Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

We were blessed to have the opportunity to visit one of the best and well preserved Ancient Native American  sites in the world.  What an amazing place to visit.  This park has over 4,500 known archaeological sites and over 600 cliff dwellings.  Although it was a off and on rainy and cold day, we made the best of it, and it was well worth it!

To look at these pictures or even in person from a distance, they don't look real.  They look somewhat like a clay model, but they are very real.  How something that was built 800 plus years ago made out of rock, wood and clay stay in this kind of condition?

                                There are so many different structures in so many locations.

We had the opportunity to tour one of the best remains in the park, the Balcony House.

This is a very physical and demanding tour.  You start by descending hundreds of steps to get to the bottom of the house.

Once you get to that level, you now have to start climbing back up, this time by climbing a large wooden ladder.

Up until this point, you have a choice to end or abort your tour and go back the way you came.  Once you climb the ladder, there is no turning back.  The park rangers will not let you go down the ladder.  Only up.

Once you get to the top of the ladder, you have to enter a tunnel and climb a small ladder.

                             At this point, you are in the main level of the Balcony House.

                         This is our Park Ranger who led our tour.  He was very informative.

This is a picture of some of the exposed wood that is the original when they built the house.

The park system has had the wood tested by drilling out a 1/2" hole and testing the rings and then plugging the hole up.  That is what the white round plug is in the center of the above picture.

After viewing and hearing all there is to hear about this level you climb up this ramp and enter a tunnel. to get into the next level.

                                                       This is the main level or living area.

Once we were finished with this level we had to climb into a crack in the rocks and through a 18" opening into the 12 foot tunnel to get out.

Once out of the tunnel, you have to climb up a shear rock cliff that they had small hand and foot cutouts with a cable and net to help you climb out.

Of course the original people who built and used this house did not have this wooden ladder or the steel chain and net to help them out of this amazing house.  

                                                  

This video shows just how hard it is to climb out of the house especially if you have a problem with a fear of height.  I am amazed that the Forest Service still allows people to climb this in this day and age of lawsuits and liability.  I asked the ranger if their had ever been a problem with any of the public falling or having to be rescued because they froze.  He said he did not know of any problem but that all it takes is one lawsuit or death and it could all change.  I am so grateful for our opportunity we had to do this amazing experience. I am sure in the future it will not be available to the public.