Cortez, Colorado

Day 17-18

On our way to Cortez, we stopped at “Hole N” The Rock. This location has been a travelers’ resting point for 2 centuries.

It is an interesting place. While walking around, I found many amusing things. A two-level outhouse
If you look closely, both are being used…..

Signs leading me to “Big Foot”, which was a big foot and if you look closely there is hair on the toes! I also found a homemade riding lawnmower and a jeep with multiple state license tags plastered all over it.

We also stopped at the Anasazi Heritage Center, which gave us insight to the history and culture of Ancestors of the Canyons. The local people do not use the term “Anasazi” to describe the ancient people who were cliff dwellers because Anasazi is a Pueblo word for ancient ancestors and the Navajo Indians feel that they were the first settlers, contrary to science belief.

Within Mesa Verde National Park, we visited Cliff Palace, which is the largest cliff dwellings in North America, containing 23 kivas, room used by modern Puebloans for religious rituals.

The first Ancestral Puebloans settled in Mesa Verde 1,400 years ago. Most of the cliff dwellings were built from the late 1190s to late 1270s. They range in size from one room houses to villages of more than 150 rooms (Cliff Palace). Ancestral Puebloans lived in the cliff dwellings for less than 100 years. By about 1300 Mesa Verde was deserted, possibly because of a drought and crop failures, possibly because soils, forests, and animals were depleted, possibly social and political problems….

As we drove through the canyon area, we found several areas which housed cliff dwellers. The park includes 4,500 archeological sites, 600 are cliff dwellings.

The terrain is amazing and I still find it hard to believe that they built the structures with so much foresight. Everything was planned for survival.

When it was time to leave our RV site in Cortez, it was difficult with such a beautiful view.