First Fall Weather at Mesa Verde

Rain curtain from the Navajo Canyon overlook, Mesa Verde.

Mid September, and I'm enjoying the first fall weather of the season, which looks like it's going to continue. Goodbye summertime heat at last?

I drove the Mesa Top Loop road first, just after the first hard rain in weeks had moved on.

Oak Tree House cliff dwelling, after the rain.

The overall lighting was poor, so I concentrated on eliminating the sky in most of my shots. I was interested in how the wet Cliff Dwelling Sandstone layer was showing off its dark streaks of desert varnish even more prominently.

Fire House cliff dwelling.

At Sun Temple's "Camera Point" I got a nicely saturated panorama of Cliff Palace.

Cliff Palace from across the canyon at Camera Point.

Inside the Cliff Palace alcove, the Ranger-led tour's visitors were enjoying being nice and dry.

Tour group at Cliff Palace.

The Mesa Top Loop completed, it was time to continue outbound from the southwest end of the Park.

Young wild turkey drinking from the rumble strip gouges in the road.

On the way to Far View, where the park's lodge is located, I came across the same hen (female) and youngster wild turkey pair that I'd seen on the way in that morning.

Being in a National Park where no hunting is allowed, they were quite casual. I watched them drink from the "rumble strip" depressions in the road's centerline, as I had seen other birds do. A convenient way for a quick drink of cool, clear water after the storm.

Mother and youngster wild turkeys.

Since there was only one poult (hatchling) with the mother hen on both sightings, I assumed that the rest of the young ones had been killed, probably picked off one by one by predators. Which is why each hen hatches a clutch of eggs, not just one.

Storm to the south, from Park Point.

At Park Point I made a panorama of the slowly clearing skies and the rain storm still underway down toward Shiprock, New Mexico. Then I shifted my view to the north for a nice wet view toward the Knife Edge cliff formation, with the La Plata Mountains in the distance.

Looking north toward the Knife Edge, from Park Point.

While at Park Point I made some shots of early fall colors in some Gambel Oak leaves. With the chilly nights in the forecast things should be changing quickly.

A few Gambel Oak (Quercus gambellii) early fall colors.

Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) early fall colors.

As a closing touch, I photographed a lovely thunderhead cloud before continuing down from the North Rim and out of the park.

Thunderhead cloud from Park Point.

Photo location: Mesa Verde National Park, southwest Colorado.

© Copyright 2017 Stephen J. Krieg