For our honeymoon Bonnie and I decided to hike and camp at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. We've wanted to make this trip for a long time now and we started prepping for it earlier this year. We've made countless trips up and down Piestawa Peak and a few on Camelback Mountain (sometimes against our own will) but it all paid off big-time!
To camp below the rim we had to apply for a Backcountry Permit. We submitted three schedules (four months in advance) and we were given our third choice. It turned out for the best though because our first two choices would've seen us covered in rain and snow and the schedule we got had great weather! Our itinerary was to go down the South Kaibab trail to Bright Angel campground at Phantom Ranch. Spend two nights there, then head five miles (by trail) up to Indian Garden and spend a night there. The fourth day would be spent going up five miles via a trail that goes through a 3,060 ft. elevation change. Whew!
We started out on Saturday at 9:30am and as we stepped onto the trail we took one last look from the South Rim. Then we looked down at all the switchbacks that lay ahead, put our heads down, and began the seven mile (by trail) journey to the bottom. We'd trained with our packs so we were ready for all the weight on our backs but it was still nice to stop often for breaks. We paused for a minute at Ooh Aah Point and noticed that we could see the first rest house at Cedar Ridge. We thought that so far we were feeling pretty good. We took a short break at Cedar Ridge and there were bathrooms there so that was convenient. Back on the trail we plodded along until we hit Skeleton Point which offered spectacular views of the Canyon from angles we'd never seen before. And to our surprise we could see the Bright Angel campground; this view made the campground seem much closer than it was! We had a picnic at Skeleton Point and watched some other hikers come and go. There were a wide variety of people on the trail. We talked to a couple who were running down to the bottom and then running back to the top. Some were only going so far down and others who were really unprepared. One couple we saw (just above the Kaibab Suspension Bridge at 2:45pm) were struggling to make it back up to the top. The husband was just short of dragging his wife up the trail and it didn't look like they had much water left - if any. Don't know if they made it without help but there are signs EVERYWHERE that say not to try and hike to the bottom and back in one day. And everyday someone ignores the signs. Anyway, we made it to the campground at 3:30pm just a quick six-hours from the time we started. Unfortunately the last few miles were pretty rough: our knees ached, our shoulders were sore, and our limit on hiking for the day had been reached. Once we picked our spot we dug right into setting up the tent and making dinner - the sun had already gone down where we were at the bottom. A couple of hikers that we met that day stopped by to tell us that the Ranch Canteen sold canned beers and that we should hit them up before they close for the night. It sounded great until I laid down in the tent for a minute and just about passed out. We quickly ate, cleaned up, and hit the sack. It was only 6pm.
We woke on Sunday the 30th to an oasis of Cottonwood trees in full color change! In fact Bonnie complained that the color was so strong it made it impossible to take a good picture of me without being drowned out. We don't have much color change in the desert so it was nice to see. The park ranger told us that we were there at the best time of the year and it was also the last weekend of the tourist season which meant that Bonnie and I were pretty much alone on our hikes. Since we'd been so tired the night before we surveyed our campsite and took in the view from our tent. Here's Bonnie by the tent. The sites were nestled in little groves along a tributary to the Colorado river. Each site felt very private and secluded; when people walked down the trail and passed the site, you didn't feel as though they were walking right over you. After breakfast we walked the trail up to the Canteen to check out the cabins that you can rent -- pretty nice but also really expensive. The Canteen itself was very well supplied with food, drinks, and other travel necessities even though all their inventory is delivered by mule. Here's me on the tributary bridge that leads between the campsite area and the lodge area. While we were poking around we found a herd of deer resting in the bushes. Here's a nice buck. We also found that some of the deer had discovered the mules' food troughs were a good source for