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Weather: The weather at Mesa Verde was wonderful too! 80s and sunny with a perfect
breeze to keep you cool while hiking.
Mesa Verde is up around 7000 feet and we got there having driven all night around 10:40am,
but we still found the energy to go on two guided tours of Cliff Palace and Balcony House as
well as a 3 mile hike to see some petroglyphs. Everything was very interesting and cool
with a little bit of learning stuck in for good measure. The road through the park
provides constant breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside as did the hiking
trails we went on. Cliff Palace was the easiest to get to and very enjoyable. Balcony
House involved climbing a 32ft wooden ladder and crawling through a 1.5ft by 4ft by 12ft
tunnel. It was very cool. The hike to the petroglyphs was over, under, along canyon walls.
We brought water with us and eagerly partook of it during our rests. The two tour guides
were fun and seemed to know what they were talking about. That night we camped in the park
and had an enjoyable dinner of spaghetti rings, some type of alfredo pasta pack, and S'mores cooked
both over our fire and our propane stove. The propane lantern I bought worked like a charm and
lit up the two tents, picnic table, and some of the neighboring campsite (sorry) like a
lighthouse would have done. We all had enjoyable (slightly on the chill side) nights and awoke
to the bagels, juice, and pop-tarts we'd bought at the store two days before.
On the way to Holbrook, AZ and the Painted Desert we stopped off at Four Corners. The only
place in the USA where four states' borders touch each other: Utah, Arizona, New Mexico,
and Colorado.
We also went through breathtaking Monument Valley, check back later for more of those pictures!
© 1997-2001 Shawn Patton
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Painted Desert