Continuing my ride reports for when my family and I went vacationing in Southwest Colorado. We went to Mesa Verde National Park. My family in the minivan and me riding along on Brigitta. On the way, the sun was hitting Chimney Rock, which lies to the west of Pagosa Springs on US 160, nicely so I stopped for this shot:
Once past the city of Durango (Gateway to the San Juan Skyway), you come upon the small town of Mancos which lies just before Mesa Verde National Park. Not much to tell about the town itself, the only memorable thing is Hogan's Trading Post which is located to the west of the town. It's just another spot to buy souvenirs and knick-knacks; but what makes it memorable are the telephone sized arrows buried in the ground around the trading post.
Giant Arrows at the Hogan's Trading PostThe entrance to the Mesa Verde National Park, ancient home of the Anazasi indians, lies a few short miles from Hogan's Trading Post. The cost per motorcycle is $8 and $15 for a car. There is a large rock formation, which I believe gives the place its name, visible from outside the park. It looks much more imposing closer up:
The view shortly after one enters the parkIt is, however, another 15 miles of twisting ascending roadway to the visitor center so be prepared for that! The views are nice but the layout of the roadway and vegetation along the road precluded a lot of scenic viewing. This is not a "dash in, dash out" tourist destination.
Still, if you ride slow enough in spots and it's not too crowded with cars, you can get a view or two of some of the geological formations.
See below for a better view of the background vistas
Overlook into the Montezuma Valley, a really nice photo stream here on flickr.com
I left my family at the Chapin Museum area as I had a business call to make. Turns out you get no cellphone signal in the park (that I could find anyways). I went back to the visitor's center, get on Brigitta and then head back to the town of Mancos to get a signal and participate on the call. Afterwards, I filled Brigitta's tank and returned to the visitor's center to retrieve the minivan and further on, my family.
The Cliff Palace, note the tour group in the upper left to get a sense of scale, this was shot from the other side of the canyon, perhaps a 1/4 mile away.
From earlier that same afternoon, with telephoto lens at full magnification
In the parking lot of the Montezuma Valley Scenic Overlook, that's the Knife Edge rock formation directly behind Brigitta
The above is the fertile top of the large mesa you saw in the second picture of this posting. The ancient indians apparently farmed the tops of the mesas, climbing up and down to them each day from their cliff side dwellings.
For more information about the Mesa Verde National Park and its historical significance: NPS Site
We rode together, me trailing the minivan, and reached Durango in time for a late dinner. Afterwards we made a beeline back to Pagosa Springs; both of us carefully watching for deer that might decided to run across the damn road in front of us.
No deer, and we arrived back at the Chimney Rock formation in time for this badly lit shot of the rock formations:
Chimney Rock at Sunset
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