Mesa Verde Before Balloon Fiesta

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It was a wonderful stop at Dead Horse Point State Park and Moab before that. Our nineteen days in the area seemed to fly by. We definitely got to see a lot of the area but will need to come back for things we missed. But now we must work our way towards Albuquerque for the balloon fiesta. We have 5 nights to spend before we have a reservation in Albuquerque at the KOA to prepare for the eleven days of boondocking at the fiesta. It’s about 450 miles and there are several routes we could take but decide to clip the southwestern corner of Colorado. Mesa Verde National Park is just a ways outside of Cortez Colorado and would get us about a third of the way to Albuquerque. Ancient Cedars RV Park is just across the road from the entrance to the national park and we figured this would be the most convenient stop to visit the park. We called ahead a few days before arriving to make sure we could get a spot for 4 nights.

It was an uneventful 160 mile drive to the campground. We had opted for one of the normal full hookup sites instead of a deluxe or premium one. We don’t spend much time enjoying the campgrounds so we only need a spot for the rig. Our spot was rather tight but we fit. It wasn’t quite as bad as being able to pass the salt and pepper thru our window to the neighbor’s rig, but it was close. Chris headed over to the park office to see about getting tickets to tour some of the sites at Mesa Verde. Some things are self-guided while others are ranger led and a ticket is required.

This isn’t the first time we have been  through this part of the country but it has been a long time. Back in 1991, as we were pedaling our tandem across the USA, we had spent a night in Cortez and apparently passed right by Mesa Verde as we headed east. It is strange though, because we don’t have any recollection of coming past here. On that trip, we had no extra time to explore things along the way. So even a national park would not have warranted a stop. We had a singular mission - make it across the country. As we were coming through here, we had the Rockies on our minds. Cross Country Bike Trip Video Link

Chris had managed to get us tickets to tour two of the cliff dwellings - Cliff Palace and Long House. Since they are in two different areas of the park, she bought one for our first full day and the other for our second day. We head over the first day to Mesa Verde well ahead of our Cliff Palace tour time. The park isn’t huge but the road from the entrance station to the cliff dwellings is rather twisty and gains over 1000 feet in elevation along the way. The Chapin Mesa Museum is about 20 miles from the entrance. We had enough time to check out the museum and watch the video about Mesa Verde. One of the dwellings known as the Spruce Tree House can be seen from an overlook near the museum, but we didn’t have enough time to take the walk over for a closer look.

Spruce Tree House

We drove the couple miles from the museum to the Cliff Palace and still had 15 minutes to kill before our tour starts. Even without a ticket, there is a path to an overlook making it possible to see the place albeit from several hundred feet away. The tour group before ours was down in the middle of the dwelling while the ranger was explaining some of the history. It looked like the tour groups are fairly large - maybe 45 to 50 people.

Tour Group at Cliff Palace

After assembling up top, and having the ranger explaining the various rules about not touching, sitting or walking on any of the walls, we start our walk down. It isn’t a very long walk, but it does require the group to walk down some uneven stone steps in a narrow crevice between two large boulders. When we get close to the place, he has us all sit down in the shade and gives a talk about the history of the site and answers questions.

Approaching Cliff Palace

Finally we get to walk up closer. I think the ranger only needed to remind one person about touching the walls, so our group was fairly well behaved. I find it fascinating how the various buildings are constructed in and around all the large boulders that had fallen from the “roof” of the alcove probably tens of thousands of years ago. Most of the construction had square corners but there are a few curved surfaces including a round tower. Before we knew it, our time was up as the next tour group started to arrive. The path back up continues on the far side of Cliff Palace and is equally challenging with uneven steps and narrow passages as we ascend to the top of the mesa. It’s well worth the price of $5 per person if you have the time to fit it into your visit.

Walking by Cliff Palace

Round Tower

We found a picnic area nearby to have lunch, then continued on the Cliff Palace Loop. There are a few other stops along the way although Balcony House tours were already closed for season.