scraps and the deer would get right into them. I even caught this buck leaping into the trough. We hiked around the Phantom Ranch area for a bit then decided to go back to the site and have lunch. We crossed the bridge over the tributary again and headed down the path to the campsite but were cut off by the herd of deer that we'd seen before. They were poking through each site looking for trash, food scraps, whatever. The rangers had been very strict about campers locking up food and not leaving anything behind. We were told a story of 22 deer that had to be shot because they had eaten plastic food bags that then inhibited their digestive system. After lunch we took the Riverwalk trail which winds along a sheer cliff but overlooks the Colorado River and the Phantom Ranch. You start by crossing the Colorado River on the Bright Angel Suspension Bridge, then take a narrow trail along the canyon wall. Here's Bonnie on the edge of the 4' wide trail with the Bright Angel Suspension Bridge in the background. To give you an idea of the cliff side we're walking along, Bonnie took this picture of me after I'd walked ahead on the trail. We know a few people who could not have walked this trail. From up here we could also get a great view of the Boat Beach where rafters take a break and hikers soak their feet. The Riverwalk crosses the Colorado River again and circles behind the Boat Beach and Bonnie suggested taking a break (this picture features the Kaibab Suspension Bridge in the background). We also walked along the Colorado River and sat out on the rocks along the shoreline. Since the sun goes down early at the bottom of the Canyon we opted to head back to the site and have dinner. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the dehydrated "just add water" camping meals we packed actually tasted good. Though if we were at home they may not have tasted quite the same. We played cards in our tent before going to bed and had another 10-12 hour night of sleep! Hiking really helps stop sleepless nights.
On Monday we had to pack our campsite back into our backpacks and make the five mile trek to our next campsite at Indian Garden (which contrary to what Bonnie thought is not run by Native Americans). Indian Garden is just a campsite area and a ranger station. There's no store, bar, or restaurant here. It's located about halfway between the rim and the bottom of the Canyon. The rim had received snow a day or two before we arrived on the 28th and now as we hiked back up some of the snow was melting causing really nice little waterfalls along the trail. This portion of the hike up wasn't too bad. It was a gentle slope up for the most part with the exception of one series of switchbacks that really wore us out. We later found out that they're called the Devil's Corkscrew and it's no wonder! But it offered us the chance to take a break and ponder the world around us. We made it to Indian Garden in about 4 hours - but the uphill aspect made it a long 4 hours! Here's Bonnie at our second campsite. And here's the view from the campsite. Too pooped to do much after dinner, we called it a night and bundled up tight in our tent. It was much cooler at this site and here the wind blew much harder.
Tuesday met us with a hard wind right in the face! All the trees were shaking this morning and heating water took longer than usual. But we could see our goal and when you really squinted you could see the lodge that sits atop the South Rim. This portion of the hike was going to be much harder. Of the five mile trail, the first three miles aren't too steep but the last two miles are where most of the elevation change happens. And the last mile-and-a-half is nothing but switchbacks. We struggled our way up and took plenty of breaks. In fact, anytime we encountered anyone else on the trail we'd stop and talk for a few minutes to give our legs and backs a break. We must have seemed very friendly to other tourists that day because there wasn't anyone we didn't talk to! When we finally did reach the rim there was little time to celebrate. The temperature was in the 30's and it was very windy. So made our way back to the hotel we'd reserved a room in and turns out that we got the same room we were in before we started our trip! We'd planned on going out that night for a big steak dinner but after the hike we really just had enough energy for a burger in the hotel cafeteria. Slept like a log that night and the next morning we headed back into Phoenix and thus ended our honeymoon.
As the Yellowstone trip proved to be a bit too long for this page, I've opted to give it its very own site. Please follow this link to read all about this trip.
