... .  .    .       .joeberkovitz.com

Mesa Verde N.P. and The Best Little Renaissance Faire in Colorado

July 8, 2006 on 7:20 pm | In Bicycling |

Last night, it rained all night. I had many fitful dreams in which the forthcoming bike trip was cancelled due to bad weather, and I pleaded with the organizers to move it to some other state.

I awoke to a cold, rainy and nasty morning. There is no question of riding in the rain around here, since the trails turn into a sea of mud, so I headed off to Mesa Verde National Park about 40 miles west of Durango, where the famous Anasazi cliff dwellings are. I was hoping the rain would keep away the crowds despite its being peak season, and indeed it did; although I didn’t have the place to myself, it wasn’t jammed either.

These structures really should be seen by everyone who gets the chance. They were built during the same period as Gothic cathedrals in Europe, and I think that in a way they’re our national equivalent: an indigenous architectural heritage that belongs to this country in an organic sense, in a way that, say, the Old North Church does not. I signed up for a tour of Balcony House, which requires a 35-foot ladder climb to enter, figuring that this would deter some tourists and further thin the crowd. Apparently the Park Service figures the same, because this is the only tour in which one gets to actually enter a dwelling instead of just standing outside it.

During the tour, a man asked the guide, “Did the people who live here practice human sacrifice?” The guide gave a very detailed answer which could be roughly summarized as, “No”. After a brief pause, he then asked, “Did they ever engage in cannibalism?”

Mesa Verde as a place has the odd feeling of a deserted city, where the “dwellings” seem much like large apartment buildings and the canyon walls are like city streets. There are many dwellings scattered throughout the area; look across any canyon, and on the opposite wall you’re likely to spot yet another deserted house. Balcony House itself appears to have been a small complex that was converted into a two-family of sorts by adding a party wall some time after the building of the original structure.

After my visit, I headed down to the valley town of Mancos for some grub, having seen a promising-looking sign for a bakery there. I drove down the main drag, past the extremely fragrant Western Excelsior Factory (they make aspen wood shavings as packing material), at which point I saw a sign for the Mancos Renaissance Faire. I blew right past the sign, lunch on my mind. On arrival at the bakery, though, my plans changed: I wanted basic, hearty diner-type fare, and they offered overpriced “Pasta Primavera” and such. Nix on the bakery. No, ersatz or not, the Faire started to seem like the best lunch option. There would be food stalls with reasonable prices and stuff I could see before eating it.

And so, I headed to the Mancos Renaissance Faire. I believe the pictures speak for themselves. While hardly the epicenter of Renaissance culture, Mancos, CO certainly made a strong showing in this genre. They really put their back into it. By the way, they have an official web site. I wound up eating a “Navajo Taco”, which was basically fry bread with beans, tomatoes and cheese on top. It wasn’t bad and the price was right. While I ate, I chatted with Tim, a friendly Mancos resident who had just retired from working for the Park Service at Mesa Verde. He told me that Mancos was becoming popular as a bedroom community for folks working in Durango who couldn’t afford to live there.

On my way back to Durango, the weather suddenly cleared up, so I decided to take immediate advantage and go for a ride in nearby La Plata Canyon. Turning north off US 160, I drove into a valley that penetrates right into the middle of the La Platas. The road turned to dirt, after which 16 miles remained to its terminus at Kennebec Pass. I drove in about 8 miles, then attempted to ride up the remaining 8 miles and back. I was climbing pretty well for an hour or so, passing the ghost town of Parrot City. After that, the road turned to a 4WD track and got steeper. I kept going for another hour, getting more and more fatigued. Eventually I had to call it a day, when a descending ATVer told me I had another mile and a half of tough climbing left. Later, I found out that I had made it up to over 11,000 feet, which was a lot higher than I had been expecting; Kennebec Pass itself is at nearly 13,000. No wonder I was beat! In any case, I flew right back down the 6-odd miles to my car in about 15 minutes.

On my way back, I passed the sinister-looking gate of the Sword of Truth Church Ranch. A bit of research took me to an article in the Durango Herald on attitudes towards gun ownership in Southwest Colorado; the founder of the church, Ron Trujillo, is one of the interviewees. Quote: “The Lord wants us to have weapons. But he would want us to be Christ-like in using them.” This article is an interesting read and gives one the idea that there may be some differences between Southwest Colorado and Massachusetts on certain issues.

I finished the day with a big sushi dinner with Ryan and Marcy at one of Durango’s two sushi restaurants. I have to say, it was surprisingly good.

Read the next entry