More Cliff Dwellings..

Yesterday was our major exploration day. We took two tours of cliff dwellings - Balcony House and Cliff Palace. We also spent some time with two new neighbors across from us - Linda and Liz. Linda is an award winning photojournalist and Liz is Professor Emeritus from Arizona State and Berkley. Here they are with Bailey, the dog. Their cat (Bow Tie) is shy, and mostly stays in the motor home. Fortunately (for me), they had an injured windshield, so it was Dr. Glass to the rescue!




Ranger Rick prepares us for the tour. This one involved lots of climbing and crawling - something not easy at this high altitude. Many of the rangers are young - in their 20's. Nice kids - dedicated, knowledgeable, and energetic. Nice to see.



A view across the valley. Once you get the hang of it, cliff dwellings are easy to spot, since they typically exist about 100 ft. below the top because of geologic reasons. There are hundreds of dwellings in the park. Only four of the biggest are accessible to the public.




This is ominous. I don't like heights...





Didn't like this climb much either...







The climbing is worth it once you get into the cliff dwelling.





Mimi enjoying the tour immensely.






More ladders!




Mimi makes an excellent student as she listens to the ranger lecture.

The climb back up. We couldn't believe that they allow kids of any age on these tours. There were infants to teenagers roaming around, with no barriers to edges which go hundreds of feet down. I guess the rangers think the parents are responsible enough to keep them safe. Wrong!

Can you spot the cliff dwellings on the other side of the canyon?

Here is a close-up of one that's not accessible.






Home sweet home after a long day of touring





Happy hour starts at 4:00 pm, with a great view from our campsite.




Tomorrow - we will attempt to ride the Durango-Silverton railroad without reservations. We'll see if we can get aboard.