Balcony House

There is another six mile loop just south of the museum. Mesa Top Loop has a great number of stops along the way. Navajo Canyon View was quite pretty. It seems like just about any small alcove in the canyon walls had some sort of structure built into them. Just down the loop from there is the Square Tower House. This dwelling was occupied in the mid 1100’s to late 1200’s and isn’t one that can be visited up close, but there is an overlook that provides a good bird’s eye view of the dwelling.

Navajo Canyon

Square Tower Dwelling

Closer View of Square Tower

Continuing around this loop, there are a number of stops to see various pit houses. In order to preserve these artifacts that aren’t at least partially protected from the elements by an overhang like the cliff dwellings, the park has large metal buildings covering them. These pit houses aren’t nearly as interesting as the cliff dwellings. But each one has an interpretive sign to explain its age and how it would have been used.

Two Room Pit House

Square Pit House

Round Pit House

Off the Mesa Top Loop is a spur road that heads out to the Sun Temple. This is a large above ground building that is believed to have been used for ceremonial purposes. There were several workers there doing some sort of maintenance or repair so it wasn’t clear if it is normally possible to get a closer look. From this location there is also a great view of Cliff Palace across the valley.

Sun Temple

Top of Sun Temple

Cliff Palace from Across Valley

The next day was our scheduled tour of Long House. Since our tour time was later in the afternoon, we headed back into the park, but took the turn towards Wetherill Mesa. This road is a much narrower and curvy road than those in the rest of the park. After 12 miles, it ends at a large parking area with a paved 5 mile loop trail continuing on from there. Just off the parking area is a one mile loop trail that proceeds down 100 feet to Step House. We happened to be heading down as a local volunteer was making his way down for his shift. There is a long staircase heading down the side of the cliff but is constructed of modern materials rather than uneven stone steps. This site is self guided but they do have somebody at the site to both answer questions and prevent damage. We had a nice talk with the volunteer and he gave us a bit of the background for this unique site. It was occupied by two different groups over the years. Back in A.D. 625, one group lived in pit houses underneath the overhang. The park has reconstructed one in a cross section view for visitors to see how they were built.

Pretty Morning at Mesa Verde

Cutaway View of Pit House

Six hundred years later, a masonry pueblo was constructed in this alcove. What was neat about Step House is that visitors are permitted to climb up the ladder and explore a bit of the upper portion of the dwelling.

Step House Dwelling

Kiva at Step House

Stairs Heading Down to Step House

We still had plenty of time to kill before our tour so we did another hike out a dirt trail to an overlook to Nordenskiöld Site #16. Named after a Swedish man that was the first to scientifically study the ancient Pueblo ruins here in Mesa Verde back in the late 1800’s more than a decade before the area became a national park. Along the trail, it was clear a fire had come through here at some point and left a lot of charred small trees. It’s a mile out to the overlook and across the canyon, we could see Site #16.

Charred Trees 

Nordenskiöld Site #16

We came back and ate our lunch in a covered picnic area where our tour was to leave from. The group size for this tour was about half the size as yesterday’s tour - about 25 people. The walk to Long House is over 2 miles round trip which may keep the number of visitors down. Our ranger was good at keeping a slow pace since we are at over 7000 feet in elevation and we had some people that probably don’t do a lot of walking. Most of the walk was along the paved walkway but we eventually hit dirt trail with steps and switchbacks to get down to the alcove where Long House resides.

Heading to Long House

Approaching Long House

This tour actually brings us into the inside of the dwellings which includes the need to climb two sets of wooden ladders. Fortunately these ladders appear to be new construction made to look old. It took some time to get the whole group inside but then we got a more thorough description of the construction and the people that lived here centuries ago.

