WEBVTT - Spirits in the Cliffs - Mesa Verde National Park 0:00:01.200 --> 0:00:05.040 They vanished. The ancient Bablown people of masa Verdi completely 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:09.960 deserted their homes and communities, effectively disappearing. Like other communities 0:00:10.000 --> 0:00:12.760 that seemingly fell off the face of the earth. Maybe 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:16.599 like the people of Roanoke, Virginia. They left nothing behind 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:19.520 but their homes and their spirits, which still live in 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:23.239 these mazas. Yes, and like Roanoke, I'm completely obsessed and 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:28.400 won't let it go. They in park Landia, We're obsessing 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:31.920 over something else, masa Verde National Park. I'm Matt and 0:00:31.960 --> 0:00:34.559 I'm Brad. We sold our loft in Chicago and gave 0:00:34.640 --> 0:00:36.760 up our city dwelling existence to live in an r 0:00:36.800 --> 0:00:39.240 V and travel the country full time. Just us and 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:48.800 our dog Finn. Thanks for listening. So the year fifty 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:51.919 Native American peoples were establishing deep roots and what's now 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:56.280 southwestern Colorado, forging pit houses of top mesas, and eventually 0:00:56.280 --> 0:01:00.200 along these deep cliffs, huge communities were formed. In about 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:03.440 the late eleven hundreds, these cliff faces were veritable cities, 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:07.640 filled with homes, towers, central plazas. Presumably, these enclaves were 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:10.400 popular debate people to no fear of heights because these 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:14.000 cliffs are steep, like if you fall, you will die 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:16.520 kind of steep. Yeah, And just to delve in that 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:18.800 a little bit more, is like you're just looking at 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:21.640 the side of a mountain with a cliff and then 0:01:21.680 --> 0:01:24.039 there's just homes in the mountains. Like it's it's really 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:28.400 hard to describe, but that was just so beautiful to see. 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:31.840 I mean everything about this park is enriched in mystery 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:34.959 and intrigue. I mean, why did the ancestral people leave, 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:39.039 especially after investing so much time and effort. How did 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:42.880 they live there? What was it like? It's hard to guess, 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:45.480 but I mean, at least we can appreciate respect what 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:49.720 this ancient society accomplished by visiting this eye opening national park. 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:51.840 I mean, it's the first of its kind designated to 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:55.400 protect a prehistoric culture. Um and that's when Mason Verde 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:58.760 was established in nineteen oh six. Yeah, it's really a 0:01:58.800 --> 0:02:04.040 milestone in justin credible and also these places established by 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:07.600 these ancient civilizations are just so monumental and what they 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:11.200 accomplished with what little they had. Today, much of these 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:14.120 prehistoric remains are preserved for visitors to tour and marvel 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:19.919 at the accomplishments achieved. By. These civilizations are so impressive. Um. 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:21.520 I mean I can't even figure out how to run 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:24.760 the coffee machine in r V and these people. Yeah, 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:29.520 and these people managed to construct these elaborate ancient cities 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:32.959 along sheer cliff walls. It's amazing. Had I been alive 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:35.120 in the year seven fifty, I probably would have been 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:39.160 thrown into the canyon like trash. Yeah, that's what I 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:41.600 would have deserved. I Mean, when you hear about the 0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:44.560 Masa Verde National Park, most of what they hear is 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:47.880 going to be the historical and cultural aspect, which is 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:50.720 definitely huge. I mean, but the natural beauty of this 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:54.760 place is totally understated. I Mean we've read articles and 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:59.079 looked at magazines and everything, and they're just all like, oh, yeah, 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:02.080 the views aren't that stunning. I mean, but it's just 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:04.680 mind blowing when you go there. I mean, they really 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:08.480 are beautiful views. I mean they're just so majestic. It's 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:10.600 one of those places that just take my breath away. 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:13.040 As you drive in the main road at zigs and 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:15.799 DAGs up through the canyons, there's loss meadows. I mean 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:19.040 you just see these soaring mazas everywhere. Yeah, it's definitely 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:22.240 a show stopper. I it's so surprising. I like, I 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:24.480 feel like we were kind of misled reading some of 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:27.520 the guide books because they highlight and talk about the 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:31.360 cultural aspect and these cliff dwellings obviously, which are important 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:36.040 and focal points. But it really does a disservice to 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:39.280 this park to kind of understate how naturally beautiful it 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:42.839 is and how overwhelming in a great way of these 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:48.320 mazas in meadows and cliffs and valleys are. It's really incredible. Um. 