Montezuma Castle and Well National Monument

September 18th and 19th-  The most scenic route to Sedona from the Flagstaff area is the Oak Creek Canyon.  It is winding, narrow, but with beautiful views of overhanging cliffs.  We arrived on the north end of the town, amid restaurants and shops.  We lucked out and were able to schedule an RCI stay at nearby Sedona Springs.  After lunch, we drove south to see Montezuma Castle and Well National Monument.

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.

Vermilion Cliffs, Wupatki, and Sunset Crater Volano National Monuments

September 16th and 17th-  If you ever have the opportunity to drive south from Utah into Arizona, you will discover there are only a couple of options for highways to choose from- Highway 89 or Highway 89 Alternate.  We have driven both in the past, the first heading more east/northeast into Page before heading south, the second just heading south.  Both are considered scenic drives.  However, 89 Alternate drops down into a valley, then hugs the base of Vermilion Cliffs National Monument.  The monument is managed by the Bureau of Land Management, not the Park Service, so has no visitor center or developed roads by which to explore.  However, what you can see from the highway is really beautiful.  This particular drive was nice, as there was blue sky but lots of fluffy clouds to create shadows on the red cliffs.  As you near the end of the cliffs, there is a small pull-off with large stones, an old stone cabin, and almost always a group of Native American women set up with jewelry and other items.  We always stop and purchase a few items.  Turns out one of the women's sons was an emergency responder who had just gone to North Carolina to help out.

As you may have figured out, we decided to head south from Bryce into Arizona, planning to stay somewhere in the Flagstaff area.  There are two monuments located just north of Flagstaff, with a circular drive off of 89, that we planned to see.  Our thought was just to do the drive, get back on 89 then head to Flagstaff.  In the meantime, we remembered what a nice experience we had in Williams, just west of Flagstaff, so called and booked to stay there.  Williams is one of the few towns that Rt. 66 still goes through the downtown, not as part of I-40.  

After reached the drive to the monuments, Wupatki and Sunset Crater Volcano, we made one stop on the way into the visitor center to see an old pueblo.  When we reached the Visitor Center, we were surprised to find there was more to this monument than we thought.  In back of the center was a self-directed tour of the Wupatki Pueblo.  This pueblo was built and was occupied during the 1100's, when puebloan people came together to build large farming communities.  By 1180, thousands of people farmed this area.  In a region that has little water and the climate can be extreme, they developed self-sustaining systems in order to survive.  Trade in this area was vital, with Wupatki a mix of the Sinagua, Chorina, and Kayenta Anasazi traditions.  The Wupatki pueblo, the largest in the monument with 100 rooms, plus outdoor plaza areas and sports areas, utilized materials at hand to build the multi-storied structure, including using standing cliffs as parts of the walls.  A really interesting tour.

After the tour of Wupatki, we continued on the drive, noting increasing amounts of black lava rock and some evidence of old lava flows- we were nearing the Sunset Volcano portion of the monument.  Unfortunately, we had spent so much time at Vermilion Cliffs and Wupatki, the visitor center for Sunset Volcano had closed.  We were able to get some information.  This volcano erupted sometime between 1040 and 1100.  It is the most recent eruption in the 6 million year history of volcanic activity near Flagstaff.  The volcano itself is 1000 feet high.  When it erupted, ash- the lightest of the particles sprayed from the vent- for about 800 square miles.  The entire event probably lasted between 6 months and one year.  The final glow from burning cinders surrounding the vent reminded people of a sunset- thus the name.  

The sun was setting by the time we left the monument.  We arrived in Williams somewhat later than we preferred- driving in the dark on unfamiliar roads with road construction most of the way- never fun.  However, we found a great restaurant right down the street from our hotel- all was well!

The next morning, we made a decision to stay an extra day.  Time for a little golf!  We found that Elephant Rocks golf course, a course we played in 2009 and liked, was still around, so opted to play there again.  It is a tough course, but nicely kept, so fun to play.  We joined up with a couple from the Tucson area, RV'ing in the mountains to get out of the desert heat.  We enjoyed playing with them, had a beer after, and got to know their history.  One of the benefits of travel- meeting new people!  We shared our information with them, and recommended they think about traveling to the southeast on one of their trips.  Next morning, we left to head further south, to the Sedona area.  Before we left, we went through the old downtown, again one of the remnant towns the Rt. 66 still serves.  Looks like they are more prosperous than our last visit, so good to see.

