pueblos – OsteoPraxis on the road

The road from Sunset Crater up through Wupatki National Monument is not dissimilar to the road through the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert, one follows on from the other.

The first Pueblo, Wukoki Pueblo, is off down a side road….we were following a map provided by the visitor centre. As we turned into the little parking area it was quite a WOW moment seeing this incredible ancient building about a km from the parking.

It was a moment to hydrate, pull on the sunhat and stroll at a leisurely pace over to the Pueblo.

By this point in the day it was so hot, an older couple who had pulled in at the same time as us were debating whether they should walk out there at all.

It’s like an enormous ship marooned out in the middle of this desert landscape….no other man-made structure as far as you can see

Next stop is the Wupatki Visitor Centre…..with access to the largest Pueblo structures in the park through the visitor centre building

As you walk out the back of the building its another big WOW moment. This place is truly extraordinary

There are stairs down to the structures and a trail around them …and did I mention that it was sweltering hot…!!!

This site has blowholes and fissures where the air moves (as I understand it ) relative to the changes in the magma at the earths core. In traditional lore its Where Mother Earth’s breath is felt

Time to leap back into the truck…crank the air conditioning and suck back yet another bottle of water….onward to the next pueblo.…Citadel.

Perhaps not as imposing as Wuptaki or Wukoki, but still quite impressive in its own right with 360 deg stunning views from the top

Our last stop for the day was Box Canyon... Another little development but this one showing more signs of the agriculture ….all very interesting.

By now we were late enough in the day that it was time to find shade. Phewff…

The last bit of Flagstaff was my slow roll drive down the main drag after dusk as my faithful blogtographer leapt in and out of the truck at intervals.

Flagstaff Neon.

Once we made it all the way into town, we discovered that we had landed in the middle of an art crawl evening. It made for a lovely stroll in the old downtown of Flagstaff.

Extra pix

It’s difficult to comprehend (for me anyway) that Holbrook AZ is at an elevation of 1548m (5079 ft) above sea level, then continuing west on route 66 the road climbs another 558m (1830ft) to Flagstaff at 2106m (6909ft) above sea level.

The upside of this much up is that it also keeps the temps a little more livable which, as we were heading into the July 4th weekend….seemed important. Prepping for July 4th weekend in the US was a bit stressful……anticipating fully booked campgrounds and much Independence Day revelry, I was relieved to score a site at the somewhat dubiously named…Black Barts . There had been a great deal of emailing and phone calling to many campgrounds in the area, so it was a bit of a concern….thankfully it turned out to be just fine….(and they gave me a nice shady spot…..!!)

As we drove into Flagstaff, we passed a sign for Walnut Canyon …..Hmmmm…Interesting…I looked it up as we drove and it turned out to be yet another National Monument.

Walnut Canyon National Monument

From the visitor center (where they strongly advise everyone to carry water…and to drink said water…!!) there is a staircase down to a loop trail that takes you around the cliff dwellings that are estimated to be around 1200 years old.

It’s a long way down….and all the time you are acutely aware that 1. it’s blistering hot…..and 2. it’s a loooong way back up again…..LOL…

The trail is one way only…..and not very wide, so you really would not want to be passing anyone.

But it is an incredible little window into a time past…..

…as well as being a geological marvel…..

On the walls of the caves you can still see the smoke streaks from the fires used to keep warm in winter.

It was sufficiently fascinating to distract from looking over to the right where the drop off down the canyon was……..daunting…..

The path back up was not as bad as anticipated…..it was pretty brutally hot down there tho…the increase in elevation putting us ever closer to the surface of the sun

Totally worth the visit……those ever so helpful rangers pointed us in the direction of Sunset Crater and the Wupatki Pueblo as well……so…..off we went….

Sunset Crater National Monument

Here we find ourselves in another lava field. Maybe its just me , but I think these places are mesmerizing. 1000 years later the landscape has barely changed.

As the road winds through the park, there are designated parking areas for some short, marked trails. Much of the park is restricted access in an attempt to reduce erosion of the landscape.

Just about the time that it’s occurring to you that this is like a moonscape……the confirmation appears in front of you. Yes !!… this is the area that was used for training astronauts for their first steps on the moon’s surface.

….then we found lots of these little guys running around. You can only spot them when they move….they blend so well with their background.

The bigger trail up to the crater was closed following wildfire damage….so the closest we could get was this boardwalk trail. Probably a good thing…it was warm for hiking…!!!