6/7/19 - Transit to Mesa Verde

We climbed out of the San Luis Valley and went over the continental divide at Wolf Creek Pass (named after some guy named Wolf) and got to see some snow up close and personal

Then we "discovered" Pagosa Springs.  It supposedly has the deepest hot springs in the world - not sure how they determine that....

We had to take a soak in the oldest hot springs bath....  There were three, all near each other.  The actual springs was right next to the San Juan River which ran through the center of the town.

We wandered around a little and saw signs about a music festival and a bunch of cars parked in a field near the hot springs.  Evidently, they were having a bluegrass music festival and the cars were parked, waiting to be let into the festival grounds, which were on top of a hill overlooking the river.  Sorry we had to miss it.....

Then we had lunch along the San Juan River - don't think they would be rafting today...

And then onto Mesa Verde via Durango.  (Maybe a little more glare,,,,,)

We were a little concerned that it would be very crowded (it was Saturday), but the visitor center was pretty empty.  We reserved one ranger tour for this evening and one for tomorrow morning.  We did not expect the climb up to the mesa (about 2000 feet vertical) and about 15 miles to our hotel (the Far View Motel) and then another 10 miles to the Cliff House.  We did our first ranger tour and there was a little climbing involved.....

To the Palace

We also (at least I was) surprised to learn that the cliff dwellings are all below the road.  You have to climb down to them.  The only (large one visible from the road is the Spruce Tree House, near the museum.

Our tour was OK.  The ranger leading is was a young guy and he seemed to be into the mystical part of it - imagine what it would be like to live here 1000 years ago.....

But, it was still amazing.  He did point out that one of the current theories as to why the Ancestral Pueblo people built these villages in the niches in the cliffs is that the niches were created by erosion, most likely springs seeping through the rocks and eroding the sandstone.  Therefore, it was likely there were active springs at each site, which made living there much more convenient.  The top of the mesa was used for farming, but had very little surface water.


And then we had refreshments at the lodge.

Link to the next post:  6/8 - Mesa Verde