Flagstaff - Apr 17/18

What a chilly morning! We hadn't counted on this cold weather in Arizona. We did not realize that Flagstaff is about 6,000 feet above sea level. We have been told that it is generally 20 degrees colder here than in Phoenix.
The first stop in the Flagstaff area was Walnut Canyon. A totally amazing place. Very scenic and the site of ancient cliff dwellings. It's hard to believe that people actually lived on these cliffs. Apparently, the climbed up to the plateau to farm. But why would they live in such a difficult place to get at?

 See the light rectangle areas in the middle of the picture? That is the pueblo's where the folks lived. Can you imagine getting there from the top?

We had a leisurely hike down about 275 steps for a closer look. There were lots of signs warning about heart condition etc. But seasoned hikers like us had no problem. The total distance down, around the path and back up was about 1.5 miles.

Here are some of the partially restored rooms.

 A fully restored wall. Can you see the small hole above the door? The theory is that there was a gap under the door. Air would be sucked in under the door and the curved shape of the back wall would direct it up and out the small hole to carry the smoke from the fire, which would be built against the back wall. Still, I think that the air quality would be a little sketchy.

Lots of headroom. Maryann is about 5' 2"









Next stop - Sun Crater, the site of a dormant volcano. OK, hands up if you knew that there were more than 600 volcanoes in Arizona. I didn't.

Little Red Dog enjoyed the view of the volcano covered in volcanic ash. And the lava field.

We hiked up the side of volcano to look over the rim.

Little Red Dog was surprised that the crater was not a sharp drop off. I guess a million years will wear down the edges a bit. But it was still quite impressive.
According to the health app on my phone the journey took us 9.9 km and up the equivalent of 65 flights of stairs.

And the final stop for today was at the Wupatki National Monument. A series of ancient pueblos believed to have been inhabited between 1100 & 1400 AD.

Little Red Dog was intrigued by how they built this multi-story structure. The stones are held in place by primitive mortar that had to be constantly maintained and replaced.







Leaving this place Maryann stepped in a small hole and turned her ankle. Thankfully, we were only a couple of hundred feet from the car and not at the top of a volcano. Here ankle is quite painful. Hopefully it won't affect our planned bicycle ride along the Grand Canyon rim tomorrow.