Judgement day. Mesa Verde National Park…The Balcony House hike. The wife gets another chance to overcome her fear of heights! Annnnnd she passed. I'm on my own as she's probably drinking mimosas back at the lodge. Oh well, let's do it. As we explained in our last post, we narrowly secured scheduled hike tickets to a few of the hikes/cliff dwellings in the park. Make sure you do this as you enter the park - if you wait till later you'll be at the top of the mountain with a long drive back to the beginning to make it happen. I showed up at the Balcony House parking lot and hung out until the scheduled start of the hike. You walk in a decent-size group with a park ranger for a little bit before you start climbing up ladders! Once you're in, you spend some time exploring and learning about the many rooms, kivas, plazas, and history of the 13th century cliff dwellers, ancestors of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico & Arizona. Time is of the essence as there is another group on your tail. Don't expect a lot of individual exploration on this hike - you're in and out. Exiting is a little trickier than the ladders at the beginning of the house. First you squeeze, and I mean squeeze, through some super tight cliff walls. Next you climb a few more ladders, these a little more exposed (to death). You arrive back up top just a few clicks from where you started. I'm so glad I went on the hike. The wifey was right in not going ~ the heights would have freaked her out (and the small spaces). To those with similar fears - prepare to overcome them or hang back at the lodge and have a mimosa (or just an orange juice if you're little:). Next up: more hiking in the park. Tune in Monday!
~Paul (only) ETC
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I had cliff dwellings on my mind as we departed the dino-extravaganza in Lehi for Mesa Verde National Park. It turns out that the busyness of this epic road trip meant that I didn't really spend much time actually planning for this epic road trip. Luckily, the Mrs. is always there to efficiently complement my many inefficiencies. She booked us a couple nights at the Far View Lodge, located in the Park. That's our cabin in the picture above. Wifey did good. A stop at the park should really start at the Visitor's Center. It's a fancy looking building near the entrance of the park (it's before you start climbing up the long & curvy road). We decided to head straight up to our lodge. We should have stopped at the Center first…we'll explain why in a bit…oops. But we made it! It's a decent 25 min or more drive from the entrance of the park to the Far View Lodge up top. We checked-in and parked at our cabin. It was small but perfect in every way. Clean with hard floors, a balcony, bathroom & shower, fridge, and it is in walking distance to the restaurant & bar and the cafeteria-style breakfast place and gift shop. Did I mention pet-friendly? (1/2 of the units are anyway). We could live here. After relaxing for a bit we started to plan our days. We knew we'd like to try a few of the popular cliff dwelling hikes around the Park…hmmm…what's this? You have to buy tickets and make a reservation for some of the hikes - Balcony House hike at 1:30. OK, sounds good…where do we buy tickets? Ohhhhh…I see…back at the base of the mesa at the Visitor's Center. Huh. The Visitor's Center that's now closed. Oops. Well, no fear! There is a well-stocked general store and campground halfway down the mountain and there at the ranger booth you can buy next day trail tickets (make sure to ask about their hours too). We drove down as the sun was setting - not bad:) Well, all's well that ends with a pretty sunset. We stocked up on drinks and snacks at the general store and made it back up to the Lodge. We stopped by the restaurant for a bite and back to the cabin for some shut-eye. A good night sleep is in order if we're gonna climb the crazy cliff dwelling ladders in the morning!!!
Join us here on the blog Thursday to see if we actually made it. More specifically, I wonder if my organized-in-hotel-bookings but deathly-scared-of-heights wifey made it…! ~Paul, Amber, (sigh) Kali the cat Link to Mesa Verde National Park Link to the Far View Lodge Oh yeah...you heard it here first! The most beautiful sand dunes in the USA exist in Idaho. I know right? Who would of thought? Idaho! (please feel free to debate this sandy claim in the comment section!) After a quick Columbia River stop in our last post, ETC's epic road trip continues as we travel to Bruneau Dunes State Park. We pulled into our car camp site on a weekday in the summer. There were only about 2 other campers on the grounds that night - perfect - empty campsites are the best. As Amber relaxed tent-side with the feline, I set off on a golden-hour sand dune hike. I had the whole place to myself - it was epic. I would highly, highly, highly recommend exploring this area if you live close or are passing through. Sand hiking and sand boarding is encouraged and vehicles on the dunes are a no-no. There is an observatory on the grounds with several telescopes open to the public on various nights. The lack of light pollution and big sky is perfect for stargazing. I'm telling you: Bruneau Dunes State Park the best kept state park secret in the West! The most beautiful dunes in the country!!!
~Paul, Amber ETC |
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