Cliff Palace Pano

When we were planning our trip to Colorado for the Rottie National, I received lots of great advice about places to see when we finally had some time to explore. One area that was suggested was Mesa Verde in the Southwest corner of the state and the Anastazi cliff dwellings that are there. Linda has always been interested in that sort of thing so we put it on the agenda for the way home. If any of you are ever in the area, I strongly suggest you visit this area. It is well worth your time.

We drove the Mesa Top Loop which took us by many ruins which we got to explore and also put us on the cliffs opposite some of the most amazing ruins I've ever seen. The day we were there, it was very windy so I left my tripod in the car and just carried my 17-55 F2.8IS and my 200 F2.8L. These two lenses allowed me to get some wonderful broad perspectives from across the canyon and some very interesting close-ups with the 200. As I was shooting, other tourists would come up with their camera phones and I could imagine the conversations once they got home: "yes, this is the view of the Cliff Palace from across the canyon. You can see it right there in the middle. It's that little black dot."

As we got to a point almost directly across from the Cliff Palace, I decided to shoot a panorama with the 7D and the 200. For this shot, I took 5 vertical images and stitched them together in Photoshop to create a final image that is 30 inches wide by 14 inches tall at 310 dpi with no interpolation. Here's that image at viewable resolution.



If you'd like to see this image full-sized, go to this pbase link and just click on "original" to see it at original resolution. Cliff Palace Pano You might notice at 200% it's a little grainy in the shadow area probably due to the small amount of tone mapping I did on this version in Photomatix. I've saved the original pano as a .psd file so I can work on it when I have more time.

Again, I'd like to thank everyone for their advice. Wish we had been able to visit all the places that were recommended. Maybe next time, we'll actually get there for a vacation.

Jim

Jim you should see them up close and personal, did it a couple years ago. In the left corner of your pic there is a stair case that leads you down to the ruins, and to the right stairs that go back up. Can't remember what the fee is but a tour guide takes you down to them and gives a very informative talk about the natives that lived there, it's amazing to see up close.

Don

Don,
we drove over to the observation area just above the Palace and saw where the tour went down and actually watched one of the tours for a few minutes. Unfortunately, the stairs were a bit much for my mangled right knee (5 surgeries over 45 years) so we had to skip it. What an amazing place to build a village! The views in all directions are just spectacular. We'll have to do it again and spend more time.

Jim

Jim:

Very nice. Mesa Verde is one of my many, many favorites.

If memory serves me correctly, in addition to the stairs, there are also a couple of ladders fashioned out of logs and tree branches that must be negotiated in order to get down to the ruins. But, it is certainly worth the effort if you are able.

Jim

There's also another smaller one further in that is easier to manage, it has a paved trail that leads to it from a visitor center. I'll have to find our map to see the name of it. Tucson Jim you are correct about the ladders, that was the reason my wife didn't go with me when we were there.
We're planning on going back as well, we only spent a day there.

Don

Jim,
we actually discussed it with the Ranger there and she suggested that my knee wouldn't be able to handle the stairs and certainly not the ladders. But still, the entire area is just full of things to see and stuff to learn. We had a great time. And we did go through the ruins at the Anastazi Museum in Dolores -- I even climbed around a bit inside by hoisting myself onto one of the ledges. Fascinating stuff.

Jim

Jim,

Mesa Verde is one of the South West's real archeological treasures (along with Chaco Canyon and Canyon de Chelly).
The Anasazi were truly remarkable people. I have visited several times over the years and I highly recommend staying
a couple of days to really explore the cliff dwellings. The Cliff House is relatively easy to visit compared to the
Balcony House which can be physically demanding and certainly not for an acrophob. Here are a few of my images
from some of my visits

Cliff House from the trail


A pano of Cliff house at ground level


Here is how you get up to the Balcony House


The entrance to the ruin is pretty narrow


But once you get up there it is very interesting to see the ruins and the view




And getting back out is probably the trickiest part of the excursion

Hey Guys,

Great photos!!! THanks for sharing.

James

Just a quick update: I did that pano for Linda and me and had it blown up into a fairly large canvass gallery-wrap which I placed in the studio next to my other samples. A wedding client was in looking over various products, saw the pano and asked me if I would be willing to sell it. It seems that her daughter who is getting married is studying archeology at the University of New Mexico and is fascinated with the Anastazi and the cliff ruins.

So, we negotiated for a little while and I sold the gallery-wrap at a very substantial profit. And signed the contract for the wedding and the engagement party where she'll be given the pano as well. Overall, a nice and unexpected bonus.

Jim

Hey Jim,

Congratulations!!! That is awesome to hear.

James

That first shot you have is really great.