Fil woke up to the sound of coyotes whining and playing which sounded like they were outside the tent because of how the sound traveled, but in actuality they were farther away, Fil could also hear a ditzy women making a big deal about getting dirty a few campsites away as well, but it sounded like she was right next to us. When Fil realized the coyote wasn’t going to eat him, he woke up and pretended to be a coyote in the tall grass.
We hoped in the car and headed down the Wetherill Road in Mesa Verde National Park. It was early in the tourist season so the drive wasn’t as long as predicted so Fil made a quick pit stop at a lookout and took in the beautiful views all around him.
Once we got to the visitors center to purchase our tour tickets, we continued on to the end of the road. We arrived at the Long House parking log and waited for the 1st tram of the morning and got on. The tram ride was one of the coolest ways to see this side of the park. It dropped us off on the 90 minute Long House tours which was amazing to Fils’ eyes. Looking down the cliff was very scary for him but he trekked down there and learned some very cool things about the people who lived there.
Fil liked this picture because you can see the flat table top of the Mesa and the Cliff Dwelling, however the photo doesn’t do it justice. Fil also took tours of Cliff Palace and the most scary to navigate the Balcony House, however we didn’t get a good photo of either of them. After a really long hot day on the Mesa, and a bit of a sun burn Fil headed back to the campground to relax, cook dinner and drink a beer. What a great end to an amazing day.