RV Trip 2018 - UT, CO, AZ & NV - Part 3 of 4

Welcome to Part Three of the travelogue for our 2018 RV trip (through Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Nevada).

Map of Part 3 routeMap of Part 3 route

Monday, Oct 15, 2018 (Colorado)

Durango to Mesa Verde National Park (Morefield Campground)

Today was our shortest driving day ever (under one hour), to Mesa Verde National Park.

We camped at Morefield Campground, which was almost deserted. Much like Cedar Breaks National Park, Gore Creek, and United (Durango), the campgrounds within the park would close for the season as soon as we left.

We chose a nice campsite, and soon six deer began grazing around us. Not only do we love watching them, but it’s fun to watch the kitties watching them!

Tuesday, Oct 16, 2018 (Colorado)

Mesa Verde National Park (Morefield Campground)

We had booked a Private Tour with Durango Rivertrippers & Adventure Tours, and arranged to be picked up at our campsite. Our guide Denise, who had worked many years as an archaeologist, was fabulous! We started at the Mesa Verde Park Point Lookout—the highest point in the park—which afforded sweeping views in every direction. And Denise took us through a 360-degree ‘tour’ explaining what we were looking at in every direction. We could see the Carrizo Mountains in Arizona, Shiprock in New Mexico, Canyonlands in Utah, and of course many mountain peaks in Colorado.

Along the way we also stopped at sites where archaeologists have unearthed remains of ‘pit houses’ and ‘kivas.’ It was fascinating to listen to her describe what archaeologists currently think about the way the Ancestral Puebloans lived back then. And if you think your house is small, you should check out these ruins, or something similar, to gain some perspective!

We also stopped at several overlooks that afforded views of many cliff dwellings.

We also stopped at several overlooks that afforded views of many cliff dwellings. And we had already booked a tour of one of them where visitors are allowed to walk through the ruins with a park ranger. One of the more popular ones is ‘The Cliff Palace,’ which we would have liked to tour (150 rooms and 23 kivas) but it was closed for the season (by the time we got there), so we booked a tour of ‘Balcony House’ instead.

From the nps.gov website: “The Balcony House tour requires visitors to descend a 100 foot staircase into the canyon; climb a 32 foot ladder; crawl through a 12 foot [long], 18 inches wide tunnel; and clamber up an additional 60 feet on a series of ladders and stone steps.”

I was somewhat intimidated—looking at the pictures—because of the longest ladder we’d have to climb, which looked pretty intimidating to someone with a moderate case of acrophobia.

But it was a wonderful experience, and our ranger guide (of Native American ancestry) was fabulous! You can tell from this picture that the Ancestral Puebloans were not a tall people. However, we were reminded that they were very similar in stature to Europeans of that same era.

Here is a view (from the overlook) of the Spruce Tree House, the third largest cliff dwelling in the park (after ‘Cliff Palace’ and ‘Long House’). Unfortunately it has been closed to tourists since 2015 because of the danger of rock falls.

This shot is from the Pipe Shrine House, part of the Far View Sites. Spirals show up frequently in petroglyphs, and their meaning can only be theorized. Some think it’s based on astronomical observations, while others feel they may simply represent the concept of a journey. Descendants of the Ancestral Puebloans do share what knowledge they have, passed down through generations, of the meaning of the symbols found in the petroglyphs, thereby assisting the park rangers (and others) in educating the public.

As our day started winding down, Denise offered a couple of options for what else we’d like to take in. We opted to check out the museum where we saw fabric, pottery, tools, and dioramas made back in the 1930s. Denise explained that today we know that these dioramas do not quite accurately depict life back then, as understanding has grown with additional discoveries and new research. And then it was a quick stop in the bookstore/gift shop where I bought . . . you guessed it . . . two more Christmas ornaments.

Denise returned us to our coach, we thanked her for a fabulous tour, and headed inside to reunite with the kitties. And after us being gone all day, they were anxious for a drink of water from the bathroom faucet, just like at home.

Wednesday, Oct 17, 2018 (Colorado / Arizona)

Mesa Verde National Park to Page, Arizona (Page Lake Powell Campground)

This morning we woke to a gently falling snow. As we went about our morning routine, it stopped and started several times. It was fun to watch it swirl this way and that as the wind seemed to keep changing directions. Again, ‘Mother Nature’ was on our side, and it stopped snowing not long before we were ready to head out. Though it did rain, and we proceeded somewhat slowly down the mountain, back to the highway.

Our route today took us from the southwest corner of Colorado, barely passing through a tiny corner of northwest New Mexico, and on into Arizona. Yep, the famed ‘Four Corners’ region.

At one point the lighting conditions caused the undersides of the clouds to have a reddish glow, caused by the sun shining on red earth in the distance.

Near Kayenta, Arizona we saw tracks for an electric train running alongside the highway. When we turned toward Page, we crossed the tracks and saw a sign warning ‘Danger: 50,000 Volts.’ We wondered what an electric train was doing out in the middle of (seemingly) nowhere. We later learned that it is an electrified private railroad operating within the Navajo Nation and that it transports coal 78 miles from the Peabody Energy Kayenta Mine near Kayenta to the Navajo Generating Station power plant at Page. We also learned that the coal-fired power plant may be shutdown in 2019, and the Navajo Nation wants to keep the train to promote tourism from Page.

We spent the night at Page Lake Powell Campground. It was just a place to stop on the way to Zion, but it did have a nice backdrop of red rocks (and a decent laundry room), and we had this spot at the end of the row with a great view of those layered red rocks. There was a dog-walk area at the base of these rocks, and we saw a few people walking their dogs, but the real treat was when we saw someone walking their cat on a leash, . . . gotta’ love it!

Continue to Part Four of the travelogue for our RV trip through Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Nevada.


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