From Hovenweep we headed for Mesa Verde National Park and our route took us through Canyon of the
Ancients National Monument. Pagosa Springs was our next stop to visit my brother Harry and then from
there we went to Sand Dunes National Park
In Canyon of the Ancients we didn’t see any ruins (but we didn’t
stop either) but we did see some great fall colors in the valley floor
Not all the dwellings at Mesa Verde were large
communities as shown by the one with just 4
windows/doors underlined by red above. The picture at
left is the butte that marks the edge of the Mesa as seen
from our campsite. For those who like trivia, the cliff
dwellings at Mesa Verde aren’t actually on a mesa, they
are on a cuesta which is a hill formation that is much
stepper on one side than it is on the other.
For some reason we didn’t take many pictures at
my brother’s but I did get this one of some deer
grazing in his front yard
The Great Sand Dune
The tallest sand dune in North America