Bonnie and I wanted to camp for Thanksgiving this year and since we got a bunch of days off from work, we decided on a long trip to Chaco Canyon in Farmington, NM. Chaco Canyon is a valley in northwestern New Mexico that was the center of a thriving culture a thousand years ago. The Chacoan people began about 850 AD and lasted another 300 years. In that time they built large stone buildings, or Great Houses, that were up to four stories in height. The building techniques were unique for their time but in Pueblo Bonito you can see their skills evolving from an early slip-shod style to the later uniformed and sturdier styles. It's commonly believed Pueblo Bonito was a center-point for ceremonial, administrative, and economic services. Researchers recently discovered on Fajada Butte that at specific times of the year, a beam of light (called "the Sun Dagger") cuts between a series of rocks and marks a spiral petroglyph at special points. This led to the discovery that the Chacoan people not only watched the sun and stars but also the moon's movements through the sky. Pueblo Bonito and its surrounding smaller structures are built to match the rising of the moon at different times of the year (or in the moon's case: decade). This wall was made to line up with the moon at a key time in their culture and many of the windows in this 600 room structure are lined up to catch light at different times of the year. Overall it's still not completely understood. The compass points are all equally represented in their buildings and there are roads which run straight (over all obstacles) for hundreds of miles that lead to other structures. Quite the mystery.
The trek in was pretty rough. The road to Chaco Canyon (from the north or the south) was 20 miles unpaved. Not to mention our little Yaris was packed to the gills on the inside and our bikes were loaded on the back with the new bike-rack I got for my birthday. But we made good time and got to the park in time to get a great campsite tucked away behind some boulders. After setting up camp we decided to bike the 1 1/2 mile Wijiji Trail before the sun went down. Wijiji is a Chacoan great house that was built in 1100 AD which is in the later period. Wijiji is different because it was built at once (rather than over several periods). You can see the difference in the symmetry of the building plan, the uniform masonry, the straight lines and sharp corners. And the structures are still multi-storied -- here's Bonnie for scale. Just a few yards away from the buildings, on the valley walls were petroglyphs and pictographs in all styles. (Just a reminder: petroglyphs are carved or pecked into the rock, pictographs are painted on the rocks.) Here's me sitting as close as the Park Service would allow. Even though we were the only ones out there, I was glad to see that the Park Service at least had areas clearly marked. As we rode back to camp I snapped this picture of the colorful sunset we were treated to.
That evening was pretty cold! The weather reports had predicted snow but the Park Ranger assured us that the snow would pass us by and that we shouldn't worry about it. Bonnie had been debating whether or not to camp that night but the Ranger's assurance swayed her to stay put. So we braved the cold air and the four-legged visitors to build a fire and toast marshmallows. And the next morning when we awoke the entire valley was covered in a blanket of snow! Since it was still coming down, Bonnie and I just climbed back into the tent to wait it out -- which turned out to not be very long at all. Once the snow stopped the clouds broke overhead and the sun came out. The rest of the morning and day were beautiful! Though our little Yaris did look funny covered in snow.
We spent that Thanksgiving day hiking in and around the Pueblo Bonito ruins. Pueblo Bonito had several kivas which are circular theater-like structures. It's believed that special ceremonies were conducted inside the kivas. Different sized kivas may have been for different ceremonies or different classes of people -- no one knows for sure. But it is believed that the kivas were topped with a huge tent-like covering that had openings for night viewing. While walking around the outside of the building we discovered that were allowed to go inside the ruins! Sweet! Once inside we learned that some of the rooms we entered were actually on the second floor but had yet to be fully excavated. Once again we've found a race of people much shorter than Bonnie! It was very interesting to see how the excavations went because sometimes you were left with a doorway to nowhere.
Also behind Pueblo Bonito, on the canyon walls, were more petroglyphs and pictographs. Hundreds this time! Carvings of man, snakes, big cats, birds, a man on an animal. Then, of course, there were hundreds of symbols and the common spirals. There's a trail tourists can hike to more petroglyphs but it was way too far for us this day. So after we'd explored Pueblo Bonito we hiked a very precarious trail to the top of the canyon to get an over-head view of the site. It was well worth the climb!
The next day on our way home we went through the Four Corners in the Navajo Nation Reservation. There were a lot of tourist traps but one we couldn't pass up were dinosaur tracks left in this once soft and fertile landscape. Some were hard to make out but most were pretty clear. There was even a fossilized talon.