Long House

Interior of Long House

Long House Has Great View

Ladders Leading to Interior Room

After the tour finished, we headed back to the main paved loop trail. Since we were already a mile into the 5 mile loop, we figured we might as well continue. Near the far end was another cliff dwelling known as the Kodak House. Since we worked at Eastman Kodak for over a combined 50 years, this seemed like a “must do” stop. The short spur trail brings us to an overlook with the Kodak House across the canyon. So named because the Swedish explorer stored some of his Kodak camera equipment in the building, not because Eastman Kodak sponsors the place. Near the northern end of the loop are some more metal buildings covering up several additional pit houses and kivas. This group is known as the Badger House Community. These were more elaborate holes in the ground with stonework lining the walls. It was a tiring five mile walk around the loop. We would have been better off bringing the bicycles along since they are permitted on this loop and being paved would have been an easy ride.

Sign for Kodak House Spur Trail

Kodak House

Stone Lined Kiva

Spherical Seed Head

Spending two days at Mesa Verde National Park seemed to be about the right amount of time. Visitors could see the highlights in one full day, but spreading it out over two days allowed us to see most of what is there and not be completely worn out. We still had a full day before moving on so we did a short day trip into Durango. We didn’t have firm plans of what to do there but we wanted to see if anything in town looked familiar to us from our bike trip 28 years ago. We parked in the downtown area and just walked around. It seems like a nice town but none of it looked familiar to us.

Strater Hotel Built 1887

Interesting Artwork

We did a lot of walking and found a nice paved trail next to the Animas River. There is also a narrow gauge train that goes between Durango and Silverton but it is an all day excursion so will need to wait until we make it back to the area. The wildlife museum was closed for the season but the fish hatchery was open and we could walk around the fish races.

Narrow Gauge RR Bridge Over Animas River

Art Along River Trail

Fish at Hatchery

Sunflower

We have one more night before hitting Albuquerque. Gallup NM is about halfway there and it has an Elks Lodge. The drive gets us to within 20 miles of the Four Corners - the place where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona intersect. I suppose we might have done a short detour to check it out but that is one place we remember from our cross country bicycle trip so we don’t really feel the need to see it again. It’s a rather desolate drive most of the way until just before Interstate 40. The Gallup Elks Lodge overlooks a golf course and is in a nice area of town but the only way to get there is about a mile of driving through a residential area with lots of turns. We managed to get out to a nearby park for a walk and a geocache and then came back to the lodge for a beer at the bar. It was a fairly busy place but most of the people were in the back room where the gambling takes place.

Parked at Gallup Elks Lodge

Elks Lodge Pool

Overlooking Golf Course

The next day we drive the rest of the way to Albuquerque to a KOA. The goal was to catch up on chores and get prepped for the 11 nights of boondocking we would doing while at the Balloon Fiesta. This KOA is right next to I-40 and even with the tall concrete noise barrier, it was quite loud. More like a rest stop along an expressway rather than a relaxing campground. Fortunately we were only there for 2 nights. Of course we were there just before the fiesta started so they had raised their rates to account for the increased demand. It didn’t feel like a $75 Site to us! This ends up being our most expensive campground in our three plus years on the road.

The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta is the world’s largest hot air balloon event. This year it starts on the morning of Saturday October 5 and finishes up on Sunday the 13th. Each morning, weather permitting, over 600 balloons will launch from the main field. Besides commercial campgrounds in the area, during the event, there are numerous large fields or lots that are turned into huge campgrounds. Depending on your budget or need for amenities, you can have just about any level of camping from complete boondocking to 50 amp electric and water.  The prices range from $40 to $250 per night. None of these options have sewer connections but there is a service available to get pumped out or more fresh water for an additional fee. Part of the price difference is also how close you are to the launch field. The really expensive sites have views of the launch field while the cheaper ones will be over a mile away.