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:50.760 In that road you mentioned, there's really just one main 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:53.880 park road that kind of goes in and then steeply 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:56.840 escalates to the top of the mazas. It really reminded 0:03:56.840 --> 0:03:58.960 me of the road that leads into Arches National Park. 0:03:59.240 --> 0:04:02.520 But the rain here is so much greener, much greener. Yeah, 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:06.280 it's really really vivid, which I don't know why I 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:09.400 was so surprised. I expected it to be more desert like. Um, 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:11.600 but then when you think about a severity means green table, 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:14.960 so I'm like, uh um. Anyway, after several miles, you 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:18.560 wind up by the chape in Mesa, which is the 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:21.839 most popular area of the park. You have a museum here, 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:25.760 a restaurant, hiking trails, and access to the park's most 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:41.720 well known tours, which are definitely worth checking out. Trails. Yeah, 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:44.279 when we arrived, we started at the Petrol Left Point trail. 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:46.760 It's a two and a half mile trek along the 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:49.400 cliff and the top of Mesa. Yeah. I mean it's 0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:52.000 a real showstopper of a trail, not only with its 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:55.000 amazing views, but like also how unique and hands on 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:57.560 it was. I mean, this was the kind of trail 0:04:57.600 --> 0:05:00.719 that requires you to scramble on hands and knee squeeze 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:04.200 herself through rocks. It's well worth the effort because of 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:07.360 the views from the Maza top are incredible. I mean 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:10.160 you just see these sweeping views of the tree line 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:13.159 Masa floor. I mean I feel like an eagle purched 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:16.279 on a high branch, which is my favorite animal, but 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:19.800 looking down on the world below me. I mean, in 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:21.640 modern days, you can say it looks like you're a 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:25.039 drone flying through the air. Oh yeah, totally. You have 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:27.960 a drones eye view. Yes, a drones eye view. Yes, 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:30.720 forget eagle eye view. Just kidding, I love you eagles. 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:33.440 The I mean the trail looks back around to chap 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:39.719 In Masa. Yeah, the chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum. Yes, it's great. 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:42.839 I mean it has these exhibits of local wildlife culture 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:45.480 and history, as well as a beautiful little movie. Yeah, 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:48.039 that movie. It's great. That's always fun anytime, just any 0:05:48.080 --> 0:05:50.320 time you visit a visitor center at a national park, 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:52.320 always see if they ask some sort of movie. A 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:55.360 lot of them do, and they're always worthwhile and really informative. 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:59.320 And let's talk about there's a section in a in 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:02.800 a museum here which is just filled with these taxi 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:05.320 der meat animals, especially birds, are a lot of birds 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:09.000 in this park. And as someone who pretty much burst 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:11.200 into tears anytime I see roadkill, it's it's kind of 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:14.240 ironic and funny that I'm so obsessed with taxidermy. I 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:18.040 could just spend hours staring blankly at taxidermy hawks. It's 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:19.919 really for me. It just creeps me out though I 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:22.520 tried to dash through this experience, and roadkill doesn't bother 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:24.719 me like it does use it just really yeah, we're 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:29.160 backwards again. You know, we're very different people. Yes, very 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:33.760 much in love. Yeah, I'm weirdly comforted by dead stuffed hawks. 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:39.400 Um so after we after I spent two hours in 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:43.880 the taxidermy room. UM we moved on and the Masa 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:46.760 Top Loop is the six mile route that weaves around 0:06:47.000 --> 0:06:50.479 UM they're parting from the chape in Mesa area and 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:53.320 this is what takes you to some of the most 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:58.720 beautiful overlooks and historic sites and also most importantly the 0:06:58.800 --> 0:07:03.039 cliff dwelling tour, which UM we booked UM at the 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:06.000 initial visitor center by the entry point of the park, 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:09.040 and you that's a must, you have to do that. 