next

We climbed up out of cliff palace (one set of skinny sandstone steps carved (by rangers) between two boulders, two wooden ladders and one metal ladder, to be precise)...all of us wishing our tour could have lasted a bit longer. Sigh.

But lunch and a short hike down the trail to Spruce Tree House pepped us up again.
From signs along the trail we learned which plants the Puebloans ate for which bodily ailment and which plants to avoid...poison ivy & juniper berries making the most lasting impression in our minds. We kept our eyes peeled for more snakes and tarantulas rumored to be in those parts. We saw neither of those but once we got to the ruin, we were able to climb a ladder down into a covered kiva to get a taste of ancient life.
Enter Ancient Kiva Here:

Inside
(the ancient Puebloans were not tall folks...the benches lining the walls behind the girls (found in all Kivas) were for the spirits of Puebloan anscestors who came for the ceremonies--a good way to keep the ghosts comfy and up and out of the way!)

Spruce Tree House is a self-guided tour so we were able to linger there a little longer before returning to our lodge for a little R&R & a quick drive to the other side of the park for an evening guided tour of the next sites on our list...Long House and Step House.