On the move to Flagstaff.

13^th April 

About half way to Flagstaff we stopped for lunch at Seligman on Route 66.  As soon as we pulled over we had water running down the centre of the floor. A quick inspection and we found a cracked

water pipe under the sink. We bought the bits for the repair and when we got to our camp site Paul did the repair before we could connect up to the water supply.

 Flagstaff is at an elevation of 7000ft and was considerably colder than Lake Havasu!  There was snow on the Mountains behind the camp site.

 14^th April  Walnut Canyon Nat Mon

 

We took a picnic to Walnut Canyon and although it is sunny enough for a picnic it is very windy.   

800 years ago the Northern Sinagua Indians made their homes here under the overhanging limestone cliffs.  They were only occupied for around 100 years before the people moved on and were probably the ancestors of the Hopi tribe of today. We were able to walk around the cliff dwellings and even go inside them.

 

Many of the rooms have been reconstructed by the national park service.  The Walnut Creek that used to flow at the base of the cliffs has now been diverted for use by Flagstaff residents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

15^th April

We finalised the arrangements for our River trip down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon and then went shopping for some kit for the trip.

16^th April  Sedona and Red Rocks

 

It was a cold windy day in Flagstaff so we headed south for some warmer weather.  We drove through Oak Creek Canyon on the way to Sedona which is over 2000ft lower altitude that Flagstaff.  Sedona is a town in the middle of Red Rock country and full of amazing shops.  It is also known for its Meditational Vortexes.  The Red Rocks are wonderful and as the sun came out it enhanced the huge formations. 

 

 

 

 

From Sedona we travelled to Montezuma’s Castle cliff dwellings, once an imposing 6-story apartment-like building with 45 rooms.  This was the home of the Southern Sinagua Indians and had nothing to do with the Aztec King Montezuma.  There was a lovely creek running at the base of the cliffs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We continued to Montezuma’s Well which was a few miles further up the road.

It was amazing to see this well in the middle of the desert, fed with thousands of gallons every day.

The well is fed by an underground spring and then goes underground again to feed into the same Creek.

 

Travelling home on the I-17 we came across Trucks parking up on the side of the road.  We must have passed at least a mile or two of them.  The I-17 east from Flagstaff had to be closed due to dust storms created by the high winds.

 17^th April  Meteor Crater

The I-17 east of Flagstaff was open so we were able drive to the Meteor Crater which was the first proven meteorite impact site on the planet.  The crater is 550ft deep, over 4000ft across at the base and 2.4ml in circumference.  We would have liked to have taken the walking tour around the rim but they cancelled the last tours due to the icy cold winds that afternoon.

 

 

 

18^th April  Sunset Crater Volcano and Wupatki Nat Mon

Lava Flow

 

 

 

Sunset Crater was created was the Volcano erupted in the 11^th Century and created a 1000ft volcanic cone.

It became a national monument when a film crew wanted to film a landslide using dynamite and an appeal was made to the President to preserve this area.  We wanted to climb up to the top and look inside but hiking has been closed to the public since 1971 as it was causing too much erosion.  So we drove the Loop Road stopping at the various look-out spots until we got to Wupatki.

 

Wupatki Pueblo was built against the rocks and formed a multi-storey village of around 100 rooms.  It was inhabited about 100 years after the volcano had erupted and the Indians farmed the land.  Much of the Pueblo had been reconstructed by the Nat Park Service and it gave a good impression of how the village would have been.

Of particular interest was a “Blow-hole”.  This was a hole through which air can exchange with the underground caves.  Depending on the air pressure above ground the air will either blow out of the hole or be sucked into the caves. Today it was being sucked into the caves at a tremendous velocity and noise.

On the way out of the National Park we came across a Prong-horn deer.

Tomorrow we move to Williams and the
Grand Canyon ready for our trip on Monday.