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Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, September 13, 2009
The mountain on the horizon is said to resemble a man laying on his back with his arms crossed on his chest. Its name is Sleeping Ute Mountain.
While it was pretty dry during our visit to Mesa Verde — there was a fire ban and no campfires allowed — there was a daily threat of rain. We did get rain one day, but it lasted only a short period. Dry conditions are normal here and there is evidence all over the park of numerous fires that have occurred over a long period.
The Knife Edge Trail is a 2 mile round trip walk along the north rim of Mesa Verde National Park. It takes about l 1/2 to 2 hours to walk the trail.
Historically, part of the Knife Edge Trail follows a section of the Knife Edge Road built in 1914 as the main access into the park. Along the trail you may see patches of asphalt that remain from this road. Old-timers still proudly talk about what a feat it was to build, or “hang,” a road on this steep bluff. Users recall it with a bit of dread because of its narrowness, the unexpected rock slides and its slippery ruts.
The photo is from the newest of my photo galleries and the second from Mesa Verde. The gallery includes images from Cliff Palace — a Puebloan culture cliff dwelling —, the Knife Edge Trail and more.
Gallery: Cliff Palace and More — September 13, 2009, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.
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What was she thinking?
November 6, 2009
Commentary and images from the road
image and information from September 13, 2009
This post is being simultaneously published
on Exit78 and Haw Creek Out ‘n About
Mesa Verde National Park, September 13, 2009
I figure she was just thinking about seeing the cliff dwellings up close and personal.
It was obvious, though, to us, that she’s not a regular on trails.
The shoulder bag is a dead giveaway.
Generally, the only places we ever see women with purses on trails are relatively short trails that go to gotta-see sights.
Cliff Palace is certainly a gotta-see, but really….
And the footwear.
Granted, we did see a lot of people wearing sandals and flip-flops, but, again, I doubt that many of them are out on trails of any kind on a regular basis — I think her flip-flops were to show off her pretty red toe-nails.
But the real question was the skirt.
I doubt that she was thinking about the climb up out of the canyon — or maybe didn’t know, until it was too late.
The way out was very steep — and included near-vertical ladders.
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The image on the right was taken from across the canyon. I processed it on my computer to lighten it so that the dark crack in the rocks where the exit climb was could be seen.
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