Mesa Verde National Park, June 2007

Mary Lou and I have been to Mesa Verde NP twice, once when we were both working and then in 2007. Here are some photos from the 2007 visit. The main attraction of Mesa Verde are the cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from A.D. 600 to A.D. 1300. When we first visited Mesa Verde, it wasn't crowded like it was in June 2007. The small museum was jammed with school-age kids and the cliff dwellings were teeming with tourists. We got a great opportunity to climb over and around the pictured cliff dwellings on our first visit, but the temperature was in the high 90's on the day I shots these photos.


I found an overlook spot that gave me a great view of the major cliff houses. Too bad there were so many folks in the pictures below, but they do give some perspective to the size of the place. The restaurant at the lodge had food as wonderful as the view.

In the Southeast I rarely see bluebirds. They are plentiful out west. We stayed at the lodge in the park and found this bluebird outside our room.

Got a great view of the valley below. Mesa Verde is well over 8000 feet in altitude.
Had to include a pair of photos that illustrated virga, rain that never makes it to the ground. I thought that the streaks of virga looked like the tentacles of jellyfish floating in the sky.