Climbing a 32-foot ladder at more than 8,000 feet can leave one feeling a bit - exhilarated! Mesa Verde is a place of ghosts past. An ancient civilization living on the edge - literally! With expansive and beautiful views of mesas, canyons, and sky, one can't think of a nicer place to live.
The Ancestral Pueblo people that inhabited this area of southwestern Colorado more than a thousand years ago, learned to build their homes within the canyon walls and cliffs of the ancient mesas, away from the harsh summer sun and the cold north winds of winter.
They made pottery and tools, cultivated crops, and painted wonderful images of their gods on the walls of their stone villages in the sky. These ancient people worshipped in the underground kivas of their cliff-dwelling communities.
I found myself wondering about the families that lived among this landscape of stark beauty. Did they love their children the same way as we do today? Were they happy? Did they struggle to survive with the same type of conflicts and challenges that we face everyday as well?
A powerful and fascinating place to visit - built by a culture lost to time.
