It turns out that, although the Well area is part of the monument, the two locations are about 4 miles from each other. We reached the Well section first. Walking up the hill behind the ranger station, you come to a view of a deep, peaceful pond, right here in the middle of the high desert, that provided life to ancestral Native Americans. Although this area receives less than 13 inches of rain per year, it contains over 15 million gallons of water. The source of the water was determined in 2011- it originally fell as snow and rain 10,000 years ago. A wall of volcanic rock below the the Well acts as a dam, forcing this water to the surface, which caused the collapse of an underground cavern- creating the sinkhole known as the Well. The water is replenished daily, than overflows through a narrow cave where the water than reappears at the outlet. Around the edge of the sink hole, you can see remnants of several small cliff dwellings, likely the Sinaqua.
We followed the trail down to the outlet, a quiet, cool, shaded area. of the trees shading the area, the most notable is the sycamore- an old, large tree shaped by limited access to light. For many cultures, this is a sacred site- a feeling best noted in this shaded area. The water from the original narrow cave outlet was channeled into a canal more than a thousand years ago, using it to irrigate crops.
In this location, we also ran into several volunteers answering questions, as well as one of the rangers. They told us that the water coming from the outlet is a constant 68 degrees. Surprisingly, they also told us the water coming from the outlet is not drinkable, due to high concentrations of carbon dioxide, as well as some arsenic. Fish are unable to live in the water, as they are unable to breathe. There are other creatures that evolved to live here that live no where else on earth- a shrimp-like crustacean, leeches, and a water scorpion.
Montezuma Castle is a five story, 20 room dwelling that was built between 1100 to 1300. It is in a cliff 100 feet above the valley. There is a nice visitor center, but no movie here. However, on our walk to see the castle, ran into Sam- a long time volunteer at this location- who was able to answer many questions about life in the castle. By the way, it was originally assumed by early settlers that this amazing structure was Aztec in origin- thus the name of Montezuma. The people who occupied this structure were farmers, growing corn, beans, squash and cotton.
We drove back to Sedona along the Red Rock highway, with beautiful formations along the drive.
The next day, we had hoped to play golf again but- so unlike this area!- there was an all day drizzly rain. We spent our anniversary downtown, wandering into many of the galleries and shops. One of the more interesting was a gallery featuring a Navajo artist. He painted lovely, flowing pictures of Navajo women. Just beautiful! In talking with the docent, she told us this artists' father was also an artist. He joined the military to fight in WWII, and became one of the famous Code Talkers- those brave Navajos who helped end the war in the Pacific. He then went to art school on the veterans bill.
We ended our day at the condo, grilling a great steak, to celebrate our anniversary. Tomorrow, we will head further south in Arizona.
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