You look out across the scorched, blistered landscape and you think, "This is the earth after World War III." As far as you can see, the twisted black remains of trees jut from the barren, scarred hills like cigarettes in an ash can. The baked ground resembles blistered pizza crust. Even the sandstone rocks are cooked beet red.
Scorched Earth
I've heard the term "scorched earth" all my life, usually referring to war, but the charred terrain before us brings home the real meaning. We're on Wetherill Mesa in Mesa Verde National Park a forest fire had raged up the canyon and over the mesa top. Nothing in its path survived. Restrooms, the snack bar, benches, signs—all ashes and charcoal.
"A hard rain right now would be disastrous," Curtis Smart, Chief Interpreter for tours, says.
The fire uncovered and laid bare more than 1,000 archeological sites, many previously unknown. The first media reports made the discovery sound serendipitous, but the experts express grave concerns. "We're afraid that erosion will destroy many of the sites before we can determine what they contain," Smart says. "The more precarious ones will be covered and stabilized to protect them. Hopefully, we'll have an early snow and a gradual melt next spring. That will give the vegetation time to grow back." Already sprigs of green grass and root sprouts from Gamble's oak tint the red soil in protected places.
On July 20, 2000, lightning started a wildfire that ravaged 23,607 acres, 20,000 within the park. On August 2, lightning struck again, this time near Wetherill Mesa, and the resultant fire decimated 1,352 acres in the national park and 3,888 acres in the adjacent Ute Reservation tribal park. Some 1,000 firefighters battled the flames, saving the cliff dwellings and mesa-top sites from extensive damage. "Flames on the fire line shot 60 feet high and incendiary objects rocketed like cannon balls 300 feet into the air," Smart says. Fortunately, the major sites and visitor accommodations are on Chapin Mesa, which escaped the conflagration.
Heroic Firefighters
We park our car and get out to survey the scalded terrain. Ashes swirl around our ankles like blowing snow flakes. The asphalt path winds through the devastation to the precipice of the mesa. Below the rim, green pinyon pines and junipers greet us. The beauty of a pristine canyon undamaged by fire stretches out before our eyes.
Firefighters diverted the raging flames and protected Long House, the second largest cliff dwelling in the park. Nestled in the shaded alcove below the cliff, the 1,000-year-old village complex stands much as it did when its inhabitants mysteriously abandoned the mesa in the 1300’s. Once again, the home of the ancestors to the present-day pueblo Indians has survived the ravages of time and nature, but this time with human help.
With 4,000 archeological sites built between 600 and 1300 AD, Mesa Verde is widely recognized as a world treasure. The United Nations designated it a World Heritage Site and National Geographic Traveler placed it in the top 50 places to visit in a lifetime. Readers of Conde Nast Traveler rate the park as the top historical monument in the world. In terms of the historical and archeological importance of the Southwest, this juniper-covered mesa in the southwest corner of Colorado equals the Pyramids of Giza, Machu Picchu in Peru and the Great Wall of China.
Rescued Treasures
Our trail leads down the slope to the entrance of Long House. As we step into the plaza area, a pair of ravens roosting on a wall squawk at the intrusion. They take off and circle above the alcove, then land in a pine. They watch us as though they are the guardian spirits of the ruins.
About 150 people lived in Long House. Chatter and the bustle of daily life filled the ceremonial plaza, kivas and rooms. Marks on the floor tell the story of groups of women grinding corn in metates (shallow stone basins), of men sharpening stone tools in groves in the sandstone, of water trickling down carved channels from a seep spring. Now, the ruins are silent except for the ravens. But a sense of expectancy fills the alcove, as though the inhabitants will soon return and resume their daily lives.
Wetherill Mesa is accessible only during the summer months. The majority of the ancestral puebloan sites are located on Chapin Mesa, where park facilities remain open year around. The first stop in the park is the Far View Visitor Center for information, exhibits and an orientation. The Far View Lodge, the only hotel in the park, and the Far View Terrace cafeteria and gift shop are also located here.
We purchase timed tickets ($1.75 each) to tour Cliff Palace and Balcony House, the only sites that require tickets, then drive to park headquarters where a museum, post office, sandwich cafe and gift shop are located. A short, paved path from the museum leads down to Spruce House, a good introduction to the cliff dwellings.
Each village site, on the mesa top and in the cliff alcoves, has a number of kivas, which are circular rooms excavated into the ground. Rangers on duty answer questions and explain the significance of the kivas to the daily life of the Indians, past and present. Kivas served as ceremonial and religious centers for the families and villages. A reconstructed kiva is open at Spruce House. We descend the ladder into the middle of the dimly lit room, which, to the Indians, represented our origins, the womb of Mother Earth.
Ruins Road
The Ruins Road splits into two loops. Excavated exhibits on one explain the subterranean pit houses used for hundreds of years before the mesa-top farmers moved into the cliff dwellings. This loop offers excellent views of the dwellings in the alcoves on the opposite canyon walls. The other loop leads to Cliff Palace, Balcony House and more mesa-top ruins. Access to Balcony House requires climbing a 40-foot ladder in and out and crawling through a three-foot-high tunnel. Visitors also must climb a ladder out of Cliff Palace.
A Natural Part of the Ecology
Though the fires of the summer of 2000 burned nearly half the park, only a few of the 600 alcove sites sustained smoke or heat damage. Conflagration is not new to the park. Major fires swept through in 1934, 1959, 1974, 1989 and 1996.
"Fire is a natural part of the ecology, but it has amazing destructive powers," says Will Morris, Chief of Interpretation for the Park Service. "Next year we should have a riot of wildflowers, and animals that require open area will flourish. Feral horses and a herd of 100 elk already have moved in.
"But we have a serious erosion problem that may impact fish in the Mancos River, and we don't know the fire's impact on the Mexican spotted owl. A major problem will be the invasion of non-native plants. We're seeding 6,000 acres with native grasses to try to get ahead of the thistles."
From the restaurant in the Far View Lodge, the panorama encompasses the area burned by the 1996 fire. Brushy oaks, scrubby bushes and a blanket of grass cover the area and the pine and juniper trees are coming back. Fire is a time of endings and of beginnings. Witnessing nature's powers of destruction and rebirth is all part of the timelessness, and the treasure, of Mesa Verde.
Location, Access, Facilities and Weather
The Mesa Verde National Park entrance is located an hour’s drive east on Hwy. 160 from Cortez, Colorado, or hour and a half drive west on Hwy. 160 from Durango, Colorado. Facilities are located 20 miles inside the park.
Mesa Verde is open daily, year-round. The Chapin Mesa Museum is open from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. from mid-April to mid-October and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. the rest of the year. Far View Visitor Center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from mid-April to mid-October. Ranger-guided tours and self-guided tours are available in spring, summer and fall. with limited services in winter.
Spring weather is variable, ranging from the 30’s (Fahrenheit) with snow to the 70’s (F) with sunshine. Summer temperatures can reach the 90’s (F), with afternoon thunderstorms occurring in July and August. Fall weather usually means warm days and cool nights, with the possibility of snow by October. Winter temperatures reach well below freezing at night with the park sometimes experiencing as much as three to four feet of snow and icy conditions.
Lodging
Far View Motor Lodge.
The Far View Motor Lodge is within Mesa Verde National Park next to the park Visitor Center. It is open from May through October. It has no phones and no TV. There is a restaurant at the lodge and a cafeteria nearby. Gasoline is also available. Click Here for (reservations, availability and rates)
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