Durango to Cortez

Mon 20th June

Bob still hasn’t cured his electrical problems. He took the headlamp unit to bits again when we arrived at the motel last night. Without boring you with all the details, he loses all electrics including ignition every now and again causing the bike to cut out.

We left Durango this morning to go to the Mesa Verde National Park, an archaeological site where the Puebloan Indians lived up to around the 1300‘s. Who said there was no history in the USA!

Heading up the winding road to the Mesa Verde

Wild fires are a big problem over here with the dry conditions and strong winds. The majority of the trees in the Park were destroyed by a fire in 2000.

The most outstanding part of the Mesa Verde are the cliff dwellings that were built in sheltered alcoves high up in the cliff walls.

Probably the best preserved of these communities is Cliff Palace which housed somewhere between 100-150 people

A closer view of part of Cliff House

The way out. Not recommended if you suffer from vertigo.

A view from the other side of the canyon

Another large cliff dwelling is the Long House

Looking out over the canyon

On the way back, Bob’s bike started playing up once again and Craig’s bike refused to start because of a flat battery. At least I got some exercise pushing. We stopped for the night at Cortez having only ridden about 80 miles and most of that was in the Park.

Craig using my bike to find a new battery.

We are off to Monument Valley tomorrow to do a bit of off road riding. Should be an interesting experience fully loaded!