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:13.080 But they're very accessible that it's not like some tours 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:15.080 and some parks which fill up super fast and then 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:17.080 you're kind of out of luck. This one they do 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:19.800 periodically throughout the day. I think every thirty minutes they 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:22.360 do cliff dwelling tours, so there's plenty of room to 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:26.400 go around and most likely you're gonna be able to 0:07:26.400 --> 0:07:29.080 get on a tour, which is wonderful, great. It really 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:31.120 took the stress out of that situation. And for the 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:34.080 whole five dollars per tour, it's worth yeah, so easy, 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:36.920 so affordable. Forget to skip your coffee if you can't 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:40.280 afford it, go to the quiff. I'm not skipping coffee 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:44.840 I've tried to appreciate the sentiment anyway. Yeah, so we 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:46.760 hit the maze top loop and kind of started off. 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:50.360 We stopped off at a few overlooks which were great, 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:53.760 including there's one where you kind of look out over 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:59.000 the Masa valley below, and we saw a snake squiggled 0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:03.160 across the writer the trail recently. Why did the snake 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:07.800 cross the road? I don't know, to get to the 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:15.600 other Masa. Yes, it's probably literally. One really nice thing 0:08:15.680 --> 0:08:18.200 was that the drive to the Masa Swap dwellings. I mean, 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:21.720 before the Publion people started moving into the cliff dwellings, 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:24.560 they had homes and communities on the Masa surface, and 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:27.720 several of these were preserved for visitors to see today. 0:08:28.120 --> 0:08:30.960 The main attraction that Masa Verde, though, is the cliff dwellings, 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:34.760 which are only accessible by range of tours. But seriously, 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:37.000 if there's one thing you do in Masa Verde, you 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:39.880 must go into these cliff dwelling tours. I mean they're 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:43.080 just when you get down there and you realize how 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:47.360 small these people were. They were only about five five um, 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:50.840 and how unafraid of heights they were, you know, and 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:53.240 it's like it is the perfect place to be because 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:56.000 as like the wind goes by, because they're inside of 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:59.000 these cliffs, you know, they stay pretty cool and calm, 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:02.240 and it was just it was so beautiful to see 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:07.440 the engineering of these native people to these lands. Yeah. Absolutely, 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:10.760 these cliff dwellings are honestly like the bread and butter 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:14.080 of the park. It's such an essential component here and 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:17.920 obviously the most iconic and famous thing at ma sever Day, 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:21.880 and rightfully so, because it highlights the work that these 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:25.880 intextual people did, this incredible work which gives me anxiety 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:28.760 to think about, because I would have slipped and died. 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:32.400 Like the first day. The tours that we did, which 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:34.880 like we said, our offered every thirty every thirty minutes 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:38.520 other day, so super easy. We did the Cliff Palace tour, 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:42.239 which is the most I would say, the most famous 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:45.319 one in the park. Um. It's probably because it's the 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:50.560 largest by far. It has about d and fifty rooms. Um. Huge. 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:54.679 It's basically like their version of a city carved into 0:09:54.720 --> 0:09:57.160 the side of this sliff base. I know it's the 0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:00.720 Manhattan and May sever Day for sure. Uh, which explains 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:03.800 why it's so popular. I mean, yeah, it does it does, 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:08.800 and it's really really special to tour this um. The 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:11.000 tour we did it was the largest crowd, which made 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:15.199 sense because the place is so huge and it accommodated 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:17.880 group size like that. We had a really friendly ranger 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:23.440 Um who was really cheeky and fun and definitely pandering 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:26.680 to the younger members of the audience. She was talking 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:29.560 like a cartoon character. It was really cute. It was 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:33.720 like the perfect park range of experience she was. Yeah, 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:36.760 she made it really fun, really informative by also being 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:39.599 kind of quirky and charming and reminding you not to 0:10:39.640 --> 0:10:42.360 bring snacks and stuff. Yeah, it's I mean it's really 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:44.520 important not to touch anything, just like in Laddin and 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:47.920 the Cave of Wonders. I mean, if you touch anything, 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:50.960 you'll be chased out of the park by lava. Yes, 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:54.600 just kidding, but still don't touch it. Because human skin 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:57.319 has all these oils. I mean, we have sun block on, 0:10:57.440 --> 0:11:00.720 we use lotion, you know, um, all the hand soaps 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:04.240 and so as you touch these fragile structures, they just 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:07.560 your oils black in them, and it ruins that