West - Day Twenty-Two - July 14, 2005

Up very early, I headed back to Mesa Verde NP for a 9 am ranger-led hike to the Cliff Palace dwelling. The tour lasted one hour and took us righ through the preserved structures. It was amazing how well they are holding up, particularly considering how many people troop through there every day.
It was best to be on the first tour of the day so we could get pictures without other people in them. From there, I went on to the Balcony House tour at 10:30 am. This tour was more physically challenging.
We had to climb a 32 foot high ladder and crawl through a tunnel, in addition to climbing other shorter ladders and clinging to a chain-link railing as we climbed a rock face. By the time the second tour ended, it was mighty hot. I started driving towards Four Corners along route 160. The temperature was well over 100F and topped out at 105F. Despite the hot temperatures, I stuck to my plan and drove north on route 191 and then west on route 95 to get to Natural Bridges NM. Back in Utah, it was familiar and yet unique and different. Three different 'natural bridge' structures could be viewed and hiked to. I hiked part way to the third bridge but found that my nose was still bothering me at the altitude and with the hot temperatures, I didn't want to push it too much. Beautiful scenery though and well worth the detour.

Back on route 261 south, I drove on this spectacular 3 mile stretch that was a gravel road, major switchbacks, 5 mph speed limit descending 1,100 feet from the top of a mesa down to the valley floor. The views were awesome. Definitely a noteworthy stretch of road. I stopped briefly at Monument Valley (I had been there back in the '80's so didn't feel the need to stay too long) and then headed into Kayenta for the night. I drove more today than I expected (328 miles) but really enjoyed the scenery.