Flagstaff has 3 National Monuments close by and I visited them all. First was Walnut Canyon, a community of ancient dwellings built between 1125 and 1250 AD.
You walk down 240 steps to get to the Island Trail, which goes by many of these dwellings.
The canyon builders took advantage of natural recesses in the limestone walls.
The cliff dwellings were occupied for little more than 100 years. Why they left is not clear.
After walking the loop trail, you have to walk back up the same 240 steps. What??? Where's the elevator!
Many places in Flagstaff offer a great view of the San Francisco Peaks. The peaks used to be one gigantic volcano, 16000 feet high, until its eruption 200,000 years ago.
The next day I went to visit the other 2 National Monuments. First was Sunset Crater, which erupted not too long before the ancient ones occupied Walnut Canyon.
The lava around here is just spectacular.
I did the mile-long Lava Flow Trail.
Farther along on the Loop Road is Wupatki National Monument. There are various old Pueblos here. The first one I went to was Wukoki Pueblo. It's amazing how they balanced these structures on top of the rocks.
The biggest Pueblo is Wupatki.
There's a ball court nearby.
The dwelling had about 100 rooms.
I also looked around Old Town Flagstaff.
In addition to the old buildings, there are several murals -
And a statue of Railroad Workers.
Back back in my NPS Ranger days, a Navajo neighbor told me that BPOE did not refer to the Elks. Rather, it meat that Babbitts practically owned everything.😚
ReplyDeleteCheck out the lava caves if you get a chance
ReplyDeleteI am in the Flag area now and hope I get to see these National Monuments. Thank you for sharing. <3
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