Mesa Verde Petroglyphs

When we first arrived at the Mesa Verde museum and I saw a trail leading to petroglyphs, my first instinct was to immediately head out, but the “strenuous” label on the trail and the near 90º temperature gave me second thoughts. After learning that there was a camp site available nearby, we decided we would hike the trail the next morning when it would be cooler.

We were up early the next morning and the first on the trail. It was cool enough that we started with coats and gloves, though the trail was strenuous enough we soon shed them. We quickly descended into a canyon and started climbing the other side, looking back across the canyon to our starting point.

strthik

In retrospect, I wish I had gotten some shots of the stairs cut into the rocks, but I was occupied with climbing up and down them without falling or just trying to catch my breath.

I did get some shots of the narrow path between the rocks, another notable part of the hike.

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The first time I saw one of these passages I looked for a way around, thinking there was no way I could fit through it. Turned out squeezing through it was much safer than going around on the edge.

I couldn’t resist taking shots of the cliffs and trees

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and the canyon we were following.

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Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed by the petroglyphs that had inspired the hike, especially since I was expecting more of them. (You definitely need to open the picture in a new tab to see a bigger version of this shot.)petroglyphs

Here’s a closeup of a section of the mural.

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As I looked at the rocky cliffs near the petroglyphs, I wondered if the artist(s) were inspired by the amazing shapes and textures of the walls that served as their canvas.

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