GSE Team does Mesa Verde

Emma says: After several front page appearances in papers across the Southern Colorado region, the team were a little concerned when we arrived in Durango to the news that we were unlikely to hit the front page here unless we committed a crime. While this course of action was deemed a little too drastic, it seemed we needed to spice things up a bit. It was clear the standard '4 people in a row' group shot was getting old and we needed to jazz up our image. With this in mind we set out for our day of touristing in the spectacular Mesa Verde National Park.

Mesa Verde was home to the Ancient Puebloan people about 1,400 years ago. They originally built their homes on top of the mesa, but at some point during their 700 year stay in the area they built dwellings in caves within the steep walls of the canyons. The park now houses about 4,500 archaeological sites, of which 600 are cliff dwellings.

Our morning was spent exploring the visitor's centre, museum and gift shops. After lunch we were privileged to receive a private tour from Larry Wiese, the superintendent of the National Park. He showed us some of the earliest Puebloan dwellings which were dug into the top of the mesa and gave us a history of the people in the area. He also took us to some vantage points were we could get better views of the more elaborate cliff dwellings, such as Cliff Palace and the Square Tower. Each dwelling represented the home of one or more families, with some constructions similar to the apartment blocks of today.

Our final tour for the day was also our most challenging, with the tour of the Balcony House also known as the "Indiana Jones Experience". Like most of the cliff dwellings, the Balcony House is located in the walls of the canyon, high above the ground. Not surprisingly then, our tour involved climbing a 30 foot ladder to reach the dwelling, but once there, we also had to crawl through a tiny tunnel to manoeuvre our way out. Then there are some death defying steps carved into the rock face to make your way out of the dwelling and back to the top of the mesa.

I found the day at Mesa Verde to be a brilliant day out - very educational, extremely beautiful and mysterious. And I think you'll agree, our group shots are clearly worthy of the Durango Herald's front page! We'll keep ya posted...