Mesa Verde National Park in early May, 2010

Photos of VenturaCountyTrails. Click on an image to see it full size. View the panorama photos.

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Cliff Palace overlook and waiting area for the tour.
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Our view of Cliff Palace from the overlook. The previous tour is standing around a kiva.
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There are other strucutres across Cliff Canyon from us
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Zooming in shows that they're not as elaborate as Cliff Palace
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Cliff Canyon
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The circular structure is called a kiva
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Looking up the tower to see the wall decorations. We'll be doing that in awhile
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Heading down the narrow passageway to Cliff Palace
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We also have a ladder to climb to get there
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Cliff Palace
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There's a storage area for corn in the attic
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Ranger Tim explains Anasazi life to us
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They built around the rocks they couldn't move
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Wooden beams that form the ceilings/floors of the rooms pass through the walls
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A kiva from a different angle
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Looking up inside the tower, we can see the wall is plastered on the inside and decorated with red marks: lines, zig-zags and mountain scenes
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Our last view of Cliff Palace as we're about to leave
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The exit is narrow, too
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We have to climb several ladders
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From Chapin Mesa on top, we can see snow in the distance
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Hemenway House from the overlook next to the main road
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Fire-scorched chaparral nearby contrasts with ice and snow in the distance