Senior Trip: Road Trip Through Colorado – Day 5
I woke up today feeling great, having had the best night sleep since the beginning of the trip. The others felt the same. For the first time we had very nice weather; a low of 56 degrees and a high of about 67. This, along with the flat and level tent pad at the camp site provided for a very nice nights sleep. After a hot shower and breakfast, we were off to Mesa Verde. (Ever since this became a roadtrip instead of just hiking, there has been a lot less "roughing it" 
).
On our way to Mesa Verde, we stopped in Telluride. The town of Telluride is small and very tourist oriented. It has a long, lively Main Street with many fun shops and vendors. But the best part of the town, and the reason we stopped, is one of the tallest free falling waterfall in the state. Bridal Veil Fall is located high up on a cliff, and to get to it we had to drive the large Suburban up a long, winding, rocky gravel road. It had many switchbacks and was somewhat scary to drive on at times. The drive was worth it though, as the sight of the waterfall was an experience we all enjoyed. We took many pictures of the falls and of each other standing by it. Up on the cliff at the source of the waterfall stood a very expensive looking house. We drove all the way up to it, but it was gated off as private property.
On our way down we picked up a hitchhiker. He had had hiked all the way up to the falls and was now on his way down. He was a very friendly guy, probably in his 40's or 50's from New Orleans. He told us some interesting facts about the town and asked us about our college plans. We dropped him off in town, and then took a walk around Main Street. Everything there was VERY expensive, so we didn't stay long.
A few hours later and we were in Mesa Verde. Mesa Verde is a National Park and was once home to the pueblo people known as the Anasazi, or "Cliff Dwellers." This large park has a nice campground complete with showers, laundry room, gift store, general store, gas station, and wireless Internet (which I am using now). The park has many exhibits of the Cliff Dwellings left over from the 1200's AD. We took a tour (for only $3 a person) through the largest Cliff Dwelling know "Cliff Palace". A park ranger was the tour guide and told us about how the people lived and built these dwellings. The tour was very interesting and informative, and we got to walk around the "palace" and check it out.
About half of Cliff Palace
After the tour, we headed back to the campsite and discussed what we wanted to do with the rest of our trip. Somehow, driving to San Francisco, California came up. We were all really excited and wanted to go, until we found out that it would be a 17 hour drive. Scratch that idea, we will be staying in Colorado.
Stay tuned!
Max