Four Corners and Mesa Verde National Park
Four Corners and Mesa Verde National Park are very close to one another and can potentially be visited on the same day. When I went up there we got to Four Corners too late after the gates closed. We were sort of surprised that the gates would even be closed at all considering it is just the border between Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado. We stopped and played with the camera equipment taking some pictures of the sign and messed around with the exposures.
As the sign says the land that Four Corners lays on is owned by the Navajo Nation. If you aren't from the United States basically different Native American Tribes have their own Nations within the United States. They govern and police themselves and have rules about alcohol, public works projects, gambling, and many other things.
Here was a time lapse of a car passing by while we were stopped there.
I slept on a park bench that night and the next morning we went to Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. Here is a map of where that is at.
Mesa Verde which is Spanish for green table, was built by the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from AD 600 to 1300. The park protects nearly 5,000 known archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. It really is a look into the past! When you first get there you can look over the other side of the cliff and see one of the main "apartment" complexes.
Hiking down there is a must in my opinion if you are capable of it. This really shows you how intricate the structure really is.
Here is my friend Andy standing by the structure to give you a better idea of the size.
You really have to ask yourself how good of architects these people were consider their structures are still standing to this day. Would are houses still be standing after centuries?
You can even climb down into some of the lower apartments. A family would have lived down here.
After visiting these main ruins we did a several mile hike to some ancient rock carvings. Here is a good look at what the landscape looks like at Mesa Verde.
Here is Andy, Matt, and myself sitting in front of the carvings.
Here is a closer view of some of the carvings.
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Wow really interesting place, never even heard of it until now. Bet the previous owners were the equivalent of MTV cribs
Yeah I bet you are right! It would have been interesting to know if the ones living in that complex were ballin' out of control compared to others who lived around that area as well!
Cool trip. I've wanted to visit there for a few years. Hopefully someday soon. Thanks for sharing
Yeah it is a great place and if possible some of these longer hikes are great there as well.
I lived in Farmington NM for a while. It's not far from there been through a dozen times!
Awesome! I had been wanting to visit there for awhile before I did. It was a really cool stop over on the trip.
Gorgeous, nice pics. This is somewhere I've wanted to visit since I was a kid. Thanks for sharing. The pueblos there also have a lot of metaphysical properties, or so they are described by those who believe in that sort of thing.
It is amazing to see these still standing after all this time!
Awesome. Do you have an idea how old these structures are?
They were built between AD 600 to 1300.
Don'tcha know? It's closed cause of all the people trying to bang in 4 states at once. "Sex on the corners - get in line"
Hahhah, That is so funny because I have seen that movie and was thinking about that as well! Hahaha
Brilliant post. Have you played Metal Gear Solid 5? That Pueblo village thing looks just like this Afghan structure that you have to infiltrate in one of the early missions. I think that is actually based on a real life ancient structure and the similarity is striking. I am always surprised by these coincidences from the ancient world. Great shots:)
I haven't played the new versions of Metal Gear Solid. But yeah it makes you think of the stuff in Afghanistan or in Peru. Thanks for viewing!
Man you must play MGS 5 if you like games. I never liked MGS and I loved that game.
Awesome! I will have to check it out!
That first image really threw me, the cave ceiling makes the image look upside down.
The way the windows are do sort of make you feel like it could be upside down. I can see what you are talking about!
it almost looks like a model made of clay sitting on someone table.
Yeah it is pretty unreal!
This is awesome, thanks for sharing your adventure! I love ruins. It's amazing how well sustainable, natural building methods endure the ages. I'm in the mood for hiking now!
It really is amazing how well built these were and how it gives us a look into the past.