Today we are in Flagstaff, AZ, gateway to Northern Arizona.
This morning we head out North and a bit East of town to explore the Loop Road
around the Sunset Crater and the Ancient Ruins in the Wupatki National
Monument. It is a lovely drive on Hwy 89. This will be the third day we have
been on this road; the last time was when leaving the Grand Canyon for Monument
Valley a week ago. That was about 50 miles north of here.
We reach milepost 430 and turn east onto the Loop Road for the Sunset Crater
National Monument. Ominous news: there is a lot of construction on this road
today and we can expect delays. Further, we arrive at the Ranger Station 10
minutes before it opens, so we get to cool our heels a little.
Happily, there is little delay beyond the actual opening of
the station. Our Lifetime passes grease the wheels once again and we are back
on the road, headed for the Crater. We stop at the first pull-out to glimpse
the area.
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| Sunset Crater |
The volcano blew about a thousand years ago. It changed the
climate for dozens of miles around this location. Perhaps it contributed to the
decline of the ancient Puebloan culture in Northern Arizona. Our next stop is
the Lava Flow Trail where we take a very accessible 1 mile loop trail around the
Bonito Lava Flow. This is reminiscent of the area south of Bend, OR, that we
visited last summer. The Lava Flow sections also remind us of Craters of the
Moon, though the rest of the area is less dramatically stark than that southern
Idaho site.
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| Bonito Lava Flow "Pot" |
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| Southern Side of the Sunset Crater |
An informational sign shows a picture of this same view from
the 30’s. It’s pretty interesting how little the vegetation on the mountain has
changed. The arid climate has caused a very slow recovery of plant life since the eruption.
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| Bonito Lava Flow (looking west) |
The quiet is so pleasant! Very few people are here so early
in the morning. The most noise is coming from the occasional supply truck that
drives up the highway.
We return to the parking lot and our car and continue on the
Loop Road. Our next destination is the Wukoki Pueblo. But first, we lose a lot
of elevation and have panoramic views of the Painted Desert to the East. (This
is the northwestern corner of what we visited yesterday in the Petrified Forest
National Park.)
As we turn one bend in the road, we come upon some sort of
beast, with a long bushy tail, trotting down the highway. We think it is a
coyote. It quickly leaves the road and we look for it as we pass, but there is
no further sighting.
The surrounding high forest has given way to high desert.
Not very many trees and the ground cover is sparser. We go around another bend
and see our first flagger. We are listening to an engaging audio novel, so it
isn’t too much of an inconvenience. After a wait of about 20 minutes, we
follow the pilot car for several miles, then turn off for the Wukoki Pueblo, a
couple of miles east of the loop road.
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| Wukoki Pueblo |
This structure has been here for about 800 years. It was
abandoned about 700 years ago. It must have been some sort of trading post, as
it sits atop a large rock and has a commanding view in most directions.
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| View from the 2nd Floor of Wukoki Pueblo |
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| View East |
We head back to the Loop Road and wait our turn to head
north to the next site. This wait is another 20 minutes or so. After joining
the single lane of traffic, we cover the final couple of miles to…
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| Wupatki Pueblo |
This site is much larger than Wukoki. Estimates are that 250
to 300 people lived here, at its height. There are even a couple of “arena”-like
structures that were constructed to allow some sort of ball game to be played.
Researchers have discovered hundreds of these types of structures in northern
Arizona
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| Eastern Area of the Pueblo & Ball Field |
Getting back into the car, we have our longest wait yet,
about half an hour. (It’s going to be a late lunch in downtown Flagstaff.) We eventually are allowed back onto the Loop
Road, northbound, to join up again with Hwy 89 and have an uneventful drive from there back into Flagstaff. We head to Charley’s Pub in the historic Weatherford
Hotel. Satisfying lunch! Afterwards, we take a short walk around the area,
scoping out dinner possibilities. (Alas, nothing definite decided.)
Back in our car, we head just a little farther east. In
1894, Percival Lowell founded this Observatory atop a hill in the western
side of Flagstaff. He was obsessed with finding the “Planet X” that many
scientists believed should exist to account for anomalies in the orbits of the outer
planets. This observatory is where Lowell made his calculations to try to
figure out where to look for the planet. Lowell died in 1916. Thomas Pickering
discovered Pluto in 1930 at this site. We are here to pay homage.
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| Lowell Observatory, West of Town |
Religious ritual completed, we head back to our hotel for a
rest and a quick dip in the pool before the last great challenge of the day,
where to have dinner. After many changes of mind, we decide on Collin’s Irish
Pub. It was a good meal, and we got to see some of the 4th game of
the NBA Conf. Finals between Boston and Cleveland. It’s been another fun day, but we have
seen what we wanted to see in Flagstaff. Tomorrow, we head for a place neither
of us has ever been before, Sedona.
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