Day 10 – 2530 miles … Cliff dwellings

Nice start today … on my morning walk with Jack, we come across some deer grazing, they seemed completely comfortable with people, as they let us get within 10 ft of them. We pack up quickly and got everything together, as we have a reservation for an 11A guided tour of Cliff Palace. The site is 11 miles further into the park, and it took us almost an hour to get there. These are the steepest and windiest roads we have driven so far.

Our road takes us up on top of the mesa and wanders itself around canyons until we get to our parking spot. You have to remember that this is a very popular park and therefore, very well developed. We find our RV spot, which unfortunately requires parallel parking … a couple of tries later, we’re in and ready for our experience.

We gather at a vantage point that is the start of the trail and provides a view of Cliff Palace. Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling, it is a World Heritage Site and by all accounts impressive. While we had planned on taking all the kids on the tour, we decided to leave Genna and Jack with Michelle, once we saw what the tour required. Stairs, ladders, tunnels … only the ladders would have been a challenge for Genna, and we didn’t want to risk anything.

Take sometime and read about the history of this place and the people, for me (and us) it was a great experience. Jaci enjoyed the tour, for the climbing part, not for anything else. Kate got more out of it, but we had too much waiting around and she got bored. We’ll come back to this park when they are older and can get more out of it … regardless … Cliff House is impressive.

We got out of our tour and drove the museum, which is about 6 miles away. This was a very well done experience and we spent over an hour going through the displays and reading about the people and the history. Many of the national parks (a true treasure in this country) have a Junior Ranger program. Kate and Jaci discovered this at the St. Augustine park, and Mesa Verde also participates.

The Junior Ranger program is basically an activity book that you get from the ranger station. It has a track for 4-7, 8-9, 10-12 yr olds to follow. The book, has you draw things, answer questions and requires that you “visit” and “learn” facts about the park you are in. This is a great way to get the kids involved and more interested. When you complete the book, you take it to a ranger station (or mail it in) and they  provide you with a badge. Kate completed the 10-12 section, Jaci the 8-9 section and Genna with some help the 4-7 part. They took the Junior Ranger oath and got their badges. All very happy and proud.

At the back of the museum is Spruce Tree House, this is another dwelling and it doesn’t require a guide. So, we took everyone, walked the .5 mile loop, first down, then up, then down, then up and spent some time at the site … This site, while not as large as Cliff House, does provide you the experience of getting into a Kiva (ceremonial house), which you must enter through a ladder and it lets you see more of the houses and dwellings. I carried Jack in his carrier and the backpack to balance myself… and I can tell you … hiking/walking at 7000ft elevation, is a lot of work.

We got tickets for another guided tour for just Michelle and I. Balcony House, is more difficult and not as easy for kids or those not in great shape (size and ability). You park, basically on top of the site, then have to descend 100ft, make your way along a trail on the cliff side, and climb a 32ft ladder to access it. On the way out, you have to crawl through a tunnel that is 2ft wide at the narrowest and then climb 3 sets of stairs for 50ft and pull yourself along chains on the cliff side.

Balcony house is not large, but the access, the view from it and the ability to walk throughout the site and into the back of the alcove was great. Ranger Jim, loved his job … and it showed. His talk and stories made the experience that much better. The entire tour took about an hour and when we got back to the RV it was around 6P.

The 16 mile drive out of the park took almost 2 hrs … yes, I’m that guy. The one that is always slow and holding everyone up … didn’t care, even waved to the people as they sped past us when they could. Whenever I found a pull out, I’d get off the road and let the traffic pass. My record, so far … is 15 vehicles being held up… will try for another later this trip.

We didn’t feel like driving, so stopped at the first RV park we could find, which happened to be at the exit of the park. This was fine … it had a pool, playground,  and a view of the Mesa. Michelle made dinner, we swam in the pool and all had showers … Jack in the sink.

We all fell into bed from exhaustion early.