Day 3: Mesa Verde National Park

Jessie: The third day of vacation started with a 9am tour of Balcony House. It was a similar set-up to Cliff Palace only way more interactive. To get there we had to climb down many stairs and then up a 32-foot log ladder. It was nerve-racking but totally worth it. After crawling through a couple tight tunnels we arrived at the ancient ruins where we learned about the pueblo people and their day to day lifestyle. We learned that their short lifespan was due to the fact that they were grinding corn on the soft sandstone which added bits of the stone to the cornmeal which ground their teeth down and promoted disease. It was ironic how the one thing that kept the people alive was also killing them.

We also hiked the Soda Canyon overlook trail and enjoyed the beautiful view of Balcony House from across the canyon. Then it was on to Spruce Tree House where we enjoyed walking through the ruins and even going down another wood ladder into one of the ancient kivas - one of the few in the park with a recreated roof. It was very intriguing to see what the structures would have been like 800 years ago. After that we went on the 3-mile loop hike to Petroglyph Point. It was a hard hike out but one that was well worth the effort of venturing off the beaten path. We were surprised to see a large group of senior citizens at the petroglyphs - and joked that hopefully we could be hiking trails like this when we were their age. The hike back was along the ridge line above Spruce Tree House and was a much easier journey. After arriving back at the car, we began the drive out of the park. Lucky for us, we happened upon a family of wild horses, the ones our tour guide from the previous day had mentioned. We only managed to get a couple pictures of the stallion, mare, and newborn foal before noticing a line of cars approaching from behind. Not wanting to follow them on the park's winding roads we continued down the road.

We finished the day by getting a late lunch at Subway which was out of many toppings. Upon leaving we noticed hot pretzels and thought about getting one before the clerk said they were out of those too and that the display pretzels were just plastic. Kind of a funny moment for us after a long day of hiking. We ate our sandwiches back in our hotel room where we could enjoy the refreshing AC and the comfort of our beds.