistas. I know that forests have to rejuvenate and all that, but a little better management (including selected harvesting) is in order.

Side side trail: Is "controlled burn" an oxymoron or what? Pardon the pun, but that's like "playing with fire."

Looking out over the Mancos Valley.

Cliff Palace

Cliff Palace is the largest of the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde. What a beehive of activity this must have been during its heyday. It's amazing some of the places that they were able to build. I wonder how many people fell trying to get and from their homes. Why did they build under these overhangs anyway? Their farming was done on top, as well as their hunting. Was is for defense? Religion? Just a fad? Nobody really knows for sure. Maybe they were what we would call a gated community today. Anyway, archeologists tell us that Cliff Palace was built and abandoned within 100 years. That's just a fraction of the time that the Ancestral Puebloans occupied the area.

Side trail: Ancestral Puebloan? Huh? Where did that term come from? The last time we visited the park we were told it was inhabited by the Anasazi Indians. When did the Ancestral Puebloans of Ancestral Pueblo Peoples move in? It turns out that Anasazi is a Navajo word meaing Ancient Ones or Ancient Enemy. Modern day descendants of the Ancestral Puebloans are scattered among 20 or so tribes and cultures in the area, including Hope, Zuni, Taos, and Acoma. They have had a hard time with using a Navajo (relative latecomers to the area) word to describe their ancestors and an even harder time coming up with another word that's acceptable to all of them. They have settled on Ancestral Puebloans, at least for now. If we visit the park again in 20 years they might have decided on something else!

Side side trail: The Navajo Nation does not officially recognize the Ancestral Puebloan label and continues to prefer Anasazi.

Restored Kiva

The kiva is the ceremonial center of the cliff dwellings. Originally covered with a thick roof, they are thought to be the site of religious and communal activities. The hole in the floor on the left side in the picture above is the sipapu, representing the opening whereby man came into the world. The low wall to the side of the fire pit and in front of the air vent in the wall deflected incoming air away from the fire. The smoke exited the roof through the same opening that was used enter or leave the kiva. Talk about that campfire smell!

Dan checking out his new room

Peg contemplating the hike to Cliff Palace

There is really a lot to see at Mesa Verde. We just did the major cliff dwellings and skipped the mesa sites this time. There's a whole other section of ruins on Weatherill Mesa that we missed.