We had decided to do the Balloon Fiesta with a group instead of dealing with it on our own. The main reason for this is that the camping options tend to fill up nearly a year in advance, so if you want to do it on your own, get ready to make plans right after the prior years event is over. In fact, I suspect that the majority of the sites are booked by various groups in large blocks and then resold to their customers. We are members of a group called Escapees. It’s a large organization that does advocacy work for RVers around the country. They also have a dozen or so campgrounds scattered about the country and we have stayed at a couple of them over the years. But the feature we would use for the Balloon Fiesta was one of their organized outings called a HOP.

The Escapees HOP had about 30 sites reserved in the south corner of the south lot. Since the event is 10 days long, they had several options: come for the first half, the second half or the full event. Since we knew the weather could impact the balloons going up, we opted for the full event just to make sure we got to experience it properly. It would really suck to go for a few days only to have wind or rain cancel the launches. We also had heard that the RV traffic coming into the camping areas the Friday before the event can be quite bad. So we registered for two extra nights before the event started with the side benefit of those nights being half price.

The drive from the KOA to the Fiesta grounds should have been a fairly quick one but an accident on I-40 had us waiting in traffic for an additional 30 minutes. The Escapees volunteers did a great job of getting people in and parked. We also lucked out and got a parking spot along a fence line and the aisle for traffic to drive around the area. This meant that we wouldn’t have another rig right next to us and need to worry about the fumes from their generator. Right after we pulled in, our friends Lorraine and Michael stopped by. We had sent them a message back in February just after we had booked our spot at the HOP to see if they might want to join us for the fiesta and they had decided it sounded fun. They were just one rig up from us so we were looking forward to being able to catch up with them.

Some Balloons Out Before Event Starts

Pretty Clouds at HOP Event

Part of the other perks for paying for the HOP was the fact that there would be hot breakfast served each morning and a handful of dinners. They had a big tent setup on one end of their area with tables and chairs and even lights. All this would be important because the balloons launch early in the morning. The first group of 10 or so launch at 6 AM so having somebody else making us breakfast before we head over to the field will be nice, but more on the HOP and the actual event in the next blog post.

We did have one free day since we were here early, so we got our friends to join us to go over to over to Petroglyph National Monument. It’s a big place just on the outskirts of Albuquerque. There are several different areas to explore and we headed to the area named Piedras Marcadas Canyon. It has a parking area at the trailhead with room for about 15 cars. The hike is about a 1.5 mile loop and supposedly has 400 petroglyphs along the way. Being high desert with no shade, we were definitely glad to have heeded the warning to bring along water. Much of the trail is sandy and a slow walk but that was okay since you need to be going slowly enough to spot the petroglyphs. Many of them are a hundred feet or so off the trail making it difficult to spot them all or see them clearly. I probably should have brought along a longer focal length lens to get better pictures.

Flowers in Piedras Marcadas Canyon

It wasn’t a completely desolate area. There were a fair number of flowers in bloom for early October. We also spotted the most incredible looking bug walking across the trail. It was a little smaller than a half dollar coin with a bulbous body. It’s back was covered with small emerald green patches that sparkled in the bright sun. I tried to research what kind of bug it is but as of yet haven’t found anything that comes close. If someone knows, pass along the name to me.

Emerald Bug

One Hand Has SIX Fingers!

After finishing up the loop, we headed over to the main portion of the national monument where the visitor center is located. They had a nice covered patio area with picnic table and we enjoyed our lunch before checking out the visitor center and a well done movie about the petroglyphs and how this area is a spiritual spot for the ancestors of those that created these petroglyphs. There are several other areas in the park with trails and more petroglyphs but we had enough for the day. 

On Friday, the rest of the rigs arrived and the HOP activities began. One of the experienced balloon pilots came to our area to give a talk and demonstration about flying balloons. He brought along all his gear but it was a very windy afternoon so we helped him carry his basket into the tent to explain the equipment. He wasn't able to light the burner but we got a good idea of how it all works. After our catered dinner, we call it an early evening since we have breakfast at 4:30 AM tomorrow morning!

Balloon Discussion

Getting Ready to Move the Basket

View From Our Tent