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As the ranger
talked, the previous tour group finally left and made it's way up out
of the ruins.
The way out involves going up three ladders made out of small tree trunks, and some steps cut into the rock. The people in the middle of the picture are starting their ascent. Behind that huge rock are two wooden ladders and some steps. A long and final ladder is traversed up by the top of that rock. You can see one person climbing up that ladder in the very upper left hand corner of the picture. In the crevice behind this rock are some of the original hand and toe holds that the original dwellers used to climb up to the top of the mesa and back down again. From this location, we had a more or less eye level view of Cliff Palace.
That ledge at the top in the middle where the two windows are was used as a food storage area. Going back to this picture for a moment,
the tower behind
the ranger has yet another tower behind it. That other tower provides
the ONLY access to the food storage ledge. The group of people who
controlled access to the food and water became a focus in the area. It
is thought to have been a government for the people up and down the
canyon, possibly the equivalent of a county seat or a state capitol.
Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in the park. It contains,
roughly, 120 rooms, and 21 Kivas, and goes back 80 feet into the
alcove. It is believed to have been an administrative, ceremonial, and
possibly, a social, center.
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