Travel with Sherpa

Visiting Mesa Verde was a great, if short, experience, and novel during this trip in that the focus was much more heavily on the people that called this area home for over a thousand years, up through today. The museum in Mesa Verde is the oldest in the NPS, and openly admits that until very recently is was inhospitable to the modern descendants of the Ancestral Puebloans. They are actively working in changing that and bring the voices of the modern pueblos into their exhibits and educational activities. The visitor center also allows you to see into the research department and the pottery/textiles they research to better understand the history of those who called the Mesa (actually a cuesta) home.

My main activity here was to tour the Balcony House, which sits over 2,000 feet above the valley below. For the tour you start by climbing a 35’ ladder that NPS installed long ago, but which was NOT part of the original layout. Totally not a problem as long as you didn’t turn around to look…

The Balcony House site has 2 kivas (sites for holy ceremonies and related activities), making it a smallish residential site within the park.

The last picture is the small tunnel we exited through, and which was part of the settlement, indicating a change of some sort leading them to split the small settlement apart with just the small opening as the only access to the Lucas and rooms. Here is the incredibly choppy video of me going through the tunnel and climbing out of Balcony House.

So much to consider with this park, and the amount of work that went in to a community of cliff and mesa communities that were apparently never intended to be fully permanent. Anyway, definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

In addition the Balcony House tour I also hiked Petroglyph Point, a really nice trail next to and above Spruce House (closed to the public for safety reasons).

I also drove the Mesa Loop and stopped at a few sites educating more about the evolution of the structures and communities over the time the Mesa was most heavily populated, including the evolution from general purpose pit house to specialized kiva.

Mesa Verde is without a doubt a must see for anyone interested in history, and how history ties to modern times through culture, religion and respect for others (and nature). 5 thumbs up!