Mesa Verde NP: Weatherill Mesa

Today, the second day we set aside for exploring Mesa Verde NP, we headed to the Wetherill Mesa area.

First up was another ranger-assisted hike/tour … this time to the largest cliff dwelling on this mesa … Long House. It is believed that between 1150-1300, several generations of Ancestral Puebloan families lived together in this dwelling, which has 150 rooms and 21 kivas. What made this tour special was that we were able to enter the dwelling and walk in the footsteps of the ancients as we wandered through the rooms in which they lived.

The hike to the dwelling is about 2 miles round-trip … all but .3 miles of that being on a paved path from the information kiosk. Once allowed through the trailhead gate, we went down concrete steps and followed a downhill dirt path to the dwelling. When we reached Long House, we then climbed up two 15-foot ladders. All doable with a bit of agility. I’m glad we opted for the 9:30a tour — and actually got on the 9:00a tour — as at that early hour, the temperature was still comfy.

Once we got back to the top of the cliff, we decided to take a detour along the Long House Loop Trail … all paved. By doing so, not only did we not retrace our path back to the kiosk, but we also got to check out the views of Long House from the overlook, and take a peek at the ruins at the mesa-top Badger House community. Here we saw pithouses that are thought to date back to around 620-860.

Back at the kiosk, we had a quick picnic lunch. Thus re-energized, we tackled the hike down to visit the Step House … the only cliff dwelling visitors are allowed to check out on their own. The ~ 1-mile paved zig-zag trail down to the dwelling is steep, but doable … with an elevation change of about 100 feet. This path is normally used to get back up to the top of the cliff, but we hiked it both ways since the trail down to the ruins — which includes some steep staircases — is closed for restoration.

What makes Step House special is that one gets to see — side by side — a reconstructed pithouse that dates back to 620 as well as a multi-story pueblo that was built centuries later. Archaeologists have posited that the pit houses gradually developed into the circular rooms we know as kivas. In the pueblo, we also saw a panel with clearly defined petroglyphs chipped into the rock face … interpreted by modern Pueblo people as clan and migration symbols.

It was 3:00p by the time we climbed back up to the kiosk and made our way to the car. Since our day had started at 7:00a, we were ready to call it quits. Turns out that was a good thing. Why? That story is for the next footprint.Read more