The native Americans that existed on what is now the USA for more than 20,000 years before the Europeans arrived, successfully lived off the land in a generally sustainable way. It is a great achievement that not only did they manage to survive, often in difficult terrainss and climate, but that they did so without leaving a significant mark on the environment. Academically, the way in which the pre-invasion population lived is of great interest; but archaeologically, the remains left are smaller compared to civilisations that existed south of the border.
Mesa Verde is the largest archaeological site in the US, with over 4000 archaeological sites and 600 cliff dwellings of the Anasazi people. In the context of the limited archaeological remains left by the native Americans, those at Mesa Verde are undoubtedly significant, nevertheless, I found it difficult to get excited by the sites. In Mexico, the Olmec’s were building their colossal stone heads 1,200 years before the Anasazi started to construct the cliff dwelling for which Mesa Verde is best known, and in Europe, The Pantheon in Rome had been built and rebuilt a thousand years prior. I know that it is not fair to compare one civilisation to another, and I also know that an a civilisation does not need huge heads or giant marble structures to impress, nonetheless the adobe and stone dwellings at Mesa Verde are not as visually impressive as the archaeological sites we had visited a few months back in Mexico.
Naomi appreciated the unique architecture of the sites more than I did, and whilst I enjoyed visiting mesa Verde, I have little desire to continue exploring the regions archaeological sites such as those at Canyon of the Ancients National Monument.
Most of the sites at Mesa Verde are on a large flat topped mountain, around 800m above the valley floor. On the way into the park, Jim had felt a little low on power when driving up to the mesa top, but on the way out of the park, it was clear that power was down on normal. The engine was running fine and there were no warning lights on the dash, and so I expected that the problem would be a simple air or fuel problem. Tipping the cab on Jim is slightly more time consuming than a regular truck, due to the additional bolts clamping the back of the cab to the box body; it probably adds 30 minutes to the job. Pretty much everything engine related, including the fuel filter and prefilter require the cab to be tipped to gain access, and so my first port of enquiry was the air intake which is much easier to access.
I took the air filter out of its housing and it was clear that it was filled with dust. I have a spare filter with me, but as a temporary measure I blew the dirty filter out with the Milwaukee shop vacuum that we use to clean the truck. After 10 minutes, everything within a 5 meter radius of the filter was covered in a thick blanket of dust; it was astonishing how much dust had been stored in the paper element of the filter cartridge. I have still not reconnected the air filter to the remote intake since the hose became disattached on the way to Prescott, AZ, and it is clear that the less than desirable intake location, and the many miles of dirt roads have not been a happy combination. Until I relocate the air intake, I will have to clean and replace the filter more frequently than normal.
Starting the truck again it seemed that most, if not all of the power was restored, saving me the hassle of having to tip the cab. We continued on our way, driving the 25 miles back to the park entrance without incident. Back on Highway 160, we headed east and drove to Durango. Durango is a nice town, with a decent array of pubs and shops; we spent the evening walking the town’s river walk, and pretending we had money to spend on the nice gear in the outdoor and camping shops. In the morning we started our journey north on the San Juan Mountain Skyway, and began to get our first taste of the rocky mountains in which we’ be spending the next few weeks.
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