Mystery Solved?

We had been hearing about the Balcony House tour since arriving at the park, how it was the "roller coaster," the "thrill tour," the "Indiana Jones" ride of Mesa Verde because visitor climb ladders and squeeze through narrow passages. But we had survived the Pueblo Alto hike complete with wrong turns, runaway hats and late afternoon sun, so I was confident we'd be fine. We arrived a few minutes early and met our guide, Ranger Al from Boston. Ted and John Michael were the only kids in the group.

We began our descent — stairs, ladders, ramps, with Al stopping us along the way to explain what we were seeing. The boys knew the answers to all his questions, so much so that halfway through the tour, Al began to preface each question with, "You boys don't answer this, so does anyone else know why...?"

Balcony House was amazing. Although Cliff House Palace is bigger, we saw much more at Balcony House, including original artwork on the walls, back rooms and passages, seeping springs, and, of course Kivas. This time everyone in our small group knew what they were. Ranger Al was one of the best guides we've ever met, which is saying a lot because virtually every NPS guide we have ever had has been wonderful.

Unfortunately, Balcony House did not answer our questions about the relationship between Chaco and Mesa Verde.

Our answers came on the Mesa Top tour. There we saw early pit houses developing into pueblos. At one site we saw how an earlier Kiva was modified and then expanded into a Great Kiva, complete with core-and-veneer masonry which looked like late type III to the boys. At last we arrived at Sun Temple, a mysterious structure that was built on the mesa top at just about the same time as Cliff Palace was being constructed. The rangers had told us that Sun Temple was never completed. But there it was, a Chacoan Great House, complete with the classic Bonito "D" shape with a plaza enclosed by a row of narrow rooms.

Of course, the Rosenblum family will have to do a lot more research, but now we know there was a connection between Chaco and Mesa Verde.