Balcony House

Mesa Verde National Park...home of the “Ancestral Pueblo People”, farmers who lived and grew crops on this Colorado Mesa from maybe 700 until about 1300. Beginning in about 1200, many chose to build their homes in cliff side alcoves.,,there are many sites near here , lots have not yet been excavated... We’ve been here several times, with our grandkids to the largest Cliff Palace several years ago, but never in this particular dwelling. The ranger kept warning us about the ladders and the very narrow tunnel and how hard it is for those who are used to sea level, or have any heart issues and the last spot we could turn back! At 7000 ft, she was making me nervous. However there was no way I’d miss it. All was well.. the blip is the first ladder we had to climb to get there..I think it shows how on the edge of the canyon it is. There are 38 small rooms and 2 large sacred kivas here...no one knows why they came here ( for defense? )or why they left ( drought?). Not sure how some of the larger people in our group crawled thru the narrow tunnels... one extra is T. And a couple other views , one showing part of one kiva and one including us 4, glad we have survived . the last stone steps nearly did me in.. :-) wish I could have taken a decent photo of that .The 2nd to last extra is a photo of Spruce House across the canyon...and remnants of the huge fire in 2002, cracking the stone above, making this dwelling not possible to visit now. A really fun day and we didn’t do the driving. If you want to know more about this fascinating site, google Mesa Verde. We’ve been very well taken care of... tomorrow.... new sights....