June 8, 2010
Day 41: Cortez to Dolores
I had a few chores to do before leaving Cortez. Get cash, stock up on groceries, laundry at a laundromat. At the laundromat I spoke to a recumbent cyclist who I had met at San Simeon State Beach during last year's tour. He told me there is major road construction at Mesa Verde.
I finally got away from Cortez at 10:30. No big deal, because it's not far to Mesa Verde National Park. About 10 uphill miles east on US 160 to the park turnoff, and then 10 more steep uphill miles to the campground up on Mesa Verde.
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Half a mile past the entrance sign I stopped at the fee station. The ranger there told me that bicycles and pedestrians are prohibited during their road reconstruction project because bikes can't keep up with the pilot cars. I told him that in other national parks I was given a ride in a pilot car. He said their pilot cars are cars (not pickup trucks) that can't transport bikes. I was quite angry about the situation and explained that this is the 8th national park I've visited on a tour of national parks. But it was no use. He explained that even if I hitched a ride to the campground, I would have to get another ride from the campground to the archaeological sites. The ENTIRE road is under construction. That didn't sound like much fun, and I've been to Mesa Verde once before. So I turned around in disgust.
Here are a couple pictures of Mesa Verde during my visit in September 1998, the day after completing a 6-day bike tour in southwestern Colorado. From about 600-1300 CE, thousands of Pueblo people lived in caves just below the top of the mesa, far above water sources in the valley below. Nobody knows for sure why they lived in such an inconvenient place (defense?) and why the communities were abandoned (drought?).
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I plan to write a letter to the National Park Service explaining how Mesa Verde National Park egregiously failed to comply with the mission of the National Park Service.
"...to promote and regulate the use of the...national parks...which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." National Park Service Organic Act, 16 U.S.C.1.
This legalese mission statement is universally paraphrased as two (sometimes contradictory) obligations:
1. National Parks must be open to the public.
2. National Parks must be protected for eternity.
A pedestrian/cyclist ban bluntly contradicts the first obligation. Pedestrians and cyclists are people!!! Mesa Verde required all visitors to come in motor vehicles that have a large negative impact on the environment and park infrastructure. They banned low-impact visitors. It's hard to think of a WORSE method to protect the park for eternity.
If national parks CHOOSE TO DENY PASSAGE to cyclists and pedestrians in a construction zone, then they MUST PROVIDE ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION in a pilot car. I believe the park service has this obligation because banning cyclists in construction zones is so peculiar to national parks. In 34,000 miles of bike tours I have NEVER been prohibited from biking through construction zones outside of national parks. Only a tiny fraction of those miles were in national parks, but I was prohibited from biking through construction zones 6 times in national parks! Every national park road construction contract should require alternative transportation to be provided IF pedestrians and cyclists are prohibited from passing through the construction zone. Is that radical? It was the policy at Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks during my 2004 bike tour. On 5 occasions I was forced to ride a pilot car through construction zones, but I was never denied passage. Mesa Verde's policy of "cyclists and pedestrians banned this summer" was contrary to the park service mission, bordering on illegal discrimination.
I realize that Mesa Verde National Park is not a typical national park. It's an archaeological park with far more restricted public access than in most parks. But that's not a valid excuse to ban pedestrians and cyclists for a period of weeks or months while remaining open to all other visitors. I also realize that the road in Mesa Verde National Park is unusually winding, with poor visibility in many turns. Mesa Verde is the only park I've ever visited that advertises "bicycles not recommended" on signs and in literature. Obviously the superintendent's preferred solution to the safety problem is to discourage or ban bicycles rather than set a speed limit that is safe for all road users.
End of rant.
Dec. 2010 Update: I received a reply from the NEW superintendent of Mesa Verde National Park. He apologized for how I was treated because of decisions made by the previous superintendent. The superintendent wrote that future construction contractors will use pilot vehicles capable of safely transporting bicycles through construction zones. Hopefully cyclists will never again be banned from Mesa Verde National Park.
I had planned to spend 2 nights at Mesa Verde, so I'm ahead of schedule now. Not that there really is a schedule...
Rather than backtracking all the way to Cortez, I navigated back roads to get from Mesa Verde to Dolores. It started out quite nice, climbing past Totten reservoir, through horse farms and ranchettes. Then the pavement turned to smooth gravel for 7 miles. No need to lower the tire pressure. I had to use my GPS a couple times at intersections. Overall, the shortcut is probably no shorter than the main road, but it has far less traffic and is more scenic.
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The back roads get me into Dolores on highway 145. I had a late lunch at a barbeque truck in Dolores. It's a sleepy little town of about 1000 people in a scenic forested canyon along the Dolores river. Coming from the south like I did, it's where the forested mountains begin.
I camped at an RV park 2.5 miles east of Dolores. $26 for a very nice riverfront site. A motel in Dolores wouldn't cost much more than that, but the weather is perfect for camping and I'm enjoying the sudden transition to lush forested mountains. The young aspen leaves look particularly luminous.
Today had a high temperature of 90F, but it cooled down into the 60's after dark. I'm at 7000 feet elevation.
I still count Mesa Verde as one of 11 parks on this tour. I pedaled my bike there. It's not my fault they refused to let me in.
Distance: 45 mi. (72 km) 7 mi. on gravel
Climbing: 2400 ft. (727 m)
Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 1,912 miles (3,077 km)
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