Cedar City and Bryce Canyon National Park

September 14th and 15th-  We were late leaving Moab, due to a visit to a physician to get my eye checked.  Ended up being a waste of time, but needed to do it.
We drove north on 191 to get to I-40.  We had driven I-40 once before and knew it had spectacular views.  Lots of scenic pull-offs were provided, so we were able to get some shots.  The area where these photos were taken is north of Capital Reef National Park and it would appear that the evidence of the "reef" seen in one of these photos may be a continuation of the same feature in that park.  If you have never been to that park, it is worth going- very beautiful!

From I-40, we took I-15 south to Cedar City.  We had stayed in Cedar City once before, and it had two advantages- nice, modern city with good restaurants, and  a 45 minute drive from my nephew and his wife, who live in St. George.  Several texts back and forth set us up to meet for dinner on Saturday night in Cedar City.

The next morning we headed east to Bryce Canyon National Park.  We visited this park back in 2009 and loved it- one of the more spectacular parks in our system.  However, at that time we were unable to hike below the rim, and it had been on my bucket list since then to get back and do that.  We headed out early to get the better early morning light and arrived around 9 am- before any lines in the Visitor Center and with lots of parking in the lot.  We talked to the ranger about a below the rim hike, and he recommended the Queen's Garden Trail, which is not as steep on the return trip to the rim as some of the others.  With elevations of over 8000 feet, breathing could be a problem!  The high elevation and the clear, cool air make Bryce Canyon one of Earth's darkest places.

My first goal was to get to Bryce Point and Inspiration Point for some photos before the sun got too high.  Bryce Canyon is truly an inspiring location- deep amphitheaters with red and white stone formations known as hoodoos, fins, and arches - spectacular under changing light conditions.  Unlike many of the parks we have visited, flowing water is not the primary source of the erosion that creates these elements.  With its rapid, large swings in temperature, snow and ice melt with its freezing, thawing, and re-freezing cycles, has contributed to the changes.  It is amazing to think that Utah was once a mountain-encircled basin of water, depositing sediments such as limestone into the lakes.  When the Colorado Plateau began to rise, the lakes dried up, leaving behind a mixture of sediments that has contributed to the many beautiful sites we have as National Parks in Utah.

We stopped at Bryce Point first- the views just as breathtaking as I remembered.  From there we walked a section of the Rim Trail to reach Inspiration Point.  This area has the best overall view of the amphitheater.

After taking many shots, we drove back to Sunrise Point, the start of the Queen's Garden Trail.  Going below the rim offers the opportunity to see some of these unusual formations up close, as well as offering a different perspective looking back up at the rim.  We hiked down quite a distance, (keeping in mind the trip back up...) before turning around.  We did see one animal- a golden-mantled ground squirrel, which looks much like a chipmunk but larger.  We spoke to a number of people hiking the trail, including two young women who have been section-hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Hiking had worked up an appetite, so we decided to drive down toward Rainbow Point, where we had heard there were some bristle cone pines, not as old as those we saw at Great Basin National Park in Nevada, but still nice to see.  We spotted a ranger and she told us the best location to see the trees, but also that we couldn't get there- the road was closed at Farview Point due to wildfires.  We headed that way anyway, looking for a picnic spot, and decided to stop at the end to see the views.  We found a spot to eat, then went on, finding the road now open at least to Natural Bridge, which we had not seen on our previous trip.  Natural Bridge is really mis-named, as it is an arch rather than a bridge.  You could see the smoke from the wildfire from this location- and smell it, as well.

Not wanting to spend time in the Visitor Center when we first arrived, we decided to return there to see the movie and check out the exhibits.  After circling the parking lot three times (it does help when you arrive early), we found a spot.  The movie was, as always, excellent and informative.

Heading back to Cedar City, we drove through an area called Red Canyon.  The red cliffs hung over the road, and several tunnels were cut through the rock.  Another pretty ride to our destination!

As planned, we met up with Tim and Jen at a restaurant in Cedar City called the Depot.  The food and company were both great!  It was a nice opportunity to catch up with them, to see how they were doing as new "empty nesters", and to encourage them to come and visit us in South Carolina!  Back to the hotel after a long day, we made plans to go to Arizona the next day- exact destination unknown, but we would figure it out.

As always in visiting our beautiful parks, I am reminded of how special these places are, and how important it is to preserve them for future generations.  We are all owners of these preserved lands and have a responsibility to make sure they are protected for all eternity.

"If future generations are to remember us...We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it."

                                                 Lyndon Baines Johnson