mesa verde.

well, i am not in the mood to write right now. i have been starting and stopping writing on various topics for the better part of an hour, while i drink beer in a bar in durango colorado. the bar is called the last dog, the bartender just bought me a beer, she is cute.

this morning, after a very good nights rest, i went and explored more of mesa verde. i went to the visitors center and purchased my ticket to "the long house." the original long house, not some knock off in portland. this was a community that existed in the mesa verde cliffs until 1300 c.e. they had built up huge walls and dug large kivas into the cliffside. i bought the ticket, and set off for the 45 minute drive through the park to get to the tram.

now, being from portland, when i think of tram, i think of the aerial tram. so, i had just thought since i first read tram that i was going to be on some sort of lift that would transport me from solid ground through the air to a cliff side dwelling that was otherwise unreachable. no such luck!

the "tram" was just a glorified golf cart. i wasnt angry, but certainly disappointed. we loaded onto the cart about 10:30a and headed down a paved path a couple miles in and stopped at the entrance to the long house. as with all the other dwellings, we had to walk down a path to some stairs and then more path until we reached the actual cliffside where the structures were. the ranger gave a talk about the inhabitants and their growing techniques and the land around us. it is all really nice to listen too, it makes me dream.

we walked through the ruins and after an hour and a half were back up top to the waiting tram. we piled on again, this time a woman who had been walking near me during the tour asked if she could sit by me. of course. we chatted a bit, she is from san francisco, also recently laid off, and just out traveling enjoying herself. i thought it was quite a coincidence we talked more as the tram drove on for the rest of the loop.

along the loop i learned more about the dead forest. the forest that burned in 2000 was mostly juniper, with some pinion pine in there as well. it has been nine years since that fire and i figured that some new growth should be evident. my mind wondered if the park service was consciously keeping growth down for the dead forest effect. quickly i wiped that away as a ludicrous thought. what the tram driver told us is that it takes about 250 years for juniper to get to the height that it was when it all burned, i'd guess just over ten feet. he pointed out some new growth, a seedling about 8 inches tall. he said that was 9 years old.

so that dead forest should be there for awhile. also, along the way the driver pointed out a harras of wild horses. as with parrots, i was aloof to the continued existence of wild horses. for whatever reason i assumed they had all been rounded up and controlled. again, wrong.

we made a few more stops, the lady kept chatting me up, the people behind us got into the discussion as well. at the end, i felt like something more should happen. but nothing did. probably because i didnt do anything. dang me. i ended up driving behind her as we made our way to the exits. as per usual, i formulated a plan in my head to stop at an overlook if she did and finish what had been started. she never stopped and we ended up driving in opposite directions. c'est la vie. or whatever.

i drove on highway 160 east towards durango. now i am here, i will stay here for a day or two then head towards cuba, new mexico.