MESA VERDE RUINS IN COLORADO

This series of photo was taken at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado in 2006 when my brother Angelo and I spent three days visiting various National Parks in Colorado, Arizona, and Utah..
These ruins near Durango were left by the pre-Pueblo Anastasi indians who lived here around 570 AD and left long before Columbus discovered America. Contrary to popular belief, the Ancestral Puebloan people of Mesa Verde did not disappear. They migrated south to New Mexico and Arizona, and became today’s modern pueblo people
 I used a hand-held Olympus C8080WZ digital camera.  The shots were made in the Program mode, with no flash at f 2.4, 1/30 sec, and ISO 79.  

After visiting the ruins, Angelo and I hiked the Petroglyph Point Trail to find the ancient petroglyphs made over a thousand years ago by the Anastasi.  Mesa Verde is well over 8000 feet in elevation, so you can probably imagine how this old Florida boy was huffing and puffing on the three mile trail.  Angelo on the other hand, who lives in Pagosa Springs, Colorodo year round, seemed to be hardly out of breath.  Here you can see Angelo pausing to marvel at images on the rock face that seem to have been made just yesterday. 

This closeup of a portion of the cliff wall shows petroglyphs that tell a story of something important happening those many years ago.