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…!!!
Extra pix
OsteoPraxis on the road 