The Breakfast Club
An Affiliate of the
Arizona
Pilots’ Assn
The Knife
& Fork
Breakfast Club Drops-in on Cortez, Co, Tours Mesa
Verde National
Park
Part 1, Cortez & Mesa Verde
Park
by Warren
McIlvoy
When the crack(ed) Breakfast Club Event Committee met last year,
our second over-night fly-in event was originally slated for Durango, Colorado that would include a
tour of Mesa Verde National Park
near Cortez, CO. Austin Erwin
volunteered(?) to do the “footwork” on this event that would included
transportation, dinning locations, and most important, a decent place to
stay. When a tour company was located to
get us to the Mesa Verde NP and conduct the tour, they said that it was about
an hours drive from Durango to
the Park but that they do not conduct any tours. Since the tours would be on our own, we
considered why should we originate the festivities out of Durango
and not go the Cortez directly. So, the plan was altered to go direct to Cortez rather than Durango. So Austin focused
his searches on the Cortez area for
all of our needs. As it turned-out, Austin
did a yeoman’s job of arranging all of our needs that included a little side
event for Sunday morning that you can read about in part 2.
The weather on Friday, the day before our scheduled
departure day, was dark and threatening but the forecast for Saturday was more
appealing although there might be some lingering weather to the east and
southeast. Saturday dawned with overcast
skies but allowed plenty of room for our cruise altitude of 9500’. As we departed Deer Valley Airport, I could clearly see
that the weather to the southeast looked pretty dim but the DUATS weather
briefing indicated the overcast would clear just beyond Payson and then clear skies for the duration of the flight.
When I got a little further out, I put out a call on our “group flight following” frequency to see
who was up. Austin and his group out of Stellar Airpark responded as they were
in the area of Roosevelt Lake. A short time later, BC-2 called-in and so the gaggle of three aircraft was on their way
to Cortez.
Although I had a passing knowledge of Cortez, primarily its proximity to Mesa Verde
National Park, I was
curious about its history. I did a
little research via Wikipedia which
revealed this:
“The City of Cortez is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat
and the most populous city of Montezuma County, Colorado, United
States. The city population was 8,482 at the 2010 census”.
“In 1886,
the town was built to provide housing for the men working on the tunnels and
irrigation ditches required to divert water out of the Dolores
River and into Montezuma Valley. The town
was named for Spanish conquistador Hernando
Cortez”.
“The City of Cortez It is a popular stop for tourists, who
do not necessarily tour the city, but stay there because of its central
location among surrounding attractions, such as Mesa Verde National Park, Monument
Valley, and the Four Corners”.
Miracle
at Cortez
“A Lockheed
U-2 "Dragon Lady" reconnaissance aircraft made an emergency
nighttime forced landing August 3, 1959, at the Cortez Municipal Airport almost nine
months before Gary Powers was shot down over
Russia.
Major H. Mike Hua (now retired as General) was on a training flight originating
at Laughlin
AFB, Texas; the U-2 aircraft engine flamed out at 70,000 feet
MSL. Maj. Hua established best glide and was able to navigate through a valley
to a lighted airport that wasn't on his map nor did he know of its existence
beforehand. The airport was the only one in the area with a lighted runway
which was illuminated overnight. The aircraft in question, a U-2D, serial
number 56-6721, is on display at Blackbird Airpark, adjacent to USAF Plant 42
at Palmdale, California. Major Hua was later awarded the U.S. Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross
for his successful landing of the secret aircraft”.
So that’s it for Cortez, not real
exciting on the surface but it did have a real handy airport for Major Hua and for our purposes, it will
work just fine.
As we progressed along our route, the high overcast disappeared just beyond Payson and it was clear sailing for the
rest of the route. Just south of Winslow, Arizona,
before the wooded area of the Mogollon
Rim turns into high plateau, there was some low lying fog, possibly over a
lake that caught my attention and offered a photo op. Just before crossing I-40, I notice the
famous Meteor Crater that is about
15-miles west of Winslow and I could
not pass-up that photo op either. It is
truly amazing that the meteor struck so close to the highway!!
As we passed the Winslow area,
the geography changed to an array of colors that accompanied the many small
mesas that embody the Petrified Forest National
Monument.
