3 states 1 weekend- FINALLY

Hello everyone... I know it has been a while!!!   I haven't been on the internet on my weekends...

Our First stop at Mesa Verde was Step House.  Step House got its name from a set of prehistoric steps that would have been used to get down to the house from the mesa top.  Also interesting about Step House is it shows two different periods of occupation.  Older occupation living in pit houses and later living in a cliff dwelling.  

After jumping onto the tram, Jenna and I went exploring the Mesa some more.  One tram stop was above Kodak house.  One of the first researchers went to Kodak house and recorded what he found with immense accuracy.  The house was named after his photographic equipment of choice.... A Kodak Brownie.  

After that the tram took us to Long House.  Long House has a tour that will take you down where you are in front of the cliff dwelling.  Unfortunately there was no time to go on this hike.  

Our lunch stop was at the museum at Spruce Tree House.  Spruce Tree House gets its name for the spruce trees that grow in the area.  There is a natural spring near there.  This is only place where you can climb down into a Kiva.  ( I did not do this.)

Cliff Palace is one of the icons of Mesa Verde.  Again there is a ranger guided hike to Cliff Palace where you walk in front of the palace.  It is one of the largest Cliff Dwellings at Mesa Verde.

Shannon who was one of the SCA interns at Wupatki led our hike at Balcony House.  Balcony House gets its name from all the "balconies" on the cliff dwelling.  After descending down several stairs you have to climb a 37' ladder.  Here you can see I beat Shannon to the top of the ladder.

Picture of Balcony House, unfortunately you can not see all of the "balconies".

To leave Balcony House, you have to go through a narrow passage.  As you can see we needed to get the butt shot of me squeezing through the narrow passage.  The passage is maybe 10 feet long but is a tight squeeze for someone my size!

Finally to leave you must ascend 2 ladders and some natural stairs.  Here Jenna took a picture from the bottom of one of the ladders.






Stay tuned.... later in the week when I find the CD I will post pictures from Canyon de Chelly.

3 States 1 weekend

Well I finally am updating this blog! This weekend Jenna and I went to visit Shannon who was SCA at Wupatki and now works at Mesa Verde.

Here is a little teaser of more pictures to come.  

Continuation of Busy Week

Last Friday I went to help at Wupatki clean up from the hikes to Crack in Rock. It is a 14 mile overnight hike (7 there, 7 back). I had the pleasure of riding out there rather than hiking out there.

Looking up to Crack in Rock Pueblo from just below Middle Mesa. Middle Mesa is between 2 other mesas, Horseshoe Mesa and Crack In Rock Mesa.

Several Petroglyphs on Horseshoe Mesa. There has to be HUNDREDS of various petroglyphs on this mesa.

Area where the Ancestral Pueblo people sharpened the tools they were using to make the petroglyphs.

Petroglyph on Middle Mesa of a sun. The sun is the iconic symbol of Wupatki, even though most guests don't have the opportunity to see this petroglyph.

Dragon Petroglyph. Most likely a historic petroglyph and not prehistoric.

Alright.... Here I go trying to squeeze through the crack to get into the Pueblo at Crack In Rock.

Lets see if I make it!

Here comes the really really tight squeeze.

Alright I am almost through the crack and into the pueblo.

Wow that was a TIGHT squeeze, but I made it through!

Unfortunately this is the last picture because the camera was down getting my butt shots.

In Crack in Rock Pueblo there is an astrological calendar probably used to predict the seasons and when to plant.

On our way back, we made one more stop. This is called the Blanket Petroglyph. This must have taken a really long time to create!

What A BUSY WEEK!

What a BUSY week I had. Jenna and I plus the person she dog sits for went hiking in Sedona on Monday.

Picture of Sedona from the top of Brin's Mesa. Our hike was over 6 miles in length.

We saw a couple of arches on the hike back to the trailhead on the Soldier's Pass Trail.

There were all kinds of Agave/Century Plants in bloom.

This one is starting to shoot up. Eventually it will flower and die.

We saw a giant sink hole on the way back down soldiers pass.

On Tuesday Doraine and I hiked to the Old Ranger Cabin and then down Ranger Ledge at Walnut Canyon.

Look closely under the graffiti you can see what looks like a petroglyph that Doraine spotted.

