Day 2: Cortez to Ouray via Mesa Verde Nat'l Park
Hiking down the canyon into the first of 3 cave dwellings we went to see
The anestral Pueblo (formerly known as the Anasazi) built them @ 1160-1180 AD
They were built back under the cliffs, to get water out of the porous limestone
That allowed them to use all of the mesa above for farming
Very steep, easily defensible positions for the scarce water storage
They cut down the trees so that all 15-18 inches of rain annual would trickle down
Under the cave, ignoring the boring ranger
Original artwork, 700+ years old
32 foot ladder to climb
The ladder, then sheer face of a rock with just a handrail, then ladder routine later freaked me out
We had to crawl through that
After lunch in Durango we drove up to the beautiful San Juan Mountains, largest and highest in Colorado
Lake stil frozen as we drove up over 11,000+ foot passes
Silverton was one of the biggest towns in Colorado until 1893, more on that later
Ouray is tied with Monterey for the favorite place on Earth distinction
These are the Ouray hot springs, known to the Utes pr-Columbus, found by fur trappers in the 1820s
The China Clipper Inn, loved that place
Great room
I loved that painting, and read Ann Rand's 'Atlas Shrugged' in that chair when Britt would get ready to go out to dinner- part of the book is set in Ouray
Magical place, 7700 feet up, surrounded by mountains on all sides, valley was cut by glaciers
We were sad, so sad, to leave
Only 600 people live there now, all basically retired or working in something tourism based
The Beaumont Hotel, since 1887, when Ouray was a thriving mining town. All the main street buildings are from @ the 1880s
A travel writer called it "The Switzerland of America" in 1879, and the name stuck
Hiking down the canyon into the first of 3 cave dwellings we went to see
The anestral Pueblo (formerly known as the Anasazi) built them @ 1160-1180 AD
They were built back under the cliffs, to get water out of the porous limestone
That allowed them to use all of the mesa above for farming
Very steep, easily defensible positions for the scarce water storage
They cut down the trees so that all 15-18 inches of rain annual would trickle down
Under the cave, ignoring the boring ranger
Original artwork, 700+ years old
32 foot ladder to climb
The ladder, then sheer face of a rock with just a handrail, then ladder routine later freaked me out
We had to crawl through that
After lunch in Durango we drove up to the beautiful San Juan Mountains, largest and highest in Colorado
Lake stil frozen as we drove up over 11,000+ foot passes
Silverton was one of the biggest towns in Colorado until 1893, more on that later
Ouray is tied with Monterey for the favorite place on Earth distinction
These are the Ouray hot springs, known to the Utes pr-Columbus, found by fur trappers in the 1820s
The China Clipper Inn, loved that place
Great room
I loved that painting, and read Ann Rand's 'Atlas Shrugged' in that chair when Britt would get ready to go out to dinner- part of the book is set in Ouray
Magical place, 7700 feet up, surrounded by mountains on all sides, valley was cut by glaciers
We were sad, so sad, to leave
Only 600 people live there now, all basically retired or working in something tourism based
The Beaumont Hotel, since 1887, when Ouray was a thriving mining town. All the main street buildings are from @ the 1880s
A travel writer called it "The Switzerland of America" in 1879, and the name stuck
1 comment:
If Ann Rand was here, then the Book of Job is right--the devil can still come before God and complain.
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