That could have been disappointing

11/6/2018

We hiked the Petroglyph trail in Mesa Verde today. It was an exceptionally nice day for a hike. Bright sunshine and little wind.

So anyway, the hike ended up being 4.4 miles and had seeing the Petroglyphs been our only reason for the hike we would have really been disappointed. It was a long hike back there just to see one small spot with a few Petroglyphs.

It was the kind of hike we like, challenging but not overly difficult. We both did pretty good considering the altitude. The hike starts behind the museum, you walk down this pretty steep paved path that has several switchbacks in it. The most tiring part of the entire hike was the walk back up the paved path. Let me tell you that got the heart pounding and breathing hard, course I had to see how far up it  could get at a fast walk before stopping. Over all we both feel it was one of the best hikes we have ever done.

The hike was along the side of the cliffs up and down small climbs. Sometimes up or down natural rocks other times rock steps someone put in place. Hiking boots were strongly recommended and I’m glad I had mine on. You had to watch your head, knees and where you were stepping at all times. Most times the trail was narrow with a cliff on onside and not much but air on the other side.

The views were spectacular, it you look at some of the pictures of the rock walls on the other side of the canyon, that’s kinda what we were hiking in.

It’s actually a loop trail but we hiked in and out the same way. Just past the petroglyphs is an intimidating looking stitch back, Mary didn’t really want to tackle it, she could have made it up, but Sunday we were told by a ranger in the visitors center that the trail was closed beyond the petroglyphs, so if she went up it it would be very unfun getting back down if we had to turn around. Turns out we received some bad info and the trail was open as a loop. No complaints here though because just past where we turned around the trail breaks out on top of the mesa for a rather boring return trip.

Unfortunately we may not be doing much for the rest of our stay here, a ride on the Durango train was on the agenda but it’s not running this time of year. Not only are a lot of things closed but the forecast has changed since we decided to come here. When we drove up the highs were forecast to be in the low 60’s – high 50’s.  And freezing or above at night. Now the lows are in the low teens with highs in the low 50’s or lower that gives only a few hours of semi comfortable temperatures. It’s still sunshine and light wind but to cold for me.