Cliff Dwelling

One of the many cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde Colorado. This is such an interesting place to visit. Being in the right place at the right time to get the best lighting is a chore. I caught this one in the afternoon and these structures were in the shade.

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Nice shot in what must have been difficult lighting. Is it a bit of a climb to get there?

I think there is some climbing involved to this one. You have to sign up for a ranger lead tour to get any closer here. There are several that you can just walk into. But there is always some pretty good elevation changes in pretty thin air. The trails are lined with people catching their breath. But it is worth the effort. It is a magical place to visit and well preserved.

Cool shot...I can't wait to get more west...wife and I have been talking about it for 3 years...I need to do it soon...

There is so much detail in these pictures it is hard to get them below the 100k limit. You can see a slideshow of my pictures of Mesa Verde and Chimney Rock Colorado here:

http://www.photodex.co​m …how.html?fl=237​0495&alb=0

You will need to load a small player to watch it but it is completely safe and very small. Sorry MAC users, photodex does not have a player for you.

Click the menu picture to start the show and then right click to watch full screen. I love this slideshow software. They have a trial version if you would like to play with it. Very easy to use and addictive to own. No I do not work for them. Just a pleased end user.

Wow, what an amazing place - I would never have guessed this was somewhere in the US. A little history, please?

It is a historic site in SW Colorado that was home to the early relatives of the Pueblo indians about 700 years ago. The dwellings are so well preserved and they are everywhere in this park. I cannot even begin to describe the site and do it justice. It is a photographers dream but you need to watch the schedule and be there when the sun is right. Here is the official website.

http://www.nps.gov/mev​e/

If you watch my slideshow there are some pictures from another site in that area called Chimney Rock. The early residents of this area built a temple on a mesa top and from there they tracked the moon by siteing thru the gap in 2 spires on the next mesa. Every 18.5 years the moon will rise directly between these spires when viewed from the temple site. Tonight is the night that they have a program celebrating this occurance by the way. This is another interesting read if you have the time. Their site is here:

www.chimneyrockco.org

They were sure hare working people to have carried all these stones and the water to make the mortar to to top of these mountains. Some researchers have done tests and confirmed that the pople of Chimney Rock could send signals to the Mesa Verde site via smoke during the day and fire at night. They were inhabited at the same period of time too.

Wow, thanks Dedsen that is absolutely fascinating - I have bookmarked those sites and will definitely read up on this.

Good Job!

I like it, good timing with the lighting!