We made it home in nearly record time with no speeding tickets, though one time I was sure I was being pulled over until the officer stopped riding my tail and pass me by. Whew!
As part of my birthday celebrations Bonnie and I went with another friend down to Tucson on Saturday to see the Titan Missile Museum in the morning and the Pima Air and Space Museum in the afternoon.
The Titan II missile is the largest missile ever built by the U.S. 54 Titan II missiles stood alert during the Cold War until 1987 when the last site was deactivated. The site in Tucson is the only one left untouched and looking the same as when it was active. The tour was very cool with one exception: Anthony (our friend) and I had to wear hard hats because of our height. Though the hat itched, it came in handy later when I banged my head in the low-ceilinged bunker. The tour started out with info about the nose cone of the Titan Missile, the various stages of rocket engines, and a sneak peak of an actual Titan Missile. Next we took the long walk down into the control room where a staff of four personnel spent their entire 24 hour shift. This was Cold War technology at it's best so it's a bit dated now with it's rotary phones and low-tech chemical suits. But it was neat to see the Red Safe where the launch keys were kept. Next, we took a walk down a long corridor that lead to the missile. There the staff could access the missile to fuel or repair it. The tour ran about an hour and afterward we were allowed to walk freely around the site (above ground only).
After a quick snack we headed out to the Pima Air and Space Museum about a 30
min drive away. It was a pretty nice set up there with over 50
planes displayed outside and more displayed in various hangers. We were
able to
sit in simulators, play on
helicopters, and we even saw JFK's Air Force One plane complete with another
rotary phone.
Bonnie even did her best presidential wave. We saw an old friend of
the family,
the
F-5, and they even had an
SR-71 Blackbird. I think our favorite of the day was the
Supper Guppy. It was used by NASA to transport rocket engines during
the early days of the space program. We finished off the day with a picnic
lunch outside the museum and then made the drive back to Phoenix.
Two of my co-workers moved to Prescott and had a house-warming party after they
got settled in. Bonnie and I went up a little early and hiked up
Thumb Butte before the party. Luckily, the trail was
paved
and easy on the feet but it was really steep with a lot of
switchbacks. We took a break about halfway up to admire
the
view so far and to snap this picture of
Bonnie, you can see other hikers in the background reaching the peak of the
butte. At the base of the
rocky top, the trail stops and you basically climb the rest of the way
however you think is best. We got about as far as we could before we
reached
an
impasse. So we rested and looked at
how
far up we'd come. From here we could see
storms passing us in the distance and one storm that was
heading toward us. On the way back down, we caught this picture of
a
lightening strike in the storm heading our way. It worried us a bit
because we'd planned to picnic after the hike but after we got to the bottom and
rested for a bit, the storm ended up passing us by. So we grilled our
steak
and corn and topped off our hike with the perfect dinner.
For Memorial Day weekend Bonnie and I drove into New Mexico for a camping trip in the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Park. We took our time and spent Friday night in a hotel because the last leg of the drive is through a long and windy road with no center divider. We wanted to be fresh for that part of the trip and thus the hotel. As we were unwinding in our room a helicopter landed in the parking lot outside our window. We were a little shocked but no one seemed to mind and the pilot took off the next morning as we were getting ready to go.
The trip to the cliff dwellings is a treacherous drive but it does provide great views. In this one you can see the road ahead. Our first stop upon reaching the park was to check in with the visitors center and we chatted with Ranger Young who hooked us up with a sweet camping spot! It fit the Yaris, there were flowers blooming all around the tent, and we had a great view of the surrounding mountains. The nice part was that the Ranger didn't tell many people about that spot so we had it all to ourselves on Memorial Day weekend!
