today we're in colorado to visit one of the richest archaeological zones in
America that happens to be hidden amidst a grand
southwestern landscape. this is mesa verde national park.
mesa verde is roughly 40 minutes from the nearest town of Durango.
after passing sweeping landscapes we ascend to the top of
view we haven't seen the complexes themselves yet but
the trip's worth it for just this view.
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as we look out onto the colorado landscape there's simply nothing of
modern life in view and it's easy to imagine the
original pueblo people of mesa verde about 1400 years ago
long before europeans explored north america, the ancestral pueblo people
made mesa verde their home. we're about to go visit
their elaborate cliff dwellings right now
after a brief stop at the visitor center our first stop
is the cliff house a magnificent cliff dwelling
that once housed approximately 100 people
and 150 rooms.
we arrive at the cliff palace right at sunset and the entire area
is illuminated it's thought that the cliff palace
was a social administrative site with high ceremonial usage
the area was constructed of sandstone mortar and wooden beams
welcome to Mesa Verde
okay you almost need binoculars for this but look
right there there's a house. it was believed that the ancestral
puebloan villages were built into the cliffs
as defense against invading groups of ancestral navajo
and apache. for 700 years they flourished and farmed here and even
had extensive trading routes that spread throughout north america in the cliffs
you'll notice large round rooms these are called kivas
or ceremonial rooms the fact that these
structures are still intact is a testament to their skillful
construction we're at mesa verde national park and
unesco world heritage site right across from us is the hemingway
house blends right into the landscape
look at this expansive land there's absolutely nothing
of modern day in sight and the native people's made homes made
dwellings into the rock so it's really unique
catching magic hour vibes here in colorado
this is an interesting depiction of what the dwellings look like
but a lot of these pathways are closed so we can only see them from the
viewpoints and not go inside
okay some things to know about this area one it's really dry here especially in
summertime two there's a lot of motorcyclists
because they have really cool roadways for motorcycles
so they have a lot of motorcycle guys and wow
the views here are just stunning it's a similar kind of ecology to what
you see in the grand canyon but as you can see there is
nobody here nobody here
wow we're doing a mile and a half hike to the balcony house
can you guys hear that it's the sound of silence
nobody around for miles and miles
we have made it to the balcony house overlook mesa verde national park
and world heritage site it's right over there can you see it you need an eagle
eye so let's see we're gonna zoom in oh wow
and the color right now this light the balcony house it's so quiet here
nobody's here look at this view there's bluebirds flying. it's just
gorgeous. and look at the color! we made it just in time for magic hour
in the late 1200s in the span of a generation or two
the ancestral puebloan people moved away and left their homes
no one knows exactly why these quiff dwellings
weren't found until the late 1800s it talks about the nazi children with
their daily lives here and their house it was very kind of
narrow and cramped there perched right into the cliff
and look at this view that they had mesa verde national park is one of the
most fascinating archaeological sites we've seen
and also one of the most peaceful national parks
we hope you get a chance to visit it very soon don't forget to hit the like
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