Continuing to the northeast, the geographic scene soon changes to small
ridges and narrow valleys that are covered with mesquite and small
junipers. We soon passed to the west of Chinle, Arizona
that is the gateway to Canyon de Chelly. As we pass Chinle, we are greeted by the Chuiska Mountains
that straddle the state line between Arizona and New Mexico. The Chuiskas
rise to better than 9800’ but at the north end of that chain is a broad pass
between the Chuiskas and an unnamed
9400’ peak that is just south of the Four
Corners Area.
Cortez, Colorado is about 25-miles northeast of
the Four Corners Area and this is
where I caught-up with Austin and
his crew. Passing-off to their port
side, I took the lead into the Cortez Airport. The Cortez Airport
is smack daub in the middle of the mouth of a wide northeast/southwest valley
and thus it has a northeast/southwest runway.
Richard was already on the
ground as I announced our position at 10-miles out for the left downwind to
runway 21. After exiting the runway, we
were greeted by the golf cart from Cortez
Flying Service that directed us to transient parking. As I needed some additional fuel for our trip
to Show Low, AZ on Sunday, this was
a good time to order it. A short time
later, Austin and his gang arrived
and we all loaded our gear into one of the vans that Austin
had reserved for our day of festivities.
We were driven over to the terminal building where the car rental agency
was located to complete the paperwork for the vans.
The Cortez Airport is about 8-9 miles south of
the main part of town. Austin
had the name of a place that he found on the internet that seemed like a good
place for breakfast before we headed for the park. Once on the main street of Cortez, it was not too difficult to
find Mr Happy’s Café. The restaurant looked like it has been around
for a while and well known by the locals.
It was nearly 1130 (remember, they are on MDT) their time when we got
there but there were still some locals still eating breakfast. The menu had all the traditional breakfast
fare as well as my favorite, Eggs
Benedict. As it turned-out this
place was a good choice as we soon had our orders and we devoured them like a
pack of starving dogs on a meat truck.
After breakfast, we made a stop at the Baymont
Inn to stow our gear in one of our rooms.
With that task finished, we departed town on the main road and about 12
miles or so, we made the turn-off to the Mesa
Verde National Park. We stopped at
the sign that signaled the beginning of the Park and this is where we made the
switch of drivers. You see, Richard and I were the only folks that
had passes for all the National Parks that us “old
folks” could buy for $10 or so. This
allows free entry onto all National Parks, Monuments, and Recreation
Areas. A little ways down the road after
going through the Park entry, we stopped again to switch drivers.
From the Park entrance to our first planned stop at Far View
Visitor Center
was about 12-14 miles along a winding, twisting road that offered many breath-taking
views of the various canyons of the Park.
The Visitors’ Center is a source for information about the park as well
as the place to purchase tickets for the guided tours of the various
archeological sites in the Park. I
thought that is was amazing that the guided tours are only $3.00 each. Each tour has a limited amount of slots for
any particular tour.
After making a pit stop, we loaded-up the vans for the 10-mile drive to our
first tour stop at the Cliff Palace. We took the path that was maybe a 100yds of
so long to an overlook where the tour starts.
From the overlook, you can get a bird’s eye view of this amazing cliff
dwelling. I have seen photos of this
place in the past but I can honestly say they just don’t do justice to this
scene. When the tour guide arrived, we
gathered in the middle of the overlook and the guide proceeded to relate some
of the history and theories of this site.
When he had finished, we descended a rather steep set of steps to
another locked gate where the real trail started. The guide added that most of the trail “improvements” were accomplished by the
work gangs of the WPA program in the
1930’s. As such, compliance to uniform
codes were non-existent so we would find steps that were often very narrow,
long in the step, sometimes slanted, and, quite often, with no semblance of a
handrail. The guide did not exaggerate
in any way. Some “steps” were as much as
18-24” tall that required a “side step” to get down. I don’t exactly remember how long the trail
was to the cliff dwelling as I was too busy watching my footing but I would
guess that maybe it was a half-mile or so.
At a point just short of the site, the guide relayed more the sites
history as well as some insights into the day-to-day activities of the Anasazi people that lived here from
about the 11th to the 13th Centuries. No one really knows whey they left the area
but there are many theories. Some
believe that maybe drought may have caused them to leave yet others feel that
disease could have driven them out. What
ever it was affected a very wide area of northern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico,
southeast Utah,
and southwestern Colorado.
