Mesa Verde, Colorado

A solo campervan trip across the deserts of Utah and Arizona (and a little Colorado)

By Stories She Saw

June 30^th, 2019

I had been on the road working and travelling and hiking and drinking pre-mixed margaritas (not while driving, of course!) for a week and was loving the freedom that comes with travelling solo in a giant RV. I was following (a small portion) of the same itinerary my mum took in the late 1970s and she had highly recommended crossing the border into Colorado for Mesa Verde. Although it wasn't a long drive from Moab (my last stop at Arches and Canyonlands), I was then planning on continuing to Arizona that evening, so my Sunday was full of kms and podcasts.

After my trip I put my itinerary into google maps, but during I just followed mum's map, highlighted in green with the route she took over many months (this photo/section of her map captures just one part of a much larger roadtrip!) a few years earlier.

Although I was on my own, there was a certain security and enjoyment in having mum's well-worn map on the front seat next to me. It was great fun imagining her and her friend driving the same roads and seeing the same sites. One step away from her being with me.

I had not heard about Mesa Verde, nor seen any pictures, so I really wasn't sure what to expect - but Mum said that it was worth the extra few hours drive. And my goodness, was that woman right!

Mesa Verde National Park contains over 5000 preserved archaeological sites from the Ancestral Puebloans, including 600 cliff dwellings. The Ancestral Puebloans are thought to have lived in the area from 7500 BC, but these cliff houses were formed and inhabited from the 12th century. Despite plenty of research, historians and locals are still not sure what some of the dwellings were used for.

I took a tour around the 'Cliff Palace': the largest cliff dwelling in North America. We hiked down the mountain, then carefully climbed precarious ladders into rooms that were beautifully constructed by sandstone, mortar and wooden beams - carved underneath and into the side of the cliff face. The palace had over 150 rooms and our guide thought it may have been built for ceremonial purposes due to the number of 'kivas', which are round, sunken rooms of religious importance.

Although no one is entirely sure why the Puebloans left Mesa Verde, some have thought it was due to an increase in droughts, forcing the population south to more fertile areas.

After marvelling at the ingenuity and beauty of the Cliff Palace, I jumped into the car and headed back towards Utah and then down into Arizona, pulling over for the night in a campsite by the side of the road.

At some stage during the evening I woke up to the sounds of sniffing and the gentle rocking of my van, but dismissed it as strong wind. Of course, the next morning I found 'Bear Country' signs all over the campsite and footprints next to my car. Definitely for the best that I didn't know about that beforehand, otherwise I wouldn't have slept a wink!

For my next stop, Antelope Canyon, AZ!

Footnotes

All photos taken by me on my Olympus OMD EM10ii, or my iphone 7.

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FootNotes

All photos taken by me on my Olympus OMD EM10ii, or my iphone 7.