horses

Mesa Verde National Park

Published December 27, 2013

End of the year & unexpectedly found myself with a few extra days (my employer decided to close between Christmas & New Years). What to do? Kick around locally or road trip. Yep, I vote ROAD TRIP.

Durango & the many peaks on Colorado’s Western Slope have thus far eluded me – hard to spur motivation for the 7 hour drive. Having the extra days off however, no excuses. Drove 5 hours with M before camping near Pagosa Springs.

Day One destination – Mesa Verde National Park. Day Two – Dog Sledding…yep, dog sledding. Awesome idea, huh?

Added Mesa Verde to my Colorado bucket list from a AAA Traveler flyer viewed almost 3 years. Pueblo Indian ruins located in a Southwest backdrop? No brainer – gotta go!

Started at the Visitor Center educating myself on everything Native American. The Pueblo cliff dwelling people settled in Mesa Verde from 500 – 1200 AD (long ago for our continent). Their kiva dwellings were constructed under surrounding cliffs which protected from the harsh winter elements – but also trapped smoke in the village (largest cause of death).

A kiva is a room used by modern Puebloans for religious rituals, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, kivas are square-walled and underground, and are used for spiritual ceremonies.

M & I hiked down to Spruce Tree House, Mesa Verde’s best-preserved & only cliff dwelling open during the winter. Unbelievable [that] these structures still exist & remain intact for visitors to explore. Hard to imagine these ancient people constructed buildings & planted crops 7,000+ft UP. SPECTACULAR!

Drove Mesa Top Loop Road, taking in other nearby cliff dwellings before enjoying late lunch/early dinner in Cortez.

Kick back, catch some zzz’s before tomorrow’s adventure? Nope 🙂

Ended the day at Four Corners Monument, a marker designating the border of 4 US states – Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah. Located in the middle of a Navaho reservation, kinda sad to see the poverty of our native people. The hour drive from Cortez however was BEE-UT-IFUL. Savored our last hour of sunlight in the neighboring New Mexico mountains.

LOVED this place, LOVED LOVED this day!

Road Trip: The Southwest’s Four Corners

https://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/road-trips/four-corners-southwest-road-trip/

: Mesa Verde Nat’l Park

: cliff dwelling people of Mesa Verde

: chilly day in the American Southwest

: Spruce Tree House

: inside a native Kiva

: LOVE Pueblo ruins!

: smoke infused village (poor circulation)

: adobe townhomes (500-1200 AD)

: Navajo Canyon settlement (inset)

: Cliff Place cliff dwelling

: 75% of park has burned since 1925 (frequent lightning strikes)

: cowboying near Cortez

: Four Corners Monument – CO, UT, AZ & NM

: sunset over New Mexico – SPECTACULAR!

Posted in Pacific/Desert, Western Slope | Tagged horses, nat'l-park, native-american | Leave a comment

hike #66: North Table Mountain, Golden

Published October 26, 2013

Super fun having visitors in town. Trying to get better at not overexerting East Coasters in our high altitude air.

Two days in however, I go stir crazy – gotta get outside & soak up some Vitamin D.

Wanted to hike relatively local this weekend so headed south on Highway 93 to Golden (most trails in Boulder County remain damaged & closed from last month’s flood). Ro took his usual spot & stared down the highway, happy to be in the car 🙂

I’ve often passed North Table Mountain while driving home from weekend treks off I-70, using Highways 6 & 93 to avoid Denver traffic (slows to a crawl every weekend – in winter, folks return from skiing; in summer, return from hiking & camping). Took a quick left into the parking lot. Ro and my friend, Stephen poured out – ready for adventure.

Mildest weekend of October – our first without snow. Today’s trail was jam packed with mountain bikes, runners, hikers – and horses. Beautiful sunny day with highs in the low 60’s – hard to believe it’s gonna snow again on Tuesday.

Basalt cliff pillars, amazing late season colour – SPECTACULAR. Hike duration: 6 miles roundtrip. PERFECT hike for a sunshiny day in the Fall. Not a lotta trees though – do not recommend [this hike] in summer months.

Back home, little guy was fast out for the count. Happy day 🙂

: North Table Mountain in nearby Golden

: basalt laced with zeolite — 20 different types — more than any other site in the world

: tranquil western landscape – BEAUTIFUL day!

: dogs & tall grass

: mountain bikes, runners, hikers – and horses too!

: basalt pillars & lotta late autumn colour – SPECTACULAR!

: yes, dogs do smile 🙂

Posted in Denver Metro | Tagged hiking, horses | Leave a comment

horses, volcanoes & Icelandic folk songs

Published September 17, 2013

Ended Sunday in snow & continued the next 2 days across Northern Iceland stuck in the same weather pattern.

After a late start from Mývatn, visited Goðafoss (waterfall of the Gods) and a traditional turf farm, Laufás – before reaching Akureyri, Iceland’s 2^nd largest city (approx 18,000 population). Highlight: Arctic Char at Rub 23.

Woke early Tuesday, destination: the Icelandic horses of Skagafjörður. Watched a horse demonstration & listened to Icelandic folk songs at Varmilækur, a horse farm nestled beneath multiple volcanic mountains in Iceland’s far North.

Skagafjörður is the only county in Iceland where horses outnumber people.

After a day filled with music, trip favourite was the Riding Song sung by our guide Ingi Gunnar Jóhannsson, a former Iceland Eurovision finalist (2nd place – 1988).

WATCH: Ridum Ridum (Icelandic riding song)

Finished the day with a quick hike UP Grábrók, a 3400 year old volcanic crater.

Actually, didn’t just hike UP but ran the loop twice 🙂 AMAZING view, AMAZING day!