Day 13: Mesa Verde

I woke up to the sun and drove into Mesa Verde National Park.  I had some ranger-led Tours starting at 1:00 pm so I took my time on the way, stopping to see the viewpoints along the way.  I had tours to Cliff Palace and Balcony House.  In both Tours and the video in the visitor center, they stressed that the old narrative that was taught - that the people living in Mesa Verde had disappeared one day -  was false.  The people had in fact migrated south and formed Pueblos along the way.  All in all, it was a cool experience where I learned a lot.  The climbs into and out of the cliff dwellings weren't technical, but they definitely required some mobility.  The Rangers gave warnings before each tour but even so, a woman in the tour before us got stuck and needed to be rescued, causing us to have to wait for an extra half hour - though that just meant more time for questions so I didn't mind.