As I was purging my phone of some 7,000 photos and videos, I realized I never shared the striking pictures from my road trip to Mesa Verde with my friend, Breann. I wrote about our silly and rather comical rookie mistakes we made on this trip here. I highly recommend going even if you’ve lived in Colorado for years. We camped, hiked, and went on a guided tour through the cave dwellings. The photo above shows the mountainside in which the dwellings were built, the mountainside that we scaled to enter the dwellings. A palpable sense of ancient human energy hung in the air like I’ve not felt before. I highly recommend taking a guided tour so you know what the hell you’re looking at and its significance.

To enter the dwellings, we had to navigate through tight spaces and schiesty ladders, including this giant one. These humans must have been very short and thin to squeeze through the tiny passageways.

Have I ever told you I’m really afraid of heights? You might be able to see the uncomfortable look on my face in the photo below. There’s some mild climbing rocks as well, so wear comfy shoes with good traction. If I didn’t have my Chacos on, I would have felt 10x more anxious. Phobia, be damned! My sense of exploration outweighed my height anxiety.

Though this may have not been the most comfortable trip ever, it was one of my favorites. Thanks for exploring the world with me, B.

Mae