A YEAR ON THE ROAD IN OUR MOTORHOME
BOOK 5/PAGE 6
Mesa Verda (Green Table) National Park is the place to see Anasazi dwellings. The entrance to the park is 9 miles east of Cortez and 35 miles west of Durango in Southwestern Colorado on US Highway 160.
The ruins in the park date back to AD 500 - 1300. The cliff dwellings represent the last 75 to 100 years of occupation at Mesa Verde. In the late 1200s within the span of one or two generations, they left their homes and moved away. On the left is the huge Cliff Palace.
June, 1991 to June, 1992
On the left is the Pit House while on the right is Sun Temple.
As with most Anasazi site, Mesa Verda has petroglyphs. On the right I am trying to take a video of some small creature.
Leaving Mesa Verda we head north to the Black Canyon. A most unusual site to see. The canyon is mainly black except for strips of molten rock that seeped into the cracks long ago. Running diagonally through the black rocks are quartz, garnet and other pink, sliver and white strips. The canyon drops down 2,000 feet to the Gunnison River. On your drive along the south rim we see a Spotted Towhee, Goldern Eagle, Green Swallow, Clarks Nutcracker and a Prairie Chicken.
The photo on the left clearly shows the layers in the earth exposed by an upheavel. Just happen to see and get close to this bunny while viewing the canyon from the south rim.
The photograph on the right is the Coke Ovens in the Colorado National Monument, which resembles their namesakes. One last photograph of the scenery and it is off to Arches National Park, which is one of the most popular national parks in the west.
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