Summer Journey - June 23rd Update

Day 12, Tuesday, June 23rd
Here's more about our adventures on Tuesday. The Mesa Verde cliff dwellings were amazing (http://www.nps.gov/meve/). We drove to the Park, about 9 miles from our Kampground, and then wound 15 miles through the park just to get to the Visitor's Center. After a lunch at the Park's cafeteria overlooking the valley, we drove about 5 more miles to the Museum and "Spruce Tree House" ruins, which was a self-guided tour. Stepping onto the trail behind the museum and seeing the dwellings nestled into the red cliffs brought back a rush of memories. I hope to find some of my mom and dad's old travel notes; but, based on my response to the site, I'm pretty sure that these are the ruins we visited when I was a child.

Then we drove even further into the Park to reach the trailhead for the "Cliff Palace" tour. The temperature was in the 90s, and there was no shade at the scenic overlook. We started the tour and gratefully made our way down the trail and into a shaded area with a view of the Cliff Palace, where we sat and learned some history of the ruins from our ranger. Then we made our way down to the ruins themselves. Just as the ranger was wrapping up his talk, Colorado decided to show us that it could do thunderstorm better than New Mexico.

It had began as a gentle sprinkle and then developed into a steady downpour. Under the protection of the cliff overhang, we could observe the rain while staying nice and dry. Plus, the temperature was still warm, so it was pleasant. Then the lightning strikes began. As the strikes were within 3 miles (as determined scientifically by our ranger, "one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three-one-thousand, boom"), he kept us in the cliff dwelling. Leland, who has a hard time staying still, was walking quickly (not running!) along the path to one of his newly made friends. There was a very loud roll of thunder, and I'm sure that I saw Leland leap about 5 feet when the sound hit! The storm seemed to abate, and the ranger was just about to release us when we saw a lightning strike in the valley before us and almost immediately heard the thunder. Because of its proximity and the acoustics of the canyon, it was the loudest thunderclap I've ever heard. There were more than a few gasps. After sufficient time had passed without another strike, our ranger let us exit the canyon. We had to climb stone stairs and three 10-foot ladders to reach the rim. This last picture is a view from the ladders climbing out, looking back on the ruins.

When we returned to our campsite, we were pleased to see our "neighbors," the Bakers, had come to our rescue. They, too, had gone to Mesa Verde that day, but (not surprisingly) they got an earlier start than us--so they returned to the campsite before we did. The day before had been so calm and warm that we thought nothing of leaving our awning out. However, the thunderstorm in the east had brought some pretty heavy winds to the campground area. The Bakers rolled up our awning and chased our swimwear that had blown away. Thanks, Baker Family--and good luck in Ohio!