Mesa Verde Beginning

After staying in downtown Durango to visit with my son, I moved on to the Mesa Verde National Park.  I hadn't been there since I was a kid, so it was like discovering it all over again.  I stopped at the visitor's center to talk to the Rangers....I only wanted to spend an hour or so.  I was informed that it would take almost that amount of time to get to the ruins.  So first, I took pictures around the visitors center.

I woke up at 4 am for the usual reasons to wake up at that time.
I went out on the upper patio of the place I was spending the
night....what a wonderful find.  Out the back patio I could see
the milky way.  Downtown Durango!  Wow!

This sculpture was in front of the Mesa Verde
Visitor Center.  It was striking and I circled for
20 minutes taking pictures from every angle.

A wonderful visitor center with a beautiful back drop.
The "bookstore" is extensive and the rangers are
very helpful.

As you can see, every angle was
dramatic.

Because I didn't have an angle, except from ground
level, it really isn't evident how tall or impressive this is.
I will amend the post after I find out the sculptor's name
and when it was commissioned.

In trying to get the face, I took a back end picture.  The face
was still obscure, so I cropped to get in close.  This is one of
the few pictures I cropped significantly.  I try to take my
photographs as I see it thru the viewfinder.  I started in film.

Sculpture in the entry way to the visitor center.

It was about 9 am on 9/2/14.  Too late for dramatic photos that photographers live for.  

I found the sky and the unusual statuary made for interesting photographs.