After a quick cat nap, we were ready to venture to the other side of Mesa Verde. The ranger at the station told us to allow 2 hours driving time from Cliff Palace to Long House on the other side of the park, but 45 minutes later, there we were. What to do, what to do? They had a covered pavilion/tram-stop with a small snack shop but we didn't feel like sitting there for an hour for our tour to start. So we checked the trail guide and decided to tackle the 45 minute hike to another self-guided site...Step House.

Along the way we saw quite a few lizards of a couple different varieties, German tourists taking photos of squirrels (no squirrels in Germany?) and some crazy birds called "Swifts" which swoop all over the place there--including right by our heads! Kept us on our toes!

Step House is a site with an older "Pit House" (AD 620) next to a later cliff dwelling (AD 1226). Nice to see they recycled locations and foundations...so environmentally friendly of them!
Those two read every...single...sign along the way!! They were our tour guides (once they caught up to the rest of us!)

Step House

Colorful little fella

We hiked back up to the tram-stop just in time for the 4:00 tram ride to Long House and a surprise greeting from a herd of wild horses (escaped from the nearby Ute Reservation). I think I had a touch of altitude sickness so I opted to stay behind to have some water, shade and snack. Stay tuned for pictures of Long House and the herd of wild horses on Emma's blog...she only took about 7,000 photos of them!

After a bit I was feeling better so I took a 'short' hike by myself to a group of sites called Badger House...more pithouses and kivas. The trail was a bit spooky as it meandered through the burnt out forest.

All those Harry Potter trees and the thought of mountain lions, wild horses and the spirits of ancient Puebloans lurking about made for an interesting hike. But I survived and made it back in time to meet back up with Bob and the girls who were brimming with details of their adventure.

Our tour was the last one of the day so we drove back to our lodge, stopping along the way to take in the sweeping vistas--you can see into forever!