25 August, Tuesday

Woke this morning to dense fog, because of the rain all day yesterday. We had an appointment in Durango for new tires so left early, 0830 and proceeded down the Million Dollar Highway. Dropped the pickup off at Goodyear tire and we went onto Walmart for some supplies. Shopping done, lunch over we went back to pick up the truck and proceeded to Mesa Verde National Park. We have tried to visit the park several times but each time the forest fires had the park closed. This time it was open and not crowded. We drove to the vistors center, bought our tickets for a later tour and then drove a scenic loop. This area was filled by natives in the early 1200's, building their pueblos into the sides of the mesa. It was sad to see all the trees that had burned during the earlier fires. New growth was taking root and the cycle of the forest will soon be repeated. We saw many deer foraging on the new growth of willow and grasses.