Navaho Canyon and the rest of Chapin Museum

The whole "Four Corner's" area, with some indications of residents on Mesa Verde (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado)

Modern artist's rendition of looking out from Mesa Verde towards Sleeping Ute Mountain.

Kendra (daughter-in-law) already knows a lot about weaving!

A more modern painting by a Native American Artist - of which my son and daughter-in-law purchased a print.

 An overlook of Navaho Canyons to the west of the part of the Mesa we visited.
 We went down the road on the eastern side of the Mesa, and it would certainly have taken another day to go on the western side, on the other side of Navaho Canyons.

Tai and Kendra looking at the immense landscape.

Navaho Canyon.

 Juniper berries

A Pinyon Pine

Mesa Verde - Chapin Museum - history in dioramas

These are going to be photos of the dioramas in the museum. I've shared about the pottery over on my other blog, Alchemy of Clay. 

First a look at the people who are known to have lived in the New Mexico area 10,000 years ago (but not in Mesa Verde.)

I tried to keep these in order of eras of development, but had to avoid other tourists, so some may be out of order.

More information about these Pre-Mesa Verde peoples has been found in my blogs from Museum of the Canyon of the Ancients.

Mesa Verde - Spruce Tree House

 Tiny aster flowers

Everyone in the southwest recognizes Yuca plants

 Driving up to higher places on the Mesa Verde roads...we often passed areas with signs saying there was a forest fire on such a date, and it had such a name.

Skeleton trees showed where there had been a wildfire recently, (within a few years ago) while the bushes began growing back right away.  Some of the areas named for wildfires had recovered more, over several decades.

Our first view of cliff houses...Spruce Tree House allowed visitors to go along a walkway down the hill for a ways, but not into the actual site. I stayed on the overlook area!

 Don't miss the tiny dwelling far over to the left in the cliff.

 Spruce Tree House is at the same parking area as Chapin Museum...more on that tomorrow!