Ruins and Artifacts

Wednesday September 8. It was raining again this morning. Then it looked like it was going to clear, so I headed out riding north and then east to another national park I'd heard about, called Hovenweep. The park contains a small canyon that is surrounded by ruins of the Pueblo people. They were master stone masons, who fashioned homes from the sandstone rock with no metal tools.

They think that they were originally hunters and gatherers who probably hunted most of the game in their area and then turned to farming. As a result they settled down and built permanent structures. There was virtually no one there (it's very remote) except me. One of the rangers was showing the other around the site and explaining things. They didn't mind me joining in. They reminded my of our outdoor education specialists, Sandee and Shirley! While I hiked around the perimeter of the canyon, the rain drifted off and the sky became less threatening.

From there I rode to Mesa Verde in Colorado. To get to it you have to ride up an amazing twenty mile road that climbs up to the summit of the mesa. I went to the visitor centre and the lady

recommended doing a tour of Cliff Palace. So I rushed to get organized and ride the six miles to the start of the tour. As soon as I got there, it started to rain a bit. So, I covered up the bike and waited at the overlook for the ranger. Along came a thunderstorm. We got pretty wet while waiting, but once the tour started and we went down to the ruins, we were protected by the cave. The tour and place was amazing. When I climbed back up to the rim again it started to rain again. I got quite wet riding back to the visitor centre. I decided to check in at the Farview Lodge and stay up on the mesa overnight, as there is lots more to see up here and I rained out of time! So after drying a few things, I went to the cafe and treated myself to a yummy chili lasagna with a salad and some salsa. Then I watched this magnificent sunset. Now having updated all of this, I am going up to the bar to have a beer! I deserve it.