Mesa Verde is the strangest National Park…I mean that in in a good way…we’ve been to. It’s pretty small, not very picturesque, rarely crowded, easy to get a campsite, has excellent wifi, and free showers twenty-four hours a day. All definitely un-National Park like.
LADDER TO THE UNKNOWN
We spent a couple of days on the wifi and in the showers…catching up…if you know what I mean. It’s just a few minutes from Cortez so we were able to easily get fresh meat and a pizza…or two. And the weather was GOOD! High eighties in the day. Low fifities at night.
DILAPIDATED CHARMER WITH VIEW
Our third or fourth day in the park we went all the way in and saw what the park was all about. The dwellings are really nothing short of spectacular. We tromped around for hours imagining what life must have been like in those times and in that place.
During our stay we were fortunate enough to meet Russ, one of the campground hosts, who helped us pick our next area of exploration. It turns out that Russ had spent the last several years exploring the Silverton area backcountry. And his knowledge of the area was staggering. Exploring the area had come up in conversation but after talking to Russ it moved to the head of the class.
One other thing: We couldn’t find a good local brewery in Cortez. Not saying there isn’t one…just that if there is we didn’t find it. But West Slope Liquors has the best beer selection we’ve run into in a few weeks.