A Speed Run Through Mesa Verde

The last picture in yesterday's post was taken about 4:30 in the afternoon, and I decided I'd move on south and return to Canyonlands' Needles District via a back road I'd identified on Google Maps. That plan would take me to the widely separated Looking Glass Arch, and Hatch Point, and Needles overlooks, over about 87 miles. I turned off the highway and re-entered Canyonlands on Looking Glass Rd. Guess what. Google forgot to mention was gravel. About two miles of washboard road - and the number of visitors I'd already encountered on the Island In The Sky - convinced me that I'd had enough, and it was time to adjust "the Plan". Remember though, it was my first visit to the Needles in 2008 that impressed me so much I had to come back; a reminder - if one is needed - that the conditions of the visit are all important, and you can't control all the conditions.

Skipping the plateau overlooking the Needles, was okay. I'd just take UT 211 into the canyon itself, getting pictures of the ancient petroglyphs on Newspaper Rock and checking out the Needles and other features on the canyon floor as the light changed in the late afternoon. A new opportunity. Traffic picked up as I headed south on US 191 and I never saw the 211 turnoff. Other signs were all there though - things aren't falling into place - it's time to call it a day. New Plan: spend the night in Cortez (still about 75 miles away) and check out Mesa Verde National Park in the morning.

*****

When I first discovered Google Earth, one of the tidbits I came across was that in 2000, Mesa Verde fires in July and August caused destruction that, so far as I could see, it still hadn't recovered from. I'm less interested in archaeology perhaps than in photography and geography/geology and now, beginning my fourth day on the road, I'm more than ready to get back home.

So, when I encounter road crews and sections of one lane road a couple miles into the park, I consider turning around and demanding my money back on my way out. I am able, however, to cool my jets and remember the only schedule I have is in my mind. It's a beautiful day - I should enjoy it.

On the climb up from the valley floor, between sections of road under repair, I found the Montezuma Valley overlook which provided farewell views of the Abajo Mountains (above) and the La Sal Mountains (below), both ranges in Utah and 70 and 95 miles away, respectively.

Mesa Verde seems to lean towards guided tours more than most National Parks, which seems reasonable given the need to protect antiquities. I personally don't care a thing for guided tours, however, so I wasn't sure how much I'd find available to see as I flew through the park solo. The picture above (with its inset) gives you an idea of what Mesa Verde is all about - cliff dwellings. It's the first example I saw and, not knowing how many more I'd see, I was glad it was in full sunlight.

There are probably dwellings on the cliff opposite, but I took this shot to show what the 2000 fires had done to many areas on the plateau above the cliffs.

This shot shows grasses and yucca are the first to come back after the fires. Pinyon and Juniper, in the distance on the left, show where the fires were stopped. One conundrum: if the largest tree in the foreground was thoroughly charred, why do so many surrounding it - though still dead - show so little sign of the fire?

This is Navajo Canyon, looking southeast. It's the widest of the canyons I remember seeing. The others seemed to have been designed to provide for both cliff dwellings and overlooks, with tourists on each side shooting back and forth at the dwellings on the opposite cliff.

When I saw this, I thought, "They missed a good one here. I'm surprised they didn't save it for the guided tours." Of course, that's my prejudice showing. I found out on this speed run that there's plenty to see - and photograph - alone, and the guided tours are a great feature for those who appreciate guided tours. Get over it!

I think all of these next few shots were taken of dwellings on the Mesa Top Loop, and show how extensive the building was.

Though there were guard rails at the cliff tops in some of the previous shots, I think this is the only place I actually caught tourists in the picture. On top of the cliff to the left there are a couple at an overlook, and at the base of the ruins you can see a guided tour. Nobody in the tour has a red jacket. That strikes me as strange.

This is simply a shot of the edge of the fire damage, showing how much it changed the local environment. The contrast between the shaded, cool, green forest and the stark destruction of the burned area was intense - ten years after the fire!

This last shot is looking east-northeast over the Mancos Valley towards the La Plata Mountains, a subset of the San Juans. The picture might represent leaving behind the ancient past of the cliff dwellings and destruction of the Mesa Verde fires for the future and areas unaffected by the 2000 fires. But really, it just marked the end of my 2010 photo tour. It's time to stow the cameras and attack the 900 mile drive home.