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More from the road
Sep. 8th, 2008 10:07 pmSo yesterday was all about natural wonders at the Grand Canyon. This time it was about people and history. I began by heading east out of Flagstaff to see the Sinagua cliff dwellings in the Walnut Canyon, which were deserted sometime around 1250.
From there, it was on to the Sunset Crater Volcano and the Wupatki Pueblo ruins north of Flagstaff. The Wupatki occupied the land north of the San Francisco peaks (which are just north of Flagstaff) for about 150 years before they abandoned it and migrated, eventually assimilating into the Hopi nation.
After the crowds of the Grand Canyon, it was amazing to have so much space and grandeur and history nearly to myself. The Walnut and Waputki regions are amazing to see, and get relatively little traffic. And at $5 per visit (with the Sunset Crater and Wupatki parks sharing one admission price) a real bargain.
Now I admit to being a real history geek. I read "A Voyage Long and Strange" before I came here -- Tony Horwitz's book about the European experience in North America before the Pilgrims -- and the past few days I've been trying to imagine what life was like for the massive Indian nations of that time, and what it was like for those first conquistadors who marched into this land thinking they'd find gold, silver and jewels, but only finding landscapes that baffled any explanation.
See the new photos starting here.
Oh, and by the way, you ever want to make it rain? Have me go there on vacation, and give me sunscreen. I bought sunscreen this morning before heading out after getting a little red at the Grand Canyon on Sunday. And what happens? Not only rain, but thunderstorms. I was up on the ridge of the Sunset volcano crater and started hearing thunder. A rim is not a good place to be in a thunderstorm. I then moved north, out of the bulk of the rain, but we still had sprinkles at Wupatki. Now the Weather Channel is warning of flash floods because of two inches of rain in the mountains between here and the Grand Canyon.
From there, it was on to the Sunset Crater Volcano and the Wupatki Pueblo ruins north of Flagstaff. The Wupatki occupied the land north of the San Francisco peaks (which are just north of Flagstaff) for about 150 years before they abandoned it and migrated, eventually assimilating into the Hopi nation.
After the crowds of the Grand Canyon, it was amazing to have so much space and grandeur and history nearly to myself. The Walnut and Waputki regions are amazing to see, and get relatively little traffic. And at $5 per visit (with the Sunset Crater and Wupatki parks sharing one admission price) a real bargain.
Now I admit to being a real history geek. I read "A Voyage Long and Strange" before I came here -- Tony Horwitz's book about the European experience in North America before the Pilgrims -- and the past few days I've been trying to imagine what life was like for the massive Indian nations of that time, and what it was like for those first conquistadors who marched into this land thinking they'd find gold, silver and jewels, but only finding landscapes that baffled any explanation.
See the new photos starting here.
Oh, and by the way, you ever want to make it rain? Have me go there on vacation, and give me sunscreen. I bought sunscreen this morning before heading out after getting a little red at the Grand Canyon on Sunday. And what happens? Not only rain, but thunderstorms. I was up on the ridge of the Sunset volcano crater and started hearing thunder. A rim is not a good place to be in a thunderstorm. I then moved north, out of the bulk of the rain, but we still had sprinkles at Wupatki. Now the Weather Channel is warning of flash floods because of two inches of rain in the mountains between here and the Grand Canyon.