The cliff dwellings were really cool. There are seven caves on this cliff and six of them were inhabited. Here's a scan of the caves' layout. Since this is a National Park, the 1 mile trail was well maintained and not at all difficult though there were a few steep spots and those who are afraid of heights wouldn't like it much. From the trailhead to the first glimpse of the structures is only 1/4 mile; the rest of the trail is a series of switchbacks leading back down to the valley floor. And all along the trail flowers were an explosion of color from purples to yellows. Some buds were just opening and some, like the hedgehog cactus, were in full bloom. It was really a nice hike! The dwellings were amazing in that there wasn't much room between the front of the home and the cliff edge but they still managed to get all their food and stores up there. Here's me standing at the edge of a 180 foot drop. Cave 1 was a common kitchen area that had holes for holding pots and another for a fire. All the caves had openings along the tops of the walls for ventilation because, as evidence shows, the Mogollon (mu-ge-yon) had fires in each dwelling. Tourists are allowed to walk all over the insides of these caves which is great because most parks now require you to look from a distance. Cave 6 was dangerous so no one could go up there and archaeologists rappelled down to Cave 7 but found no evidence that any human had ever been in there. Another cool feature of the dwellings were all the pictographs (pictographs differ from petroglyphs in that the pictographs are painted while the other is carved). The dwellings featured humans, snakes, and this one that sort of looks like a monkey to me. The really neat part is that the pictographs were there before the dwellings! No one knows who made the drawings.
There are over 45 prehistoric sites on the 533 acres of park land and some include pit houses and surface pueblos that date back as far as 550 AD. Bonnie and I took another short hike that took us to a huge collection of pictographs and another cave dwelling. There were a LOT of pictographs including this one that looks like a pot shard. There were lizards, humans, squiggles, symbols, and this one of a man with big feet. A prehistoric Bigfoot? Who knows. There was also a large boulder to the side that had smooth spots worn into it. Historians believe the Mogollon might have sharpened tools or weapons here. The cave dwelling was pretty cool, too. It wasn't very big, here's Bonnie standing by the front door. One of the park rangers pointed out that all the wood in the structures is original. Here's a close up. In the 1960's archaeologists took samples from the wood in the main dwellings and dated the cuttings between the 1270s and 1280s. Even this second, smaller dwelling had pictographs decorating it.
This was an amazing park! Bonnie and I barely scratched the surface of all
the trails available here. There were hot springs and plenty of other
hidden treasures to discover so we know we'll have to go back. Aside from
a touch of poison ivy and Bonnie's speeding ticket the weekend was a real blast!
On Saturday May 19th, we were really looking to get out of town for a night. Bonnie did a quick search online and we decided on the Painted Rock Petroglyph Site. This area used to be a state park that included a nearby dam and lake. Unfortunately, people trampled, trashed, and disrespected the area so much that the dam and lake were closed to the public and the State Park status was downgraded to just Petroglyph Site. We had the pick of campsites which were free this time of year and Bonnie picked us out one within site of the petroglyphs. The campground had a covered pavilion and Bonnie and I sat in there and played a few games and relaxed for the day. That night we were treated to a beautiful sunset followed by an aligning of Venus and the Moon. We had a little visitor, too, though the praying mantis wasn't our only visitor. The next morning, a gray fox came by the site but we didn't get a picture of him before he realized we were in the tent.
On Sunday, the plan was to explore the petroglyph site and leisurely pack-up the campsite. The park had informative signs to help explain the symbols and explain some of the different styles and history of symbols. It was amazing to see all the carvings (petroglyphs are prehistoric pictures carved into rock). Every bit of free space was covered! We found an example of all the symbols and shapes like the grid, zigzags, spirals, the maze, and the sun. Then for animals there were humans and lizards and even turtles! This area has been visited by a number of people throughout the ages who've left their own carvings and we found a mark from a T.D. Quinn in 1879.
The last event was that we saw our first Gila monsters since moving to Arizona! There were a number of them in the rocks and there was also another species of lizard that was very big, too. This one had no fear of me at all!
This was a great campsite as there was no one else out there with us and we were
far enough from the city that there was very little light pollution. We're
already planning a return visit in November for a big meteor shower.
First off, we didn't get to camp Friday night. It had been raining off and on all day and showed signs of doing the same all night. Since this is Arizona and it only rains a few days a year we couldn't complain. Instead we "camped" at the University Inn in Tucson.
