Category: US National Parks
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Moving to Canyon of The Ancients National Monument
Sunday, August 7, 2022 Only an hour drive from Mesa Verde National Park, I had a little maintenance to do. Someone described the inside of a travel trailer as being a small hurricane. Things get shaken loose. The latch had come loose on the door of the half-closet over my bed. I carry a dowel…
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Balcony House, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
Saturday, August 6, 2022 We met for our second tour at Mesa Verde National Park. Our tour guide, Michael, in the beginning warned us this is a strenuous hike, climbing several ladders with many steps and crawling through a tunnel. “If you can’t make it up these ladders, we may have to stop the whole…
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Hike Petroglyph Trail in Mesa Verde National Park
Thursday, August 4, 2022 One of the coolest hikes we have been on, we enjoyed this one a lot. What makes a great trail? A great view, features along the way, discovery of something new, history, wildlife, solitude all go into making a great trail. This one has some great features, steps (some carved in…
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Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park
Wednesday, August 3, 2022 We were lucky, very lucky to get a tour of Cliff Palace. We knew nothing about Mesa Verde, just that it was a national park, and I wanted to see the national parks and monuments. Perhaps it is fortunate I am writing this three weeks late. Built approximately 1190, and added…
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Mesa Verde National Park
Tuesday, August 2, 2022 62 degrees at 4:00 am, high of 92 Mesa Verde National Park is an American national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado. The park protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites in the United States. Established by Congress and President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, the park occupies 52,485 acres (21,240 ha) near the Four Corners region of the American Southwest. With more…
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Drive to Mesa Verde
August 1, 2022 The 17-mile drive out of Chaco Canyon is excruciating. Roads in the park are paved, but for five miles it is one of the worst roads I have ever driven, and I have driven some rough roads searching for trout. Five miles an hour was my average speed for those five miles.…
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Hike Pueblo Alto, Chaco Culture National Historic Park
Sunday, July 31, 2022 Our goal was to hike Pueblo Alto Loop Trail, which is about 5.5 miles on top of the north mesa to another settlement, Pueblo Alto. Continuing across the mesa and around the rim with views of the valley, Pueblo Bonita, Chetro Ketl and Chaco Canyon. People have been here for thousands…
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Chaco Culture National Historic Park Loop Drive
Saturday, July 30, 2022 65 deg at 6:00 am, cloudy We took the Loop Drive through Chaco Valley, stopping first at the Visitor’s Center. Behind the center was a 1-mile hike to Una Vida and some petroglyphs. It was pretty impressive. “Una Vida is a Chacoan “great house,” a large pre-planned multi-storied public building with…
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Chaco Culture National Historic Park 1
Friday, July 29, 2022 We were supposed to take a jeep tour of Canyon de Chelly (pronounced “shay” or tsegi in Navajo), but Bobby VanWinkle came to our campsite, and said the Navajo park chief closed the park to visitors. It is monsoon season and Chinle Wash has been a raging river. A truck sinks…
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Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site
Thursday, July 28, 2022 In the afternoon we drove 30 miles south on 64 to Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site. We drove through a huge storm with rain so hard, I had to pull over for a while. We seem to bring rain wherever we go. There is a nice Visitor’s Center with a lot…