SketchTravel in the Southwest – Cliff Dwellings

Cliff Dwellings of the Southwest – #3 of 4

Mesa Verde

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From my journal…
We headed south from Arches, seeing beautiful red rock outcroppings as the sandstone gives way to the desert sage table. Then that in turn changes to hills of juniper and pinon. East at Monticello taking highway 666 to Cortez, then on to Mesa Verde. We climbed that steep, narrow road to 8,040 feet, then dropped down to 7,000 feet as it hugged the edge of the snaking ridges. Many black skeletons among leafy shrubs from forest fires, an otherworldly black landscape. Saw a few deer in there feeding on who knows what.

Our guide took us through the cliff dwelling Balcony House and then to Cliff Palace with its narrow entrance down steps that had a secret place above where guards would make quick work of you as an intruder. These dwellings have such a presence about them, with their kivas and sipapus in the bottom (opening to mother earth). I can’t imagine a more integrated building style. The structures blend into the surrounding stone so well they are difficult to spot. Not only hidden by the overhanging rock, they’re built by local stone so that they feel like just part of the natural cliffs.

I liked seeing the seep spring at Balcony house, where water from storms moves down through the yellow sandstone until it hits shale, which it cannot penetrate; it leaches out into a pool along the trail. It is an ideal clean water source that is 500 feet from the bottom of soda canyon. They estimate some 30,000 cliff dwellers lived in this area, spread out through some 600 dwellings. Virtually every ledge under the mesa top was occupied.

On to Canyon de Chelly

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We drove west into Arizona watching lightning flashes in the dark cloud front further west. Finally turned south on 191 and drove the dark 65 miles to Chinly. We passed large bulls like ghosts grazing along the highway due to the Navaho reservation’s free range laws. Next morning we saddled up and entered the canyon with our guides. We saw First Ruin, then Junction Ruin at the confluence of Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto, taking in various petroglyphs and pictographs along the way.

Later we walked the trail down and across the valley to White House Ruin, where I did a sketch of the ruin. A fantastic canyon! Brilliant light, strong shadows cut through the cliffs to the floor where five and six hundred foot high sandstone slabs meet the smooth sandy river channel. It is as if they were cut straight down with a giant knife. I saw a blue heron beside a shady pool.

Next morning we drove to the canyon edge at White House overlook to watch the sunrise. It was cloudy though and as I headed down on foot a lightning flash convinced me otherwise. We went back for coffee and pancakes instead. Tomorrow we head for Canyonlands.

Please look for my other posts of sketch travels in the Southwest here as well.

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My southwest posts:
#1 – Moab, Arches National Park
#2 – Arches, Arches National Park
#3 – Cliff Dwellings of the Southwest
#4 – Canyonlands