After the cold night we decided it was time to start heading home. We had tickets for the 11:00 ranger tour of Balcony House so we packed up camp and stopped to see a few things we had missed on the route the day before on our way to the tour.
For those of you who know me and my fear of heights, this tour was a bit of a challenge. The ladders were sort of nerve wracking, but I usually do fine if I have something to hang on to. The hardest part for me was actually a narrow ledge between one of the Kivas (about 10 feet deep) and the valley below. The tunnel was no big deal. I did find it funny that the ranger was congratulating us all and saying we were finished when we still had 2 more ladders and a set of large steps up the side of the cliff with only a chain to hold on to going up. But we made it.
After the tour we took a hike on the Soda Canyon Overlook trail so we could see and take pictures of Balcony house as a whole. Because they do tours every hour there was already another group at the buildings. I took a picture when they were in one side and then waited for them to cross to the other side so I could combine the pictures to remove the people. All of that hiking at 7000 feet was exhausting.
We had a late lunch and began the trip home. We stopped in Pagosa Springs, CO around 10 and had pizza in our room. The hotel was advertising that they were 420 friendly, but we didn’t partake.
