Mesa Verde National Park — Life of the Mayers

First off, please read my post about the National Parks *HERE*.

Second, you MUST visit Mesa Verde National Park at some point during your lifetime. This post is the first in a series of posts that I feel this way about. It was coming here that blew my mind apart at the seams about what the United States is made of, what it has to offer, and has made me absolutely die-hard passionate about preserving the natural wonder that our country possesses. I am so incredibly grateful that we had the time and opportunity to afford this time off, and to enjoy this epic adventure to explore our homeland, as I now realize how much I vastly underestimated the incredible wonderment that these contiguous 48 states contain.

I am going to give you *THIS LINK* about the formalities of the park, but please, do yourself and your life the favor of visiting here. Again, I will say this many times in the coming posts, and I mean it for all of them. We were there as soon as they opened (and it was snowing like crazy!!!!), and left near time when they officially closed. We hiked many-a-mile, we explored, we toured, we were captivated and enraptured, and we soaked and breathed in all the amazingness that Mother Nature had to offer us. Our hearts, our lungs, and our legs were happy and exhausted by the end of our day.

For exact details, we did the moderately arduous 2.5 mile Petroglyph Trail Hike, and then drove the Mesa Top Loop and the Cliff Palace Loop, and did a few moderate hikes off from each. Also, a MUST DO is the 90min Balcony House guided tour, which is the only way to see the cliffside dwelling up-close and personal. Of note, there are steep hiking declines and a few ladder climbs up to complete the tour. A few people in our tour did have to turn around because they could not physically or psychologically able handle it. So, fair warning. That said, totally worth it to try and overcome and endure it!!! The tour guide was incredible, and the views…well, I’m speechless.

Enjoy the entirely too many pictures, as there are no words left to say about the magic of this place.