Doesn't look like a good day for a hike. About 25 people waited for the Park Ranger to start his briefing on the tour on which he was going to take us. He said he didn't know what the weather was going to do, but if it rained, we would continue on the hike to the ruins. OK, my major concern was my camera, but then I noticed a machine that dispensed doggy poop bags so people can pick up after their pets. They just happened to be camera size.
We climbed some ladders to get to the back of the alcove that housed the ruins. Toward the back, we found a moist, mossy green area which was water seeping into the ruins. This is where the residents got water while they were living there.
The park ranger was full of statistics and we were told that the residents lived there until almost 1300. They ranged in height from 5'2" to 5'5" and the men lived about 35 years. Women weren't so lucky, they lived until about 22 and had an average of about 8 babies - not all of them lived. They worked hard, building homes, farming, making pottery and clothing. They accessed their homes by carving toe and hand holds in the cliff walls to get up to the mesa. Everything brought back to their homes was carried on their backs down the face of the cliff.
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