Mesa Verde Pictures

Trying to get caught up here seems like a long time ago we were in Mesa Verde. We had left the Grand Canyon a day early booking a spot near our next stop at Mesa Verde.  Really near the next stop, we booked a night at the Mesa Verde KOA which is about 12 miles out from the campground we had booked in Mesa Verde National Park at the Morefield Campground.  The kids were excited by the prospect of WiFi but this KOA's wifi wasn't up to par with what they had experienced in San Antonio so no fortnite for them. But there was a pool so we went swimming and cooled off.  It was still pretty hot here in Cortez just outside Mesa Verde.  But the next day when we went up into the mesa to that campground it got nice and cool in the evening and we were able to sleep without the air conditioning.  It was glorious, I broke out my flannel in the evening and morning and had a couple of campfires. A morning campfire really is my all time favorite. 

So it was a quick stop a day of rest in the KOA then a couple nights in Mesa Verde.  We did some sight seeing and a day was enough to take in all the sights.

Mesa Verde cliff dwellings 

Marcus at the KOA pool.  Was a small pool but 8 feet deep and a good way to beat the heat of the day.

View from a turn out just down the mesa from our campground.  Only place we could get internet or make a call.  

Pit house

Marc was excited about the pit houses. He had learned about them in school a couple years ago and proved he pays attention at times as he had all kinds of info about them he shared.

View of the square tower

Zoomed in view of the square tower

More modern pit house they had different eras and could see how there construction methods improved over the years

Trail to the step house

Signs of past fires along the trail. On the Mesa Verde drive they had the name and date of various fires so it was interesting to see how long ago it burned and how much had or had not come back

Becky and Marcus found a little overhand along the trail

At the bottom of the trail

Had a restoration of a pit house at the bottom

Finally a ladder we could climb. Tickets were sold out for all the tours and we heard you get to climb through some so were happy to get a little taste.

 

 

Now the hike back out

 

 

I took a solo hike our last evening in Mesa Verde. Was just a couple of mile trail called Knife Edge that was off the campground. It was a easy mostly flat hike with great views.

Got a little close to the edge in some places earning it's name but mostly had plenty of buffer

Me

View of the Ute Mountains at the end of the trail

End of the line, but the whole trail seemed like it could be slide area. There where huge rocks that you could see where they came down from the cliff above and looking up you could see some that looked ripe to come on down at anytime.

Finally able to have another fire.  Since the beach fire we had at Padre Island I haven't been able to have one because of burn bans.  And with the blazing heat wouldn't have wanted one anyway.

The Grand Canyon

 

The Grand Canyon, the focus of so much of our thoughts and planning for this years trip. So it happens that things don't always work out as planned and we had canceled our hike to the bottom before leaving our last stop at white sands. So we drove in late after stopping at the Petrified forest.  We came in from the south so didn't get any view of the canyon at all on our drive in.  It was getting dark when we pulled into our campsite so were happy to get setup before the sun set.  Some elk meandered through the campground just after getting in and lifted everyone's sprites after the long drive through the desert.  

 

Guess what doesn't look the the desert?  The top of the grand canyon, there were trees and it all sort of looked like the black hills. Don't know why I thought it was all small shrubbery and desert like at the top but far from it.  While it was still hot and over 100 during the day here the nights cooled off better and it was our first real reprieve from the desert heat we've lived in for the last week or two. 

I already got into it in a previous post about our cancelled hike to the bottom so won't rehash that now but it was still weighing heavy on my mind that first day we were supposed to descend into the canyon, I had my mind made up that my first view of this natural wonder would be when were were at the top starting our descent.  So turned out I was a bit of a pouty brat when we drove up and walked to the edge to see this marvel for the first time. It was amazing but all I could think of is what we lost by cancelling our hike. Looking back I regret it and glad I bounced back and got over it all when we hiked to the trail in the evening and the next day.  

There was a death on the trail the day were were supposed to hike in and we ran into a hiker with heat exhaustion being helped up the trail by a ranger that next day.  The day after we left the temps returned to normal and the heat advisory was lifted so we just had some bad timing is all and in hindsight I feel we made the right call but at the time it was a real struggle.

Since we didn't have the hike and had seen the canyon we decided to modify the trip again and head north a day early looking for some cooler temps. 

Here are some of my pictures from the Grand Canyon.

 

 

Just after pulling into our campsite a visitor strolls through

Our spot in the RV Trailer Village Campground, got in right before dark

  

First views of the Grand Canyon

The Grandest of Canyons

  

 

 

Family out on a ledge they don't have fenced off, a little nerve wracking

 

The family, notice how Luke is a step forward he was having a very tough time with the hieghts

   

 

Fathers Day meal, we were supposed to have backpacking meals at the bottom but steaks and mashed potatoes at the top was a good substitute.

I went for a short stroll by myself and ran into this guy.  He took a intense interest in me so after watching him a bit I decided to take a alternate route.

 

Samus waiting or us to get our act together for our evening hike to the South Kaibab Trail

It was a two mile hike to the trail head from the camper down a rough road that followed the power lines.

Descending a bit of the South Kiabab trail

 

View from the trail

Got crazy steep we didn't go very far and turned back we still had a two mile hike back to the camper

The crew was spent after hiking back to the camper was evening but still pretty hot out

Becky and the kids put together a puzzle while we were hiding out from the heat in the middle of the day.

 

That next evening we hiked the Bright Angle Trail.

This time we decided to hike down a ways and went about a mile down to the second tunnel

 

 

 

 

Going down was supper easy can see how people go too far and get themselves into trouble.

 

 

 

Saw some big horn sheep walking around the cliffs

Made it to the second tunnel

Got some pictures

 

Then headed up the views were amazing

We need to come back and complete our hikes...