Full Day in Flagstaff

When we found out there were three different National Monuments in the Flagstaff area, we planned a day to go visit them all.  The only problem was that there was rain forecast for the entire day, and all of the monuments are outside.  Normally we have the flexibility to wait out the weather, but we're on a bit of a schedule this week since we have weekend plans that we are looking forward to.  So we headed out in the rain to visit Flagstaff.  

Our first stop was Walnut Canyon National Monument, and we were there when they unlocked the gates at 9:00.  We would have had some beautiful pictures of the canyon walls against the blue sky, but the blue sky decided not to show up today.  In the picture below you can see the pathway around the canyon peak "island" that we will be hiking on.

But first, there are 240 steps to go down to get into the canyon.  Since we just hiked out of the Grand Canyon a few days earlier our legs were questioning whether we should be doing this much vertical hiking.  When it started raining, the rest of our body started questioning how smart this hike was for today.  The good news is that once you are down the steps, this island trail brings you right by numerous cliff dwellings that were built by Sinagua Indians.

Just like the people 800 years before, we found shelter in the dwellings built in the natural recesses of the limestone walls in the canyon.  It was a fun hike even on a wet day, and there are over 300 different dwellings on different levels throughout the canyon.  If you look closely in this picture, you can see more dwellings tucked inside cave-like openings across the canyon.  People lived here permanently for about 100 years, and then left for reasons that we will never know.

After our soggy visit here, we headed north of Flagstaff to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.  About the same time that people were building penthouse cliff dwellings in Walnut Canyon, there was a massive eruption that became Sunset Crater.  It is the most recent eruption of the volcano field that has formed over 600 hills and mountains in the area around Flagstaff.  The best picture we got of Sunset Crater shows the red and black cinders at the top that have taken around a 1000 years to cover with grass and forest.  Hiking and climbing is not allowed on this crater, so we could only photograph it from afar.

But the fun parts of this park are areas where you can get up close and personal with the lava.  There are lava trails that take you right into the areas where the lava flowed.  It's amazing that after a thousand years this area still looks like it could have flowed just yesterday and cooled into these other-worldly shapes.

This black lava goes for miles and we've never seen anything like it.  Occasionally there are black boulders that were spit out of the volcano.

But most of the area is covered by black and red cinders and lava.  Even though no hiking is allowed on Sunset Crater, there is a trail open to the top of Lenox Crater.  There are warning signs at the bottom of the trail about the steepness and the loose cinders that make this hike strenuous.  That is like telling us we can't do it, so we always have to try it.

It was like hiking straight uphill in sand and it was a chore.  Between the high altitude and the steep elevation change, we had to take breaks often on this hike.  We would find a tree to rest against to keep us from sliding downhill while we caught our breath.  But the views were great!  From the top we could see Mount Humphreys, still covered with snow and the tallest peak in Arizona.

Another 15 miles down the same road is our third national monument of the day--Wupatki.

Instead of building homes on canyon walls, this group of people built masonry pueblos that adjoined each other into a multi-level high-rise apartment building made out of the red sandstone of this area.  When it was in use in the 1100's, there were more than 100 rooms in this structure. Amongst the ruins, you can see the original sandstone hill that the rooms were built around.

Close by was a round ball field and another round meeting area.  Unlike Walnut Canyon, we were only allowed to walk into one room.  The good news is that it wasn't raining here, so we didn't need to take shelter in this ancient pueblo that no longer has a roof.

We stopped into the city of Flagstaff long enough for a very late lunch and then headed out of town in a different direction to yet another national forest location.  Now that we knew all about volcanoes and cinder cones and lava from visiting Sunset Crater, we were heading for a lesser known attraction.  Thanks again, Bill and Paula, for telling us about the Lava River Cave.  You have to know to drive out on two different national forest roads until you find a parking lot and a trail that leads to the entrance of an underground lava flow.  The entrance is right under a forest of trees, and you have to climb over sizable boulders to get into the cave.

You have to dress warmly, as the temperature inside is below freezing.  In fact, there was a lot of ice close to the entrance.

The other thing you have to bring is several light sources.  This cave is completely uncommercialized, so you won't find any safety lights or handrails.  You are scrambling over boulders in the pitch dark in a tunnel formed by flowing lava.  We found it almost impossible to take pictures in the pitch darkness, but we made a few attempts to capture its size and rockiness.

The tunnel goes for 3/4 of a mile, but we made it less than halfway before turning back.  It is slow going in the dark with a handheld flashlight.  At one point we both turned off our lights and we couldn't see our hands held right in front of our faces.  It didn't take us long to switch the lights back on.  We tried another picture, but the flash of the camera phone doesn't illuminate the size.  In places the ceiling of the lava tube is thirty feet high.

That was an adventure!  All of our stops today were free with our national parks pass, so it was time to spend some money.  We have been away from Walmart for quite some time.  Shopping in small town grocery stores can be expensive, so we had a long list of things to buy at the Flagstaff Walmart.  But we have a picture even from that stop.  We thought it was interesting that they had covered parking.  We took one of the covered spots, and then realized that the covers were actually platforms for solar panels.  Very interesting!

By the time we got home, it was after 5:00.  We had put in a full working day of touring Flagstaff.  It's a tough job, and we're so glad we get to do it!