In a few weeks I will be leading hikes down ranger ledge.

Old horseshoe and nail still attached along the Ledge Hike route.

On Thursday night we started saying goodbye to Shannon and had a party at Jay's House (Volunteer at Wupatki).

Pictured is his mule named Sweetie.

Stay tuned for pictures from Crack In Rock cleanup.

I finally did it!

Well I finally did it!!!!

I finally went to Grand Canyon last week.

I spent most of the day there with Jenna being a tourist since it was my first time EVER going!

Our first stop was at Desert View and the watch tower.

As you can see the watch tower is being renovated.

This building was built by the Fred Harvey Company and designed by Mary Colter.

The building was styled after a Hopi watch tower though not one particular one.

As you can see we climbed to the top using the winding stair case.

View of the east part of the canyon from the top of the tower.

Our next stop was at Tusyan Pueblo. You can see a portion of what is left of the Pueblo.

Stop at a lookout. Met another person from Florida here!

After getting to the village we decided to ride the shuttle out to Hermits Rest. This is 8 miles west of the Grand Canyon Village.

We hiked about 2 miles of the 8 miles out to Hermits Rest.

At the bottom of the canyon you can see the Colorado River.

We saw a Rock Squirrel at Hermits Rest that wanted his picture taken.

Getting ready to get back onto the shuttle bus.

Hermits Rest does have delicious cinnamon rolls.

When we got back to the village we were about 100 ft away from this Elk.

He appears to be fairly young.

After seeing the elk we went to a California Condor presentation. The presentation was really interesting and Ranger Ron talked about how the condor went from the brink of extinction as is thriving in better numbers today.

At the conclusion of the program we left Grand Canyon because it started to snow:(.

Grand Falls

Last week, Jenna and I went to Grand Falls.

Grand Falls is considered the Niagara Falls of the west. Grand Falls is actually taller than the Niagara Falls.
Upstream from this spot is a road that you can cross with a guide and a 4x4 truck.

View from the top of the falls.

The chocolate color is caused by the amount of water flowing and the sediment in the water.

I found a Lava cave hole to climb into. I was quite surprised when I fit in there!

Picture of the falls from below the edge of the canyon. This water will eventually flow through the Grand Canyon.

So much for the New Years Resolution!!!!

Well as you can see I have been really bad with updating my blog.... Part of the challenge is it keeps snowing on my days off.... Here is an overview of my exciting times since the last update!

Storm of the Century

Literally at the end of January, we had the storm of the century. In just 4 days we got over 54 inches of snow which was the second highest snow amount in recorded history!

We were shoveling for days and the park was shutdown for 4 days during the snow storm.

Our demo garden turned into a snow garden! (Yes that is the fence I built!)

Here J. Fo, our seasonal law enforcement ranger, and I were trying to find the entry way into the visitor center.

Could barely find the kiosk!

As you can see I was ready to eat lunch and refused to dig out anymore... luckily I was the one in-charge of snow blowing once it was dug out.

Riordan Mansion

We went to visit Riordan Mansion. The mansion was built two Riordan brothers who owned one of the logging companies in Flagstaff.

The mansion was a mirror image connected by a great room in the middle.

You can see one side of the house that which was mirrored on the other side. Connecting the two halves was a great room with a billiards table.

Train set that was donated to Riordan Mansion, so of course I had to take a picture of the train set!

This is the kitchen in one side of the house.

Servants work patio.

Birthday/Reveg Project

On my birthday we went down to Montezuma Well to plant bushes in a revegetation area.

In the morning Lauren and I put out flags for the excavator to dig holes that the plants would later be planted in.

Jenna and Liz (SCA intern at Montezuma Well) helped with planting seed.

After lunch we planted several types of plants including Yucca, Bristlebush, and saltbush. In the picture Jenna, Jenny, Liz, and Lauren were making cages to protect the nearly 900 bushes that would be planted during the project.

Snowshoeing

Last week, Jenna and I went snowshoeing out to the old ranger cabin and to one of Walnut Canyon's borders.

Here I am showing off my snowshoes in front of the old cabin.

The old privy for the ranger cabin.

Side of the house. The house was built in three stages. The porch is built around a juniper tree.

Ranger cabin under a bunch of snow!