Saturday was beautiful! The storms had cleared and we were ready to begin! We spent the morning at the Pima County Shooting Range where Bonnie finally fired the SKS rifle. She shot pretty good, too! I think the Range guys were impressed. After that we registered at the Gilbert Ray Campground. It was pretty full of campers and all the tent campsites were taken but the lady at the registration office had one last tent site that was in with the RV sites. I guess most tent-campers don't want that site but it fit us just right! Once camp was set we went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Our neighbors gave us a couple of guest passes and really recommended that we go. We must've been there over four hours and I don't think we saw it all. It was a huge museum of desert botanical gardens and desert animals. The gardens were filled with all kinds of plants such as aloes, yuccas, and agaves. Plus, they had all kinds of cactus from hedgehog and pincushion to the mighty saguaro and everything in between. For animals, they had an exhibit with all the snakes, lizards, turtles, and scorpions you might meet on a desert hike. They had big animals, too: bears, big horned sheep, javalinas, prairie dogs, turkeys, a couple of mountain lions (1)(2), different types of wolves (1)(2), bobcats, two hidden turtles (there's two in the picture I promise!), an animal that reminded us of an ant-eater, a very curious squirrel, and a couple of otters (I don't know why they were at the desert museum, either). They had other big animals but we either didn't see them or we just didn't get pictures. They also had bird aviaries. One was just for humming birds and we got to see a humming bird nesting. It was very good museum! Plus the view was great! Bonnie and I were really impressed with the care of the animals and the set-up of the gardens. After we were shown the door at closing time, we headed back to the campsite to crash. That evening the campground sponsored a visit from a bat expert who gave us a talk about bats. He did a little demonstration and had a lot of info about bats -- it was pretty cool!
Sunday we actually entered the Saguaro National Park. We took two different hikes: Signal Hill and the Wild Dog Trail to the Valley View Overlook (number 3 on the map). Neither was very difficult but they both had their perks. Signal Hill features dozens of petroglyphs at the peak. As the path winds up we got a closer look at the ones on the peak. But the real treat was that once we were at the top you could find them all over the place. There were animals, people, and common symbols like the spiral. It was amazing to see how many carvings there were. They date from 50 AD to about 1450 AD but experts don't exactly know what they all mean. The view from the hill is nice but it's certainly not the biggest one and as Bonnie and I hiked into the mountains on the Wild Dog Trail, we found no other carvings. So maybe because it was so small, it made for a good place to display your art. The Wild Dog Trail was a nice hike into the neighboring mountains. The trail was nice and easy but there were a few steep spots to keep you puffing! From the Valley View Overlook you can clearly see how small and unassuming Signal Hill is. There was a park bench at the overlook and we sat there for a while admiring the view. Eventually other hikers caught up with us (using the short-cut I must point out) and we headed back to the car.
The park is HUGE! We barely scraped the surface of all the hiking trails
there so we know that we'll be making a return visit. Plus we still have
to see the rest of the stuff at the Desert Museum!
Our friends Randi and Howard Hetrick have invited us a number of times to use their summer place in Sedona so Bonnie and I took them up on their offer and took a quick weekend getaway. Their place is great! It's so quiet and you can't beat the view from their front porch.
On Saturday we awoke to a chilly morning and frost on the Yaris; something we haven't been accustomed to in Phoenix. We went through Randi's collection of Sedona travel guides and decided to hike Boynton Canyon. One of the travel guides had this quote from Raymond Mardyks' book Sedona Starseed, "There exists deep within Boynton Canyon an area used as a teleportation instrument...the beings who travel (these) holes in space are from a planet that orbits an invisible star near Sirius." So of course we've gotta hike that one!
The hike started off sunny and warm with awesome views of the Red Rocks in delicate formations and caves formed in the side of the canyon. Also, someone has made stacks of rocks all along the trail and this stack was especially outlandish! As the hike progressed and we got deeper into the canyon and the