We departed the Ridgway State Park for the short (140 miles) drive over to Cortez. We (mostly Kathy) didn't think it was a good idea to travel over the "Million Dollar Highway" with the camper in tow....especially since most of the shear drop-offs would be on her side of the road. So we opted to take highway 145 which took us by Telluride again and over the San Juan Mountain pass (not sure the name of it) and down into the Montezuma Valley. We settled into the Mesa Verde RV park which is less than one mile from the National Park. We have reasonably good internet and cell service here and we can pick up some television stations - nice change.
After getting set up and a bite for lunch we headed off into the park for a half day's worth of exploring. First stop was the visitor's center which is located just off the highway and before the park entrance. Again getting advice from the rangers there we set out to explore some of the cliff dwellings - Step House on our own and the Long House with a ranger guided tour. Some of the areas of most interest are not open to the public without an escort, which was well worth the money. What we didn't know/expect is that the cliff dwelling sites were a long distance into the park.....an hour and 15 minute drive to these. Our tickets were for the 4:00 tour and we arrived at 3:00 which gave us one hour to explore the first one on our own.
Mesa Verde National Park views
The three o'clock tour left for the Long House with their ranger and Kathy & I departed for our hike (one mile round trip) down to the Step House cliff dwelling area. We had a good visit there although brief as we had to be back to the ranger station in time for our tour. As we arrived back at the station a thunder storm rolled in....pretty bad with wind and lightning. We were feeling sorry for the folks out there on the 3:00 tour....it is a two mile round trip to that site. It was still pouring pretty hard at the time our tour was to depart but our ranger (tour guide) said he would wait until 4:10 to decide whether we should go or cancel. About that time the skies cleared, the rain stopped and a huge rainbow appeared....we were happy and started off on the tour.
Rainbow on the mesa
We hiked down to the Long House cliff dwelling with an informative guide leading the way and answering questions. We were down there for awhile and about to start our return trip when thunderstorm number two rolled in.....you guessed it, getting dark, cold, wet and windy with lightening as we made our way back on the uphill one mile climb. When we got back to the truck we were cold, wet, tired, and getting hungry.....and on top of that we had a long drive just to get out of the park. We decided to settle for an unscheduled dinner out at a local mexican restaurant....it was good and that was a good ending to an interesting day.
Long House Cliff dwelling
FYI - the cliff dwellings were occupied by the Pueblo people some 1200 years ago and their structures are still mostly standing. They were not killed off but instead are believed to have left this area on their own because of droughts and hopes of finding better places to live. No signs of war or being forced out. Very interesting to see how they lived that long ago and how they survived the challenges this area threw at them.
15 Sept, 2017 - Touring
A week or ten days ago we booked a trip from Durango (about 30 miles east of our campground) to Silverton on the narrow gauge railroad. It was highly recommended in all the reading I had done and we were not disappointed. The first part of the trip was along the highway (not impressed) but soon it took off along some rivers and mountain cliffs that proved to be really nice scenery....and provided for good train photos. The 45 mile trip via an open car took about 4 hours to get to Silverton...it was a long slow climb of rocking and rolling in an open air train car. We decided to do the open air car for photographing the trip. Temps are comfortably cool here and that morning the temp was 50 degrees....it was pretty cool but pleasant enough with the right clothing on. We arrived in Silverton with just enough time to spend there for lunch as all 300 people on the train spread out through the town restaurants. I think if it were not for that train each day, the town may not even exist. Kathy and I split a hamburger at Handlebars...they were huge and it was plenty for the both of us.
Durango train depot
Coming 'round the bend
Blowing off some steam
As we were boarding and meeting others on the trip we learned that many people take the train up and a bus back....we didn't know that was an option but with the benefit of hindsight, we would have done that if we'd known. We were supposed to get back at 6:00 but we actually didn't get back to the station in Durango until 7:15 and pretty tired. The trip back seemed pretty long but it was still nice. We needed to get a few things from the store four our dinner and by the time we got back to the camper it was nearing 9:00 so we sat down for dinner at about 9:30 - another great but tiring day
Coming into Silverton
Train Ride Scenery
16 Sept, 2017 - Touring & resting
We decided to rest a bit in the morning before another trip into the National Park to see the museum and a movie they show about the park history and the Pueblo people. They were both good and afterwards we decided to do a driving tour on one of the mesa's...we soon realized that all of the cliff dwelling sights are basically the same and we didn't need to see any more of them.
We left the park and decided to ride back to Durango to have a look around the town.....we didn't see much of it on the train ride day but enough to want to see more. We had enough time to get a few souvenirs, walk thru an art festival and get a bite of lunch there......nice town!
Back at the camp we were able to get some more rest and prepare for our departure from Colorado to Utah.
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