The Edge Of Spring, Mesa Verde

Cliff Canyon on a March morning.

The middle of March of a mild winter and I was searching for the very first signs of spring at 7,000 feet in Mesa Verde National Park.

A recent weak storm system had left the air clear and crisp in the morning sunlight. I began with a morning drive around the Mesa Top Loop road as well as the newly reopened for the season Cliff Palace Loop road.

Cliff Palace, the crown jewel of Mesa Verde National Park.

I stopped to make a panorama of Cliff Palace in soft morning shade. Then another for views of Cliff Canyon and the House Of Many Windows Ruin.

House Of Many Windows, Cliff Canyon. They are actually doorways, not windows.

Returning in late afternoon I made another panorama of Square Tower House, my favorite in the park.

Square Tower House site on a March afternoon.

And I once again tried to imagine how the ancient ones could build a four story tower by hand out of sandstone "bricks" and mud mortar. No iron tools yet, only stone tools. No beasts of burden. Only humans. Amazing.

Square Tower House site, featuring the tallest structure in the park.

Back on the Cliff Palace road, I bypassed the Balcony House parking lot, looking at the few tourists that had stopped to see it. Surprise: you can't. Not from there. Because it's in the alcove underneath you. The Ranger led tours down to it hadn't started for the season.

Hemenway House, from across the canyon.

But I did stop at the overlook for Hemenway House, which you're not allowed to tour at all. Same as with most of the park. Too many sites, too rugged.

It would take massive road construction to reach even a fraction more than you can now. Instead, you get to see the most impressive sites, and the rest are protected for research.

Balcony House from the Soda Canyon overlook.

But I wanted some more shots of Balcony House. So I hiked the easy Soda Canyon Overlook Trail to the viewpoint across the head of the canyon.

Balcony House, with a long lens.

On the hike back I photographed the only emerging greenery I could find: bunch grasses and Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata).

New spring growth, bunch grass.

Emerging leaves of Bitterbrush, Purshia tridentata (meaning three lobed, you can see some already).

I was also interested in how the cacti had fared during the winter. Their somewhat leathery and waxy "skin" preserves moisture but by now they were looking quite wrinkled, waiting to revive themselves.

Wrinkled pads of Prickly Pear Cactus at the end of winter.

And the Banana Yucca (Yucca spp.), which weren't wrinkled but were looking a bit yellow compared to how they will soon look again with the revival of springtime.

End of winter coloration in Banana Yucca.

See more of my photography at my website: www.NaturalMoment.com.

Photo location: Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado.

© Copyright 2018 Stephen J. Krieg

Mesa Verde: Sunset Glow At Square Tower House

Square Tower House alcove just before sunset, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado.

November has arrived. Up in Mesa Verde National Park at the park's south end, (7,000 feet elevation), I spent an evening seeing how the much lower angle of the autumn sun was working the sunset light on the cliff dwellings.

On the beginning of the Mesa Top Loop road, I soon was able to see how Navajo Canyon was lit up by the low angle of the late autumn sun. Square Tower House, I thought, was going to look really good.

And it did. But it was still a half hour or so until sunset. So I drove on to see how the light was playing on some of the other Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwelling remains along the drive.

Oak Tree House alcove, early November afternoon sunlight.

Cliff Palace, as the pre-sunset shadows come up the alcove wall well before sunset.

Nice, but I was really interested in seeing how Square Tower House would look at sunset.

I swung back around the loop and parked and returned to the overlook. I was the only one there. I kept glancing at the sun, so low above the mesa top to the south. The lower the angle of the sun, the warmer the light would be. Each few minutes mattered, the difference noticeable.

As the shadows came up the alcove wall, the warm sunlight glow intensified. It seems to do this better at Square Tower House than at Cliff Palace because the adjacent canyon (Navajo Canyon) is wider, allowing the sun to be even lower before it finally disappears below the far canyon rim.

Square Tower House in sunset glow.

Photo location: Mesa Verde National Park, southwest Colorado.

See more of my photography at www.NaturalMoment.com

© Copyright Stephen J. Krieg

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

Sand Island Petroglyph Panel, Utah

The San Juan River at Sand Island.

On a cold January afternoon I stopped by for another visit to the BLM's Sand Island Recreation Area.

Picnic tables and shade shelters overlooking the San Juan River.

 There is a boat landing there on the San Juan River, a campground (self register and pay, year around) and picnic areas with vault toilets, and a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) ranger station (not open in the winter).

The campground has two loops. A small one with a few sites just to the east of the ranger station, and a much larger loop at the west end.

Interpretive sign for the Sand Island Petroglyph Panel, on the cliff face in the background.

 It is along the road into and through the west campground loop that the Sand Island Petroglyph Panel is located. An exceptional collection of ancient inscriptions pecked into the patina of the sandstone cliff there. The main panel is protected by a chain link fence, with an easy trail along it so that you can ogle the many figures and photograph them without touching them.

Petroglyphs etched into the sandstone cliff face. Notice rider on horse, which would be later than prehistoric.

 Most of the petroglyphs (pecked into the rock, as opposed to pictographs, which are painted on the rock) are prehistoric, up to probably a couple of thousand years old. They were made by what today are referred to as the Ancestral Puebloan culture. There are also a few that must have been made after the 1600s, when the first Spanish explorers introduced the horse to the natives in North America.

Inscriptions of unknown meaning. But this must have been an important location, with so many of them.

 Photo location: Sand Island Recreation Area, southern San Juan County between Bluff and Mexican Hat, Utah.

See much more of my photography on my website at www.NaturalMoment.com. 

© Copyright 2017 Stephen J. Krieg