Reaching For the Gods

We feel like we have run out of adjectives because we have over-used expressions like "awesome" and "fantastic" but once again, we have been left awe-struck by some of the things we have seen. We did leave Durango and managed to stay dry for the short drive to Cortez. After one look at the bluffs of Mesa Verde, Jenny decided she was not going up there on the motorcycle! Imagine being at 6,000 ft and seeing vertical and near vertical cliffs that rise another 2,000 ft. That is the first sight of Mesa Verde and the road into the park (which goes for 20 miles or more) clings to the sides and tops of some of these bluffs much of the way. It is definitely not for those afraid of heights or vertical drops - and Jenny is uncomfortable with both! Mesa Verde was home to the Ancestral Puebloans - native Americans whose origin is not exactly known. Some say they are descendents of the original inhabitants - the hunters of the sabre tooth tiger and woolly mammoth. They established villages - pueblos - in a number of areas including Mesa Verde and they are intriguing because they built masonry structures - sometimes 3 and 4 stories high - in the sandstone overhangs high on the side of the mountains. The group that established in Mesa Verde lived there from around 850AD to 1280 AD and then they left. No-one is quite sure why they left but one theory is that the weather patterns changed, adversely affecting their ability to grow sufficient crops.

We were once again lucky with the weather on this visit because while it was pretty cool at the top, at least the sun was shining. The following day, it was cold and wet and miserable in Cortez and the surrounding area and we believe they had snow on the top of Mesa Verde. We kept the rental car for a second day in Cortez as once again, we decided the weather was not great for motorcycling. We did do some exploring including a visit to the Four Corners monument - the only place in the USA where four states meet - and to the ruins of another Ancestral Puebloan group.

We left Cortez this morning (it is October 7th) and rode to Flagstaff, Arizona via the Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert. But that is the next instalment. While the sky was cloudless the whole way, it was a really cold start - we had ice on the motorcycle cover this morning - and it took till the middle of the day for it to really get warm.