experience 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:11.280 for future generations. There are some points when you're going 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:13.520 to be able to go and touch the inside of 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:16.040 things for balance, and they will tell you and instruct 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:19.640 you when you can do that. But don't touch the 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:23.400 structures because we want to preserve them for our children's 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:27.240 children's children. Yeah, and honestly, if you do disobay and 0:11:27.280 --> 0:11:29.280 you touch something, you deserve to be chased out of 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:33.040 there by lava. I'm just gonna say that. UM. Anyway, 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:35.600 it takes one hour to do the cliff Palace tour 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:38.080 uh and heads up. Even though the tower doesn't go 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:41.600 that far, it still entails some steep um cliff side 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:45.439 steps and some physical maneuvering. So it's not really for 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:48.040 the faint of heart, or definitely not for people who 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:51.240 are afraid of heights, because like we mentioned several times, 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:54.559 these are cliff walls and there's no real danger of 0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:57.480 falling off. It's pretty well guarded and there are railings 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:00.960 now and you don't get you close to the edge. 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:05.720 But still it's it's nerve wracking. Um. But as long 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:08.040 as that's not an issue, it's an absolute must to 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:11.240 do this. UM, to see these time worn structures, and 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:14.360 considering how laborious it was to build anything of that time, 0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:18.080 I can only imagine how much effort and time went in. 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:21.840 It took decades to build communities like like Cliff Palace. 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:25.200 So the fact that these dwellings were completely abandoned by 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:29.880 the y is so intriguing, Like what would inspire what 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:32.720 would motivate you to abandon something that took so long 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:36.640 and so much effort to establish? I don't understand. That's 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:41.280 like me building uh town from scratch and then one 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:44.079 day just being like I'm gonna leave. I'm done. They 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:46.520 say it took like over seventy five years to build, 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:49.600 Like that's what this is huge history is telling us. 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:53.280 And you know, just seeing all these rooms seventy five years, 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:57.400 I mean, we can build a skyscraper in like two 0:12:57.480 --> 0:13:00.440 in two years, yeah, but you're talking about sending of years. 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:02.320 And that's because they did this by hand. You know. 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:05.760 They went and they grabbed all those rocks, those boulders, 0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:09.640 and they stacked them and they manually labored every bit 0:13:09.720 --> 0:13:14.559 of this. And these people were like they're not these 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:18.280 big early people, but there was so much strength and 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:20.439 soul into what they were building that they were able 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:24.800 to just continue to build. Yeah, I know. And that 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:27.280 just the fact that like this stuff just wasn't sitting 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:29.800 right there at they're disposal ready to stack up. Like 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:33.440 they had to climb way down into the valley and 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:36.640 then climb back up with heavy rocks, heavy materials, and 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:40.040 you can imagine the involvement with that. And they had 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:43.360 to find specific rocks that were soft enough that they 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:48.280 could like chisel it to certain specifications and sizes and shapes, 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:51.160 because there were some buildings that were round, like perfectly rounded, 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:54.880 and they had to mold it that way like by 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:58.000 hand and by forests, And there's no blueprints to that. 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:00.480 It's all word of mouth. That's how they built. And 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:04.480 so um a beautiful thing that was in the back 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:09.080 of all these caves were these springs. Yeah, oh that's true. Yeah. 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:12.000 So the reason it's kind of signify as a big 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:14.840 reason why they picked these locations is because water in 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:17.520 this environment can be hard to come by. So they 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:22.240 picked these cliffs because there was this natural like rocky 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:24.640 springs tucked away in the back of these caves here, 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:28.160 and it just forms by water trickling down from the 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:31.840 Earth's surface and eventually spilling out and forming these little 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:35.800 fresh water pools that are drinkable and or can be 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:38.720 used as a water source. And I would never have 0:14:38.760 --> 0:14:42.000 thought that if I was looking at this from the outside, 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:44.360 I would never think like, oh water is here. It 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:47.360 does not look like it whatsoever. And one of the 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:50.040 things that they did was they actually grew corn in 0:14:50.120 --> 0:14:53.440 crops above these mass so that the men and young 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:57.520 gentlemen they would go up um the hills and every 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:01.880 day and to go tend to their corn. And they 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:05.320 would take all this time and effort and energy to 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:08.720 collect that. So most of their meals were corn. Yeah, 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:12.800 they get corn. The park Vanger mentioned squash was a 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:16.000 big thing as well, so um a lot of that 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:19.120 growing on the surface above the cliff. Which again, how 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:24.040 tedious to have to like get yourself up there harvest things, 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:28.000 bring it back. It's like NonStop work in physical labor. 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:31.640 It's really unbelievable. And sometimes there was days on trips 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:34.760 to go find meat, um, you know, for hunting. You know, 0:15:35.200 --> 0:15:39.560 they were not vegetarians, that's for sure. No, they were not. No, No, 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:42.400 So I guess like deer, a lot of deer here. 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:46.200 So they would hunt deer, dry meat to make basically 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:50.400 dear jerky as well use the hides to make leather. 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:55.360 Just a lot and they would think their think before 0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:57.160 every meal, you know, they would they would give their 0:15:57.200 --> 0:15:59.960 thanks to the animal for sacrificing themselves as part of 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:03.280 their culture history. Beautiful. It's just that that soul that 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:05.560 goes into this place. I mean, there's so much of that. 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:07.720 It's very palpable. You can just get a sense of it. 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:10.000 You can see it, you can you can't feel it 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:13.520 because don't you dare touch it, but you can just 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:16.680 you're like kind of surrounded by it in every sense. 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:19.760 And there was one like as we're kind of leaving 0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:23.600 Cliff Palace, there was this tall tower and the park 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:26.720 ranger asked us to stick our heads in and kind 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:28.880 of look up and at the very roof you can 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:33.520 see the remnants of artwork of play blue and artwork 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:38.000 in single really the only petroglyff that we saw in 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:39.680 the park, and its way up on the roof of 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:42.400 this tower and very cool to see, and it was 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:46.520 it's just beautiful and also like another impressive feet like 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:48.200 having to shim me up to the top of the 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:51.680 tower um to draw on the roof of the cliff 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:54.480 just amazing to me. It is one of those most 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:59.880 beautiful sites to see because there's so much history and 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:04.600 soul into that absolutely, and they abandoned everything. Presumably by 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:08.160 the year this is all just completely desolate and they 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:12.879 were gone. And this community, all these communities, these hundreds 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:15.399 of cliff dwellings were just utterly abandoned. I mean, was 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:20.800 a drought, a lack of resources, conflict in foreign communities? Yeah? 0:17:21.359 --> 0:17:24.919 Was it Aliens? Probably not. This isn't Roswell in Mexico. 0:17:25.000 --> 0:17:27.400 But you never know. You were listening to the park 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:29.960 Landed podcast from my Heart Radio hosted by Brad and 0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:32.840 Matt CARROLLAC. We'll be back with Martha parklandi of podcast 0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:36.800 from my Heart Radio. I'm Matt and I'm Brad. You 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:39.320 were listening to the park Landed podcast from my heart Radio. 0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:50.040 We're in the midst of doing some of these cliff 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:54.359 dwelling tours and fresh off our Cliff Palace tour, which 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:58.280 was the biggest and most immersive of the tours we did. Uh. 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:01.240 Another one we did was the Cockney House tour, which 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:04.359 is also all located along mas the Top Loop. And 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:08.560 this one's much smaller than the Cliff Palace only. Yeah, 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:11.400 only about forty rooms compared to like a hundred and fifty, 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:13.800 So it's not it doesn't feel quite a city size, 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:17.960 but still very substantial and incredibly impressive the engineering that 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:21.639 went into this. It's definitely a more adventurous tour, and 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:23.640 the rangers are really good about pointing that out and 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:27.760 for warning you in case you have any anxieties or fears. 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:31.919 It's very hands on. There are some deep it's very steep, 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:37.480 and it requires some ladders along some very steep cliff faces. 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:40.960 There's some tight spaces that you gotta squeeze through, so 0:18:42.000 --> 0:18:45.359 if you have a fear of heights and or tight spaces, 0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:49.120 be warned. Yea, we saw young girls cry mom's butt 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:54.080 cheeks Titan. We saw me almost cry. Yeah, yeah, and 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:57.199 I even shivered and I love heights. Yeah. For me 0:18:57.240 --> 0:18:59.920 it was mostly I guess I'm not crazy about heights. 0:18:59.920 --> 0:19:02.119 But for me, the thing that kind of uh freaked 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:04.600 me out a little bit here was the narrow spaces. 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:07.880 It's not like you're super lunking through several hundred feet 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:09.879 of a cave or anything like that. It's a pretty 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:13.960 short period, but still it's I'm not used to being 0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:16.760 an environment like that or having a shimmy and crawl. 0:19:17.040 --> 0:19:22.200 It's not my most comfortable zone. Um, totally worthwhile. Though 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:26.600 that being said, this tour um like Cliff Palace, also 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:29.600 takes about an hour and it takes you along some 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:33.679 pretty steep ladders, like we said, through some narrow passageways, 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:37.120 and along the way you'll learn or really guess more 0:19:37.160 --> 0:19:40.720 about the pay blown people who lives here. And this 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:43.840 is most notable, I think in the kiva's um. As 0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:45.640 we're on this tour, the rangers were talking a lot 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:50.080 about these central gathering places that were kind of subterranean, 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:53.520 tucked into the earth, used as ceremonal rooms to pray 0:19:53.560 --> 0:19:56.320 for rain and or meditate on the notion of where 0:19:56.400 --> 0:19:59.640 humans came from, which is pretty deep for a living 0:19:59.680 --> 0:20:02.480 space um. And then those living spaces there at these 0:20:02.520 --> 0:20:04.800 little holes in the ground, and that's where they said 0:20:04.840 --> 0:20:08.160 that humans came from, with this little hole in their kiva's. Yes, 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:11.479 So in the middle of all these kivas are these 0:20:11.520 --> 0:20:15.160 small little holes only about like six inches wide, probably 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:18.360 less in the earth, yeah, probably even less. And so 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:22.280 I guess the speculation, according to the park rangers is 0:20:22.320 --> 0:20:27.720 that people we talk about how humanity or humans as 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:30.439 spirits would emerge in the earth via these little holes 0:20:30.640 --> 0:20:35.879 and then flourish in these communities and carry on and 0:20:35.920 --> 0:20:39.479 pass on generations that way. It's kind of floating up 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:42.640 like spirits. These kivas are beautiful. I mean, they're they 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:45.680 definitely wear their homes as well as their spiritual place. 0:20:45.800 --> 0:20:48.639 But the point blue and people, they didn't have a 0:20:48.720 --> 0:20:52.600 written language. Um. I think there was actually one petroglyph 0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:56.160 in the whole entire park that we saw, and so 0:20:56.320 --> 0:20:58.439 they didn't have a written language. So they had to 0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:02.280 speak from the past us to the future. By passing 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:05.720 is down into generation after generation, and these kivas are 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:09.359 what actually develop that relationship for them. That's where they 0:21:09.400 --> 0:21:12.520 passed on their stories. And the rangel led tours. She 0:21:12.600 --> 0:21:15.960 was telling us all about the different speculations of how 0:21:15.960 --> 0:21:19.080 they passed on knowledge. And I just remember playing the 0:21:19.080 --> 0:21:22.360 game of like telephone growing up and I never got 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:25.119 it right. So it's going to be pretty hard to 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:28.640 pass that generation after generation. Yeah, um, but that's why 0:21:28.800 --> 0:21:31.399 you know their spirits still live there, right and exc 0:21:31.640 --> 0:21:37.479 they feel. Yeah, Apparently there was no real written history. 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:39.640 It was all oral history. And like you said, it's 0:21:39.680 --> 0:21:43.760 basically this long drawn out generations long game of telephone 0:21:44.040 --> 0:21:47.439 and things get foggy and so now all we can do, 0:21:47.480 --> 0:21:50.399 and all the park rangers can do is really speculate 0:21:50.680 --> 0:21:53.000 and kind of piece things together and connect the dots, 0:21:53.200 --> 0:21:55.600 and a lot of that is really apparent at Balcony House. 0:21:55.600 --> 0:21:58.600 We're in addition to the Kiva as they have these 0:21:58.720 --> 0:22:01.600 little the namesake Balcony is kind of perched on these 0:22:01.640 --> 0:22:07.000 wooden structures and the rangers were just kind of guessing 0:22:07.080 --> 0:22:09.399 what these balconies were used for. I know when we 0:22:09.400 --> 0:22:12.480 were on Archur she would suggesting they were used for 0:22:13.600 --> 0:22:17.960 sitting outside of the windows, or for drying meat, storage 0:22:18.000 --> 0:22:23.120 for and yeah, exactly, and pottery and lots of potential 0:22:23.400 --> 0:22:26.239 even to climb up to like the second level of 0:22:26.280 --> 0:22:29.080 the rooms, which is only about six ft off the ground, 0:22:29.119 --> 0:22:31.760 but because again there were only five fives, only gave 0:22:31.800 --> 0:22:35.119 them a couple of feet um of head space. But 0:22:35.600 --> 0:22:38.439 they would climb up into the second level, which is 0:22:38.480 --> 0:22:41.399 crazy because you're just like that, does that look smaller 0:22:41.400 --> 0:22:43.960 than the house in Manhattan? Right? Definitely does. Yeah, it 0:22:44.000 --> 0:22:48.080 looks like a studio apartment, um so. And some of 0:22:48.119 --> 0:22:50.800 these went pretty high. The balconies, like most of them 0:22:50.800 --> 0:22:52.560 are only like two stories, but there was one that 0:22:52.640 --> 0:22:55.560 went up three or more. It's kind of hard to 0:22:55.600 --> 0:22:57.280