Day 10: Four Corners Monument and Mesa Verde National Park

For day 10, we headed west for our first stop, Four Corners Monument. Technically, the drive would have been shorter if we had gone south to Kayenta and west on 160, but since we had already driven around Kayenta, we went north instead. One major advantage to the north route is that you can take the famous Forrest Gump picture. There were three other cars taking their mid road photos when we arrived, so I can only imagine what it's like in high season. Afterwards, we continued on the route, which
took us through even more desolate lands and tiny, run-down towns than the previous drive, if you can imagine! However, I really liked that the further west we drove, the more the land changed. I barely minded the drive at all!


We arrived at Four Corners Monument around 11am. The monument marks the spot where four states meet - Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado. I remember learning about this location as a child, and I distinctly remember writing about it in one of my many notebooks full of grand plans and adventure goals, such as the Great Wall of China, learn to scuba dive, go skydiving, learn a language, etc. I admit, I took rather deep satisfaction that I was fulfilling my 10 year old self's dreams :) I've done a good job at fulfilling many of those dreams...I need to double check that list and see what's left!



In addition to being the quadripoint of four states, the monument also marks the boundary between two Native American governments, the Navajo and Ute. Because of this, the Navajo operate the monument and charge $5 a person. This was a surprise to me, as I thought "monument" implied national monument; I was wrong!

We drove in the monument, parked, and within 5 minutes, we had stood on the plaque, taken several pictures each, and even walked around a bit. In other words...there ain't much there besides the plaque. We saw some signs that limited the picture-taking to 3 a person, which was funny considering there were only about 10 other people there. However, there were picnic tables, a few closed food shops, and space for many tourist booths, so I can assume other seasons are a lot more crowded. My favorite part of the monument was when David walked back and forth over the state line, chanting "Colorado, Utah, Colorado, Utah." I coaxed him into doing it again so I could get it on film :D





Satisfied with our brief stop, we continued on to Mesa Verde National Park, which is just outside Cortez, Colorado. A few facts about the park: It is a mesa (plateau) that has over 5,000 archeological sites of the Ancestral Pueblo people who lived there from AD 600 to 1300. The sites range from a mere pots to examples of pit houses to enormous cliff dwellings, not to mention the beautiful views as you drive up the winding roads of the mesa. Because of the winter season, one section of the park was closed, but we were still able to access the most famous areas.

We first stopped at the visitor's center for a map and tips on what to do. Since both of us were very interested in the history of the Ancestral Pueblo people, we stopped at the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum, which is about 45 minutes inside the park and has tons of really cool displays, an informational video, and super nice park rangers with lots of tips and smiles. I swear, being the nicest person in the world must be a prerequisite to be a park ranger! We even saw one ranger swearing in two kids to the Junior Ranger program, and it was so cute my heart almost exploded. Our internal joy-o-meter officially at 100%, we left the museum and headed to our first cliff dwelling just outside the museum, Spruce Tree House.

Technically, Spruce Tree House is the one dwelling that you can enter without a permit, but unfortunately, the path leading up the dwelling had had some rock falls recently, and it was closed off. Our joy-a-meter suffered a slight blow, but we shrugged it off and took pictures from above. Then, we got back into our car and continued on the two loop roads that take you throughout the park. Cliff Palace Loop road took us around the Cliff Canyon and offered several views of cliff dwellings  along the route. The two most popular stops are at Cliff Palace and Balcony House, both of which require a guided tour to enter. As there were no tours in winter, we made do with aerial views. Still good, but perhaps something to keep in mind if you are really into entering a dwelling.

The second loop road, Mesa Top Loop, takes you through kind of a timeline of the cliff dwellings. You can enter some shed-like structures that shield the first pit-houses, which were what the Pueblo people lived in prior to the cliff dwellings. There are at least 3-4 pit-houses that grow in complexity and finally, you finish at the intricate Sun Temple, where you can walk around inside the structure. Being able to see these pit-houses was a great alternative to entering the dwellings, but David and I quickly noticed how many of the families we saw at the start of the loop road were already gone by the time we moved through. I suppose it can be a bit boring for kids or those not so interested in history.

We finished our time in Mesa Verde atop Park Point Overlook at 8,572 feet. We arrived just in time for sunset, and the views were incredible. Park Point has insane panoramic views in every direction, including mountains more than 200 miles away. In fact, when Mesa Verde became a national park in 1906, it was considered to have "one of the grandest and most extensive views in the country." Also,
there is a lookout tower on top that was built in 1939 by the Civilian Conservation Corps to help spot fires, which are common in the area. It was unmanned at the moment, but is manned 24 hours by park rangers during high risk seasons. We wandered around the peak and took pictures from each side. It was lovely, peaceful...and freezing! I was the weak link that made us leave a few minutes earlier than David would have liked, but we saw the majority of the colors. We also realized we needed to keep all the extra warm weather gear in the car for moments just like that!

Rather than stay in Cortez, we finished the day by driving back into Monticello, Utah, so that we would be closer to our next destination: Canyonlands National Park - The Needles District!