Once we were at the site, the guide pointed-out the different styles of the
masonry work. Some stonework was very
precise and evenly done while others were less “organized” and somewhat crude
in execution. It appeared that the
people were organized into special groups.
Some were engaged in building, others tended the crops that were on top
of the cliffs, others were assigned into caring for the children, and still
others were in charge of gathering water to sustain life. I often wondered why these people chose to
live in such conditions that would require people (most likely the women) to
carry jars up narrow crevices with nothing more than small hand holds, up the
face of the cliffs, 50-100’ to the tops, and gather water. Then they had to make the return trip without
losing any of the water. The guide said
there was evidence that some water was gleaned from the cracks and fissures in the
rock when the winter snows would melt in the spring and from the occasional
rains. It is possible that though life
in the valleys would be much easier to sustain with easy access to streams and
rich fertile soil to grow crops, but there was one problem, and that was
defensibility.
At the completion of the tour, the guide told us that the exit trail would
require us to use the crudely constructed steps and the use of several
ladders. The ladders would lead us to
the very narrow crevices that were most likely used by the original inhabitants
of this site. In some cases the crevices
were not exactly straight up and down.
They had a slant to them that required you to ‘lean” with them while
ascending the steps or scaling the ladders.
By the time that I had reached the path that went back to the parking
lot, the tops of my legs were on fire.
After arriving at the vans, we took the short drive to our next tour
destination, that being the Balcony
House. The guide told us that the
trail was shorter than at the Cliff Palace
but there were a couple of ladders that were around 32’ or more and one area
where you would have to crawl to the site.
Considering the condition of the legs and the fragile knees, I and a
couple of others opted to take a rain check on this one. The guide did tell us that there was a short
trail (maybe 3/4-miles) just up the road that would take us to an overlook
where we could view the cliff dwelling.
That sounded much more appealing.
We parked along the road at the trailhead and headed down the path. Though the trail had some ups and downs, it
was a whole lot easier than scaling ladders and ascending steps. When we reached the overlook, it was about ¾
of a mile away from the site. By using
the telephoto feature of the camera, I could clearly see the ladders and the
rooms of the dwelling. I could also view
the folks climbing up the ladder and gathering at the top. From this vantage point, I took some photos
of the dwelling as well as the adjoining canyon. Following our photo session, we hiked back
to our car and headed back to Cortez. Along the way, we stopped at an overlook to
get some photos of the mountains north of the town of Mancos.
I have not been able to find a name but they sure were gorgeous with the
clouds casting shadows on the sloops.
When we arrived at the hotel, we checked-in and then retrieved our gear that
was stored in one the rooms. The Baymont Inn is four floors with a
center atria that encompasses the pool and hot tub. Our room was on the second floor on the south
side. The view of the mountains was
gorgeous as the sun was getting low in the west. The others in our party had not yet gotten
back to the hotel so I felt that it was necessary to sample the joys of the hot
tub. My wife came down but did not use
the hot tub but chose to lounge in one of the poolside chairs. After about 15 minutes my wife walked over
with my cell phone. Austin
was inquiring about when we would be ready to head-out to dinner. I said that it would be about 20-minutes as
we would meet with everyone in the hotel lobby.
When all had gathered in the lobby, we loaded-up the vans headed-out to the Shiloh Steakhouse. The restaurant was only about 2-miles west of
the hotel so the ride was short and there was ample parking in the rear. Austin had
made reservations so we had seating in a dinning area that was separate from
the common dinning area. I was not sure
if our reputation had preceded us or they felt we would like our privacy but in
any case, we had the entire room to ourselves.
After a very nice evening meal, we returned to the hotel where most of us
reconvened our “meeting” on the patio
deck. While we enjoyed a few “brewskes”,
we relived the day’s events with tales of our impressions of the cliff
dwellings. In my humble opinion, these
little get-togethers at the end of the day are one of the more enjoyable
occasions on the overnight fly-ins. With
the night air nearing the temperature of the beer and the hour getting late, it
was time to call it a day and head to our rooms. In the morning six of our group was going to
play the roll of “city slickers”
while my wife and I would be heading out to the airport for a flight to Show Low and a few days with our
daughter’s in-laws at the mountain home in Pinetop.
Part
II, Cortez & Mesa
Verde National
Park
OR
The City
Slickers Ride Again
By Austin Erwin
Note: Since I did
not attend the “trail-ride” and cook-out, I asked Austin Erwin to do a little write-up about this part of our weekend
event.
“On the second day of our journey a few intrepid cowboy and
cowgirls headed off to Rimrock
Outfitters in Mancos, CO (25 miles east) of Cortez for a real, one-of-a-kind,
cowboy breakfast and trail ride.
We met up with the owners of Rimrock Outfitters, a kind husband/wife team, Perry and Lynne, who were patient and generous to a bunch of
rookies. They had all the horses saddled
up and ready to go when we arrived.
The day was perfect, there was a slight chill in the air (65 degrees)
and not a cloud in the sky, opposed to what the forecast said. One rookie asked if “AAA would help with trailside assistance if our horse blew a shoe”.
Our ninety minute meandering ride led us through open fields
with cows, ponds and a gorgeous vista for our senses to take in. Along the way someone relayed a funny story
about a boy who on his first trip to the forest commented that it smelled like
“air freshener.” We had the real
thing here, too bad we couldn't have bottled it up and taken it back to Phoenix.
Further along the trail the group sauntered through tall Colorado
pines, across a stream, down a valley and then up to our waiting breakfast. Someone said that “if they had to ride to Denny's like this they could get used to it”.
Perry was the
cook this morning and he had flapjacks cooking over an open wood fire. Also ready were scrambled eggs, biscuits,
coffee and loads of bacon! A comment from the cowboy gallery was “there is nothing nicer than bacon in the forest”! It must be a camping/outdoors thing, who
knows. Our host Lynne also had a special syrup recipe that was outstanding; it was a brown sugar, regular sugar and water reduction
with butter and some other ingredients that have unfortunately been
forgotten. One hunch from the crew was
that it's a secret recipe handed down in most Betty Crocker cookbooks. Finishing up our cowboy chow, we tossed
the scraps to the trail dogs; they
had worked up an appetite keeping up with us, so they deserved a handout.
When it was time to leave, we got both feet in the stirrups
and were ready for our photo op. We
looked like the crew from Bonanza; who was Hoss? Lynne
did a nice job swapping cameras so everyone could have their picture with the
panoramic background. She said “we were
the best bunch of pilot cowboys & cowgirls this side of the Mississippi”. Following
our Hollywood moment, we set off on a thirty
minute ride back to the ranch and our waiting Kia Minivan and the impending
flight from this pristine place.
This was a wonderful morning activity. Our hosts, Lynne and Perry were such pleasant people, who truly made our
experience one to remember. Hope we can
return for another visit in a couple years.
So there you have it.
We had a great time at a truly great location and a lot of fun with some
of our Breakfast
Club folks. A couple of
people had to cancel at the last moment and missed-out on a great weekend
event. I want to thank Austin Erwin who spent a lot of time
researching hotels, restaurants, and side activities. Austin really
put together a wonderful weekend that was enjoyed by all. Great job Austin.
The Cortez
Group
- Warren & Jeri-Ann
McIlvoy in 93MB, BC-1 & 1.5
- Richard & Marcia
Azimov in 6864Q, BC-2
- Doug Doehrman and Libby
Vance in 93M, BC-69
- Greg Coomans and Austin
Erwin in 93M, BC-48 & 86
The City
Slickers
- Richard & Marcia
Azimov
- Doug Doehrman and Libby
Vance
- Greg Coomans
- Austin Erwin
What’s Next?
The October Breakfast Club event will be an encore visit
to Lake Havasu, AZ where we will be having breakfast at
the Makai Café. This event was a big hit last year so we are
doing it again. In November we will be
going south (literally) to Tucson, Ryan and dinning at Todd’s Café. That’s all for now but remember, fly safe.
I received photos from both Richard and Austin and
combined them with my own. They supplied
all of the photos of the trail ride so there may be some duplications of some
scenes. Click on the link below to see
them all.
Cortez,
Colorado Photos