Thenaturalmedic Adventures
Hello there, and thanks so much for joining us here! You are probably wondering what this podcast is all about? In this podcast, we will talk about all sorts of outdoor adventures, but primarily, for now, we will focus on hiking and backpacking. No other outdoor adventure is so accessible to so many people! So please join us as we talk about how to hike/backpack and learn how to hike any length trail from your local neighborhood parks to those long trails such as the Appalachian and others worldwide! Remember... "in every walk with nature; one receives far more than he seeks... - John Muir " See you on the trail!
Thenaturalmedic Adventures
Unveiling Mesa Verde: A Trek Through History with The Natural Medic Craig
Ever wondered what secrets lie hidden in one of America's oldest national parks? Join us on an unforgettable trek through Mesa Verde National Park with Craig, the Natural Medic, as your guide. Craig takes us along the Spruce Canyon Trail, revealing the hidden gems of this 1906-established park. From the origins of its name by Spanish explorers to the diverse flora and fauna shaped by a unique spring-fed climate, you’ll gain insights about the park’s rich history and natural beauty that are nothing short of captivating.
Experience the thrill of encountering vibrant wildlife, lush greenery, and ancient cliff dwellings on a 2.4-mile hike with a challenging 558-foot elevation gain. Feel the magic of spotting petroglyphs and cliff dwellings while Craig narrates the park's historical significance and tips for tackling its rugged terrain. Whether it's a colorful lizard or a breathtaking view from the canyon floor to the mesa top, this episode promises a vivid and engaging exploration of Mesa Verde. Don't miss Craig’s expert advice on staying hydrated and prepared, along with a scenic drive suggestion to wrap up your adventure.
Hey afternoon. This is Craig the Natural Medic at Mesa Verde National Park, one of the oldest national parks in the nation, founded in 1906, which was prior to the Antiquities Act, prior to the National Park Service, and I'm standing on the porch of one of the first ranger stations and later became the museum here on the edge of Spruce Canyon. In just a second I will turn around. Let you see the canyon behind me. I don't believe has a name other than the first ranger station and museum. What a beautiful building that they built. And look out here in the canyon, isn't that beautiful? Wow, beautiful place Up here on top of the mesa. It was named by the early Spanish explorers Mesa Verde because it is a mesa, which also means table in Spanish, and verde because of the green plant life up here. Doing a hike on the Spruce Canyon Trail and later we'll go down to the Petroglyph Panel, follow me, okay, spruce Canyon Trail. It's a 2.4 mile trail that goes through the canyon here, takes about two hours to do according to the sign and elevation gain overall 558 feet and we are over 8,000 feet up. So elevation is interesting, but should be going through a shaded area in the Scrooge Canyon Trail and it shouldn't be too harsh. Some local wildlife here Got a lizard, hopefully you can see him. Very colorful, very animated. Hi, buddy, can I get closer to you? Hello, pretty, anybody out there knows who he is or what he is. Drop it in the comments headed down into this. I'm thinking maybe there's a waterfall here when this gets wet, which probably is not super often, it is pretty dry out here. But look at at all this. Wow, isn't that beautiful. I'm in the bottom of the canyon here, definitely cooler than on top of the mesa itself. Definitely some different tree species. Down here you got Douglas, fir, spruce and for the longest time the headquarters was just on top of the ridge here and for the longest time the headquarters was just on top of the ridge here and the spring that was down here was the water source for the visitor center for a long time and they've since moved the visitor center towards the front of the park. But yeah, just a different world down here in the canyon, forming aclimate just based on that cooler, cooler spring area. Down here it's pretty dry right now it's august, the 3rd 2024, but I can imagine earlier and later in the year there's quite a bit of water in here, otherwise these trees would not be here.
Speaker 1:Now begins the long climb up out of the canyon, following these switchbacks, back to the top of the mesa area. Whoo up we go. Pardon my breathing, but making our way up, that 558 elevation gain is making itself known for sure, hopefully right behind me. You can see there's two choices here. Spruce Canyon is where we just came from, going out behind me. If you want to continue on to Petroglyph, you have to make it a full double loop. You can go that way. We were going to do that.
Speaker 1:I believe we decided we're going to head back to the top, get some food, maybe do the scenic drive. It's just gotten super hot no, not really wanting to get ourselves too hot today. By the far end of the trail you have a quiff dwelling right there. Don't know the name of it, but I'll add it in post. At the end of the trail closest to the museum area, it's Bruce Canyon. You can see this beautiful cliff dwelling right here. There's some turkey vultures nesting in this old tree over there. Just a beautiful sight. What a warm day in August. Decided we're not going to do the other trail, so we're going to do some scenic driving back out of the park, join us Coming off the trail. Remember you're at elevation here, bring plenty of water, bring plenty of snacks and be prepared for being out here on rugged, rocky trails.
Speaker 1:Let's take a look at the Navajo Canyon overlook here. So if you look out here wow, isn't that a view Beautiful. And you think about the cliff dwellings that were here or that are here and they seem isolated. But they weren't isolated, because if you look on the sign here, hopefully you can make this out they traded all kinds of stuff. Hopefully you can make this out. They traded all kinds of stuff Turquoise, obsidian pottery, cotton, other types of pottery and they respected their land because their land brought them prosperity.
Speaker 1:Square, tower House Short walk down this paved trip. Looks like a couple different kivas. Very tall area right there. I think it might be the tallest. It's hard to see. The sign is messed up. It might be the tallest dwelling here in the park. Yep, I was correct. It is the tallest structure in the park at four stories.
Speaker 1:But look how inaccessible this is. You've got this cliff here. The road is over there on the other side. I had to walk a trail to get over here. But look at this sheer canyon right there and then over there and over there Makes you wonder how they got up there. There is a trail you can see down there that they were able to walk up to, but to get down in that canyon yikes.
Speaker 1:Way back there is the Cliff Palace. That's one that you can take a tour down to, and over here you have other ones. The name of it escapes me at the time, but you have all kinds of dwellings in this canyon here and it's interesting because certain people that were here say around 1200, witnessed migration down from the tops, coming down to these alcove communities that we see here. Pretty crazy, what a view. So, coming to the geological overlook, you can see from the sign here and looking out into the view, you can see Mesa Verde or Cuesta. What that actually means is and you can see it not really very well you can see where my truck is parked. Way over there there's a gradual dip, kind of to the south of Mesa Verde and because of that you had, instead of a flat top mesa, you had erosion that came through and was able to shape the alcoves and everything that the cliff dwellings were built into.
Speaker 1:Over the top of what we're looking at right now is the La Plata Mountains, to the left of that, the San Juan Mountains. Technically they're one and the same. Way out in the distance you have the San Miguel Mountains and the Uncampaje Plateau. I may be saying that wrong, apologies. And basically over time you had a shallow inland sea I've talked about that in previous videos in the Dakotas, wyoming, etc. Where the Rockies now are, and Texas and most of the southern United States, as you see from this map right here, that laid down lots and lots of sediment and helped form the mountains that we see today as the Rocky Mountains. So pretty interesting, so pretty interesting. It's interesting that Mesa Verde, which we know from what I just said previously, is not a true mesa but it's a cuesta. The mountains out here is what gives it its better climate and that little tilt that made an inhabitable place for the native people. If you look on this map here I don't know how much you can make out the tallest mountain over there is Hesperus Mountain, one of the seven sacred mountains of the Navajo Dibinitsa. I'm probably butchering that and I apologize if I am Over here.
Speaker 1:You're supposed to be able to see Mount Wilson. Not today because there's a fire over there. You can see the smoke. There's a lot of smoky haze that's happening. Southwestern Colorado, western, pretty much the entire, almost the entire western edge of Colorado, the majority of Utah and the majority of the northern part of Arizona are part of the Colorado Plateau and of course, the area to the north, and in this case in New Mexico, to the east, is the Rockies. So the Rockies start basically right here and I find that pretty fascinating.
Speaker 1:The Rockies start right here. I'm having trouble seeing exactly where US-160 goes. However, it is down there. You can see, supposedly. You can see the campground. You can see the visitor center. I'm not really seeing that today, but these mountains are so tall that they stay pretty snow-capped year-round. I don't see any snow on them today. I think the snow is pretty much largely melted off. It's the highest point in the park and for a long time there's been a fire tower up here for observation point. You can see it on top of the hill there and I thought this was and for a long time there's been a fire tower up here for observation point. You can see it on top of the hill there and I thought this was a good place to end the video. I'm going to actually walk backwards.
Speaker 1:I hope you enjoyed your trip to Mesa Verde today. Only hiked one trail. It was super hot A lot hotter than I expected, and I didn't want to get overheated. Decided to do that short. Petroglyph Trail will have to wait until another time. But if you enjoyed this video, give it a thumbs up. Think about subscribing to the channel for more videos like this and questions, comments, etc. Leave those below Until next time. See you on the trail. Bye.
