Photo Gallery Twenty-six

Mesa Verde National Park, CO - Paria Canyon, UT - Wire Pass, UT

(Best viewed at 1024 x 768 full screen)

View of Spruce Tree House cliff dwelling from a sandstone mesa adjacent to the Museum at Mesa Verde National Park near Durango, Colorado.

Close-up view of Spruce Tree House ruin adjacent to the Museum at Mesa Verde National Park.

View of the main Spruce Tree House platform.  Spruce Tree House ruin is the third largest cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde National Park.

Close-up View of Spruce Tree House ruin.  Spruce Tree House had 114 rooms and 8 kivas.

View into Kiva at Spruce Tree House ruin.  Spruce Tree House housed approximately 125 to 150 people.

View of Cliff Palace from the opposite mesa canyon wall.  Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in the Park.

Close-up view of Cliff Palace from the position of the  previous image.  Cliff Palace had 217 rooms and 23 Kivas.

Zoomed view of Cliff Palace.  Cliff Palace housed approximately 250 people and it's construction started around 1150 A.D.

View looking downstream in the Paria River on the way to Buckskin Gulch.

Continuing downstream in the Paria River on the way to Buckskin Gulch.

Sandstone formations along the Paria River.

Erosion affects on the sandstone adjacent to the Paria River.

View looking upstream of "Slide-rock" in Paria Canyon.

View looking downstream from under "Slide-rock" in Paria Canyon.

Sandstone enclosure  in Paria Canyon.

Boy Scout group hiking downstream in the Paria River drainage.

Continuing downstream in Paria Canyon to the confluence with Buckskin Gulch.

Continuing downstream in Paria Canyon to the confluence with Buckskin Gulch.

Continuing downstream in Paria Canyon to the confluence with Buckskin Gulch.

Continuing downstream in Paria Canyon to the confluence with Buckskin Gulch.

Continuing downstream in Paria Canyon to the confluence with Buckskin Gulch.

Looking upstream at the confluence of the Paria River and Buckskin Gulch.

Looking downstream near the start of the trail to Wire Pass near Page, AZ.  The trail follows the bed of an intermittent stream.

Sandstone formation along the trail to Wire Pass

Looking up a side drainage along the trail to Wire Pass

Looking east to large sandstone formations from a bench above the trail to Wire Pass.

Narrow trail carved out of solid sandstone approaching Wire Pass.

Looking downstream at the slot canyon in the dry creek bed that is the trail into Wire Pass.

Looking upstream  at a five foot drop off in the slot canyon floor.  In April 2002 there was a second drop off about eight foot deep nearby.   In March 1998 there were no drop offs.

Looking downstream from the previous image.

Another view inside "Wire Pass".  This slot canyon narrows to just less than three feet wide.

The east end of the Wire Pass slot canyon drops into Buckskin Gulch.  This huge sandstone alcove marks the termination of Wire Pass.

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