So as we continue our education about travelling across the country, we realized that the park we were going to stay at would mean a two hour one way trip to Mesa Verde National Park. So we began looking for another park. We constantly are finding the Casinos are providing either free parking or reduced full hook ups. So we decided to move to Ute Mountain Casino which was 30 minutes outside of the park.
Getting there required us to go over a mountain pass in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado across the Lizard Head Pass. The pass is named for a prominent nearby peak that is said to look like the head of a lizard, the 13,113 ft (3,997 m) spire of Lizard Head. The pass is currently traversed by State Highway 145. Here are the views of the drive to Ute Mountain Casino.
Although there is a hike to Lizard Head, we didn’t attempt to do it because we were not ready or have the equipment to go up to 13,113 feet.
Once we set up at the Casino, we went to Four Corners – which is in the middle of the Navajo Reservation.
There is not much else to do but stand at the four corners. All around the square are shops selling locally made jewelry which you can see in the background of this picture.
Another day we went to the Mesa Verde National Park. Another large park with very limited areas to see. As you can see from the map, there are two deadend roads into the park. The bottom right was the area we visited. It takes 60 minutes from the gate to the lower area. So all of this land set aside but no access to it.
Here is a blow up of the main part of the park.
Of course the Cliff Palace is the main attraction.
We had made reservations in July to participate in the 700 Year Tour. “The 700 Years Tour provides you with an overall historical view of the Ancestral Puebloansā architectural, horticultural, cultural, and religious dimensions of their lives in the Southwest. You will be taken through a chronological journey starting with the earliest recorded Pithouse villages (600 A.D.) in history to the classic Pueblo era of cliff dwellings dated from the 13th century. Cliff Palace, the largest of cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde National Park, is viewed as one of the top ten places to visit in a lifetime.”
Of course the first thing Lorraine thought about the naming of the 700 Year Tour was subtracting 2017-600 you and getting 1,400+ years old. Then the Ranger explained that the 700 years 600 A.D. – 1300 A.D. (Lorraine hung her head low and didn’t admit to her thoughts.)
Long history was provided of why the Puebloans moved from the mesa atop of the dwellings to the cliffs. This statute at the Visitor Center shows you how the Puebloans would put the corn on their backs and climb up the cliffs to the mesa to plant their crops. On the mesa was where they planted all of their food.
Views from the tour.
Of course it was fun to see this Mule Deer Buck.
First stop was the Pithouse Built in 600 A.D. While the pithouses in Mesa Verde are not restored with the roofs, here is picture from the internet to understand that there was a roof to the Pithouse and in the center was an entrance which was entered by climbing a ladder.
Here are what the Pithouse look like in the Park. It was amazing to think that families lived in these. You can see from the picture about how tall the walls were. It is unfortunate that these were not retained. In fact many of these pithouses are under strub all over the park – and have not been found. 
View of the Cliff Dwellings from Sun Point View. There are four areas from this view.
The Sun Temple was another area where the tribe lived. There was not a roof on this temple. Very massive. Walls were taller than us and we even had to climb on top of a large boulder to look in. Again amazing that his area was saved for others to see. The Ranger who was with us said that as a child she was allowed to climb the walls and run inside of the temple. Good thing they have stopped this so that is can be kept.
We started our tour at 1:30 pm and we arrived for the Cliff Tour at 4 p.m. so you got to see a lot of the park by the time you got here. One thing to know is that there is a steep walk down do the cliff and long walk back up – to include climbing 3 ladders. Incredible.
The walk back up. We are headed to the blue sky you can see at the top of the picture. A huffer for sure.
On the drive back we were able to the the four windows in the side of the mountain. There are no structures behind these windows so they are mystery.
The final view before we end our tour.
So another great visit to a National Park. Don’t hesitate to visit. Off to Monument Valley next.
