Open Writing

There are very few national parks in the USA which are archaeologically and human based. Mesa Verde is one such outstanding exception. The Anasazi people moved to the area about 1,400 years ago and remained for 500 years. Today, they are remembered mainly for their remarkable practice of building their houses beneath overhanging cliffs. Why they constructed them in this manner has never been firmly established.

I pressed on to Durango. I noticed large advertisements around the town promoting the Iron Horse Cycle Race the following week. Once a year a race between cyclists and the vintage train takes place between Durango and Silverton some 80 Km away up in the mountains. The train and the cyclists set off at the same time. The road is kept closed to traffic for the day. Thousands of cyclists of all ages and abilities are allowed free range of the highway after the race had passed by. It was a disappointment to me that I could not hang around long enough to experience this great event.

Riding out of Durango en-route for South Fork I was faced with a tough 25 Km climb to reach the summit of Wolf Creek Pass at 3,500 metres high. It took me over four hours. Once over the top I quickly descended to the valley below and was caught up by an American cyclist riding to Monta Vista to watch his two sons play European style football. Watching them play I remarked that there did not appear to be any shouts of encouragement or words of criticism being uttered at any of the teams consisting of both boys and girls. It appears that parents and spectators are discouraged from making any verbal communication during a game.

As the match ended I said my goodbyes and sought out the location of my Servas hosts for the next two nights. I was advised by them that it was a worthwhile ride to the Great Sand Dunes some 80 Km away. These are formed from sand blown inland from the distant Pacific coast which is unable to surmount the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. As a consequence it has been deposited for centuries at the foot of the range. A mini-mountain has been created, some 250 metres high. Riding back to my hosts in Mona Vista after my visit I encountered a strong crosswind which was severe enough to force me to dismount and stand and watch clusters of straw and other matter being swept across the landscape in profusion. I spent a further two nights with hosts Frank and Pauline some 50 Km down the road in Alamosa. A delightful elderly retired couple Frank had lived most of his life with remnants of shrapnel in his body since he was wounded in the Italian Campaign in 1943.