This is exactly the situation we found ourselves in two weeks ago. We decided the smart thing would be to head north! Once again, with no real plans we headed north on I-17 toward Sedona.
A sign just outside of Camp Verde read "Montezuma's Castle National Monument" so we had to see it. It was a dog friendly national monument with a very short 1/2 mile loop to view the ancient Sinagua dwellings. It was a short stop but well worth it as you can tell from the pictures.
We continued on our way to Sedona. As soon as the car veered off the main highway, the red rocks were visible. The iron oxide from the mineral hematite is commonly found in sedimentary rocks like the sandstone, limestone, and siltstone found in the area.
Sedona is a beautiful place with towering cliffs of red rocks in unique formations every way you look. To me, I feel it could have made a neat national park however people got there first and built it up with small gift shops, ice cream stands, restaurants, and jeep excursions. We stopped at a ranger station in the Coconino National Forest to gather some information on hikes and potential camping sites for that night.
Our first stop was the Chapel of the Holy Cross. It is a beautifully constructed chapel built into the red cliffs. We climbed the 500 ft up the steep winding road to meet the entrance which was all windows overlooking Oak Creek and Sedona. It is a small chapel, 10 pews total with five on one side and five on the other. Pansies and other spring flowers decorated statues of angels near the overlook. It was a popular site for tourists and being Palm Sunday there were a lot of people around. One unexpected happening at the Chapel was a small noisy flight of swallows were continuously going after this thing in the sky. It took several moments before I realized it was a drone... It did not match the reverent and reflective chapel experience.
We drove through Sedona to the touristy downtown full of people, shops, etc. Nate picked up a new hat at Harley and we were shortly on our way though the Oak Creek Canyon. If I was forced to live in Arizona all my life but given the choice (and unlimited budget) on where to live, it would be on the water in Oak Creek Canyon. My descriptions cannot even begin to paint how truly beautiful it is. Here is a link to more pictures and the scenic drive.
The water is cold and clear, it rushes over riffles and briskly delivers its live giving abilities to all in the canyon. The greens in the canyon are something that I have missed. There is a mix of broadleaf and needle trees, shrubs, and small flowering plants trying to get their spring on. There is even grass in some areas, which is a welcome sight coming from Phoenix. The rocks are towering and unique. The canyon was eroded by Oak Creek along a normal fault ~65-75 million years ago. As you drive through the canyon on 89A, sandstones, limestones, and even some basalt is visible!
On our way to Phoenix, we stopped at Slide Rock State Park but did not stay long due to time constraints, not this time. We found a place to park on the side of the highway and made the trek down to the creek for some wading, sliding, and swimming. As mentioned before, it was a ridiculously hot day and the creek was packed with people sharing in our idea to escape the hot box of Phoenix.
After cooling down, we attempted to find a camp site. Our efforts were unsuccessful due to the holiday week, warm temperature, and not all campgrounds being open yet. We pushed on to Flagstaff to catch some great beer (again at Lumberyard), revel in the shadows of the San Francisco Peaks, and plan for the next day.
There are three National Monuments in the Flagstaff area: Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater, and Wupatki. There are all within 30 minutes so we started out on our adventures for that day. We began at Walnut Canyon and what I didn't realize was the trails and cliff dwellings all began on the other side of the visitor center. This would normally be no big deal, but I did not have my camera...I took a few on my phone and that will have to do for now. (see facebook and instagram for photos)
The trail down to the cliff dwellings was only about one mile long, however it dropped you down into the canyon 185ft. The trail was had labeled flora and fauna and talked about how people lived in the canyon many years ago. Water is no longer present in the canyon due to drought and water diversion.
Nate did the trail rather quickly and mountain goat like and I was more apt to take my time reading signs and observing plants I had never seen before. After 185ft down, we had 185ft to go back up...on to explore the next NM.
It was only about a 20 mile drive north of Flagstaff to Sunset Crater. It was a beautiful drive with the San Francisco Peaks to our west. The peaks used to big one giant peak in the form of a stratovolcano, it erupted a long time ago resulting in several peaks. Now they rest snow covered and stunning, visible for hundreds of miles with Mt. Humpreys as the tallest point in Arizona.
Our arrival in the Sunset Crater area easy to estimate given the view, the mountain/crater was visible for miles as well. There are over 300 cinder cones in the area north of Flagstaff. I did not anticipate seeing some much volcanic history here. As we drove into the park we stopped at the visitor center to learn a bit more about the volcanics at the park. We continued on the scenic drive past an aa flow, one of the coolest things I have ever seen.
The scenic drive continued through the flows and volcanic areas and headed north to where there were more ancient ruins at Wupatki National Monument. The masonry at this protected location is what makes it so special. Take a look! People were doing this well before we had modern tools, it's just amazing to me to see what people were capable of doing so long ago. It just drives home the fact that we really can do more with less.
The trail down to the cliff dwellings was only about one mile long, however it dropped you down into the canyon 185ft. The trail was had labeled flora and fauna and talked about how people lived in the canyon many years ago. Water is no longer present in the canyon due to drought and water diversion.
Nate did the trail rather quickly and mountain goat like and I was more apt to take my time reading signs and observing plants I had never seen before. After 185ft down, we had 185ft to go back up...on to explore the next NM.
It was only about a 20 mile drive north of Flagstaff to Sunset Crater. It was a beautiful drive with the San Francisco Peaks to our west. The peaks used to big one giant peak in the form of a stratovolcano, it erupted a long time ago resulting in several peaks. Now they rest snow covered and stunning, visible for hundreds of miles with Mt. Humpreys as the tallest point in Arizona.
The scenic drive continued through the flows and volcanic areas and headed north to where there were more ancient ruins at Wupatki National Monument. The masonry at this protected location is what makes it so special. Take a look! People were doing this well before we had modern tools, it's just amazing to me to see what people were capable of doing so long ago. It just drives home the fact that we really can do more with less.
After checking out all Wupatki NM has to offer, we headed back to Scottsdale the scenic way through Jerome and Prescott Valley. We also stopped at Tuzigoot National Monument. It was only about 15 miles off the freeway! When we arrived the temperature had rose drastically again and we were unsure if we would even be able to see the ruins since so many parks and monuments are not dog friendly. We got to hike up there, look at the ruins, and take Kobi! He is becoming quite good at spotting little lizards too.
Although there were some nice storm clouds in the distance, they never made it to us in Phoenix. We were fortunate that our off days landed on hot days so we could venture north. There was about a 15-20F difference in temperature because Flagstaff is so much high in elevation. Headed in either direction the flora changes dramatically from light greenish brown plants and saguaros to a more verdant green with broad leaf trees and an occasional prickly pear etc. It was a nice two day getaway.
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