Southwestern Colorado near Durango is home to the wonderful Mesa Verde National Park. Like most national parks, Mesa Verde contains some beautiful scenery but it’s ancient cave dwellings are what make it world famous. In fact, it’s Cliff Palace, shown in this image, is thought to be the largest cliff in North America.
The Cliff Palace was inhabited by ancient Pueblo people between 550 AD to 1300 AD and often referred to as the Anasazi (Navajo for “Ancient Ones” or “Ancient Enemy”). The Anasazi kept no written records and it is hard to learn about their life other that the men were hunters and farmers while the woman were skilled in basket weaving. They mysteriously disappeared from the Cliff Palace and it is speculated that they left the are after a 24 year drought.
Walking among the adobe structures is like walking on hallowed ground. The Cliff Palace is a remarkable structure that is even more amazing that it was built about 1,500 years ago and still is in great shape. I highly recommend a visit to Mesa Verde if you are ever in southwest Colorado.
What a great image, nice angle too
Chantal recently posted..A day at the beach
Wow, what a cool capture Len at an incredible vantage point. Enjoy your weekend man.
Dave DiCello recently posted..Signs of the Times
What an interesting place Len. Nice shot!
Marc Collins recently posted..Natural History
Wow, it’s been years since I’ve been there. I remember climbing in and out of the dwellings with my son in a toddler back pack on a hot day. Very cool place! Thanks for sharing!
Rick Louie recently posted..Mobile Phone Art Show
What a fascinating place. And very well captured Len.
Steven Perlmutter recently posted..New Themes: Eight, Bold Life, and Elemin
Fantastic angle on this. I want to visit here and walk around. So cool.
Chris Nitz recently posted..Beer Label Friday Week 39
Outstanding find, Len. Love the way you shot this.
I’d sure like to visit that place some day. Nice post!
Jimi Jones recently posted..RA Sushi Bar Restaurant
Great shot Len, love the level of detail! This is somewhere I must visit one day.
Curt Fleenor recently posted..Blue Devil
That is such a cool place. We visited there a few years back and enjoyed every minute of it. Nice work Len.
Chris Frailey recently posted..Desert Burst
That’s so freaking cool man. Nice perspective on this shot. Good job!
A.Barlow recently posted..Great Blue Heron
Wow this is an amazing shot. The POV is unreal. Love it.
Edith Levy recently posted..The Words of the Prophets Are Written on the Subway Walls…..
very cool Len, that’s a place I have wanted to visit for some time now, thanks for sharing!
Jim Nix recently posted..Corpus Christi from above
A highlight of my day! I saw this on my iPhone RSS reader this morning and have been anxiously trying to get to my PC to look at it big and check out this post! To say it didn’t disappoint would be a MASSIVE understatement! This is one of my favorite pictures I’ve seen all week. Good LORD, Len, what an amazing shot, and the story that you’ve written here only adds so much more interest to it! Fan-flippin-tastic!
Toad Hollow Photography recently posted..BC Forest Discovery Centre
Wonderful shot Len – almost tilt-shift like… superb work!
Simon Morris recently posted..Mysterious island…
Nice perspective, I would love to visit this place.
Anne McKinnell recently posted..Overwhelming the smaller beauty
Wow, very nice picture!
Victoria (Sweden) recently posted..En favoritbild…
Great shot Len. My family was on a trip back in 2000. We were planing to stop at Mesa Verde, but that year there was a huge fire that closed the park. It was so amazing to be able to see the smoke from 75 to 100 miles away.
Beautiful capture. I would love to visit this place. Where did you take this shot, looks like you were up high?
Adam Allegro recently posted..The Canals of Venice
There is a viewing area above the dwellings. It’s pretty amazing that the Anasazi built this so long ago.
What a great spot. I’ve driven by there many times, but never stopped. Can you explore the area, or do you have to keep your distance? Well done!
Kris Koeller recently posted..Daily Photo: The John Day Fossil Beds
The vantage point from where this was taken is accessible to the general public. They have guided tours of the dwellings themselves. We were waiting for our tour to start. I snapped this image while the tour group ahead of us was a bit to the right. The tour itself is very cool.
I haven’t been back to MV for 20years. We have it on the list for next year though. This is a great image!
Justin recently posted..Out Their Front Door – Russ Barnes