As you can see, we had an exciting day! We were up early and out of Durango, backtracking through Mancos to the entrance to Mesa Verde NP. It was a clear, beautiful, cold day, but the roads were fine...until we started climbing into the Park. It is several thousand feet higher than Cortez (on a mesa, naturally). The road into the Park (about 20 miles) is steep and hanging on the edge of some cliffs to begin with, and as we gained altitude, they were icy and snow packed. We had to slow way down for safety and it took us a while to get to the Visitor's Center. Only one ranger station and cliff house (Spruce Tree House) were open this time of year, but we had a great tour guide. He put on quite a show for us. KR decided to get a first-hand look at the kiva.
After some lunch in Cortez, we headed west out into the unpopulated area of the Four Corners north of the Arizona-New Mexico line. Part of it is Colorado and part Utah...all you see out there are a few cows, lots of small canyons, juniper trees, and, they claim, thousands of Ancestral Pueblan (the new name being substituted for Anasazi these days) ruins scattered over many square miles. Hovenweep NMT contains some of the largest, but a huge, recently-designated Canyons of the Ancients NMT protects many others. There are few roads - we used the main one through the middle that goes to the Hovenweep Visitor's Center.
Hovenweep NMT is right across the Utah border, and as you head west, then south, you eventually hit the San Juan River at Montezuma Creek (on the Navajo Indian Reservation), and then Bluff (are there any Mormon families still there?). You Church history buffs will remember Bluff as the destination for the Hole in the Rock pioneers that were asked to settle in Southeast Utah and found the Colorado River to be such an substantial obstacle in their pathway. Bluff has some wonderful, old pioneer houses, most of which are not being cared for and some not even occupied. We continued on to the Valley of the Gods and the "goosenecks" of the San Juan near Mexican Hat. The Valley of the Gods is a sort of Monument Valley "Lite" and the goosenecks are an incredible set of compressed, sharp bends in the San Juan before it enters Lake Powell. Both spots are well worth the visit and the long drive. What beautiful country this is! We had dinner in Mexican Hat, which is right on the San Juan, the Navajo Reservation being across the bridge. KR had a Navajo Taco!
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