Our Grand Circle tour is now complete. Mesa Verde is filled with Anasazi ruins (or to be politically correct, Ancestral Puebloan ruins) and it is as incredible as the rest. The park contains over 4500 archeological sites (600 of which are cliff dwellings) -- we missed a few. The tour begins with a 15 mile drive from the entrance criss-crossing the front the mesa until your reach the top (8500+ feet) , a trip that takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. Seems to get shorter each time. Top speed limit is an occasional 45mph, but most of the time 15-20 is the limit.
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| It is a 15 mile drive ( highest point 8572 feet) |
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| Square Tower House |
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| House of Many Windows |
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| Sptuce Tree House |
Cliff Palace was a ranger lead tour. We hiked down a hundred feet of fairly steep metal stairs and then up a ladder to tour the ruins.
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One of the Kivas (meeting rooms) in Cliff Palace |
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| Cliff Palace |
Then we had to climb back up - three 10 foot ladders and some very narrow stone stairs.
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| Not my best view |
Flora and Fauna
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| Yucca (fruit is edible) |
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| Thistle |
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| Feral horses roam the park |
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| Deer grazing on top of Spruce Tree House |
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| Young male mule deer |
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