Day 12 – Mesa Verde National Park, CO to Aztec Ruins National Monument to Albuquerque, NM

Miles driven today: 309 Cumulative miles: 2873 The alarm went off at 6:30am and we got up to break down camp. The fly of the tent was soaked as it rained most of the night. We carefully removed the fly, shook it off, and put it on a tarp in the car to hopefully dry out. We finished packing up camp and decided we had time to shower before our 10:00am tour of Balcony House. We bought the tour tickets last night and were told by the Ranger that with the road construction in the park, it would take two hours to drive there from the campground. We left from the showers/ campground at 8:00am and arrived at Balcony House 40 minutes later. We used the 12-volt coffee pot to heat water and made oatmeal for breakfast while waiting in the parking lot. A ranger showed up to give the 9:00am tour. I asked if we could take that tour instead of waiting an hour and he let us. There were a total of six people on the tour including us, so it was easy to move, listen, take pictures, and ask questions. To reach the 40-room Balcony House, you descend down a path, then down some steps, down more path, and then up a 32-foot ladder into the palace. Our Ranger this time was much more informative and friendlier than our Ranger last nigh. We went through the various rooms of Balcony House and worked our way to the other end where you have to crawl on your hands and knees through a narrow tunnel (built by the ancestral Puebloans) to leave the dwelling. You continue down a path, up another tall ladder, then up some steep steps carved into the rock face by the Civil Conservation Corps – CCC – the ancestral Puebloans used more rough foot and hand holds. The tour ended about 10:00am and we went to check out the museum. There are a lot of great artifacts and information in the museum, but it could use some updating/ re-vamping. We still spent about an hour there before deciding to make our way out of the park. There are a few other sites in the park we would have like to visit, but with a portion of the park closed because it is now after Labor Day, we will have to come back another time. After leaving the park, we stopped in Cortez for a quick lunch before getting on the road again. We drove for nearly two hours before reaching Aztec Ruins National Monument near Aztec, New Mexico. The funny thing about Aztec Ruins is that they are not Aztec ruins at all – they are ancestral Puebloan ruins. Apparently the early settlers mistakenly thought these were Aztec ruins and also named the town Aztec, so it stuck. Although these ruins are from the same era (1200 to 1300AD) as Mesa Verde and Hovenweep, they are not in a canyon like those sites. Aztec Ruins is more out in the open. The site is a giant Pueblo with the second largest kiva that they are aware of. While the other kivas we’ve seen could comfortably be used by 12 to 15 people, this one could easily handle more than 100. The Great Kiva, as they call it, has been reconstructed, but, as we learned in the short talk we listened to at the kiva, the archeologist that they hired to reconstruct it didn’t even follow the notes and diagram he made when he originally studied this site. He made changes as he saw fit, adding or changing doorways and such. At least he made the perimeter the same size as the original so that we could still get an idea of the size of this massive kiva. We toured the grounds for almost an hour after the talk before taking off towards Albuquerque. The drive took about three hours and was mostly uneventful except for some really hard rain for about 15 minutes and a cop driving in my blind spot for about three or four minutes while he ran my out-of-state plates (really, if I were to steal a car or to be running from the law, I think I would pick a less obvious car than a bright orange Honda Element). We made it to Jim and Jane’s house (my dad’s cousins) right at 7:00pm and debated about where to go for dinner. Daniel finally said that Chinese dumplings sounded good, so we all went to P.F. Changs. After dinner, we went back to the house and sat around a chatted for a good two hours until we could hardly keep our eyes open anymore. We figured out that the last time I was at their place was 15 years ago (I was 12) and I hadn’t seen Jim and Jane’s kids since then (I’ve seen Jim and Jane, and Daniel has met them a few times as they’ve been up to Washington to visit). Way too long. We finally headed to bed after 11:00pm – under a real roof on a real bed for a change. Wildlife seen: mule deer, coyote, magpies, elk (in a refuge) Miles hiked: ~1.5