We got up early to try and beat the desert heat, and left our campground about 7. It was an hour or so drive to Arches National Park.
I was very surprised to find that Arches National Park was rather slim on... well... arches.
We drove almost the whole park, and only saw two.
I think I'm going to sue for false advertising. (No, I don't know what the guy in the white hat is doing in that picture. I think it might be the chicken dance....)
We drove to our campground, (about an hour away) and set up our tent so it was ready when we got back that evening. Then it was only 15 minutes to Mesa Verde National Park.
Mesa Verde. Where to begin?
We saw some pit houses first, and what remained of a few above ground Pueblo houses and even a temple.
And then we decided to take a tour. For $4 a person, you could go on a guided tour of the one of the houses built into the side of the mesa. We chose the tour described as the "most adventurous" of the three, and headed out.
(I kind of didn't understand at the time we bought the tickets that we would actually be walking through the 800+ year old pueblo itself....)
The first step was a giant, 3 story tall ladder.
Our tour guide, Ranger Forest (yes, the park ranger's last name was Forest), led us into the pueblo and gave us some information about their construction, and asked us why we thought the Pueblo people might have moved from their homes up on top of the mesa.
He was a great teacher, very good at engaging his listeners, and getting us to think and ask questions. I love learning about history anyway, but I found Ranger Forest to be especially fun to listen to.
The tour lasted about an hour, and involved three ladders in total, and two crevices/crawlspaces in which I had to take my backpack off and turn sideways, crawl through on my hands and knees, or both. Thankfully I'm not afraid of heights, or small spaces.
It was pretty late by the time the tour ended, and we still had a 20+ mile drive to get out of the park, so Breanna and I made our way back to the van, unloaded our backpacks, and drove back to the campground for the night.
We made beans and rice for dinner, with a side of Alfredo macaroni (yum), and then got to enjoy a beautiful sunset while we cleaned up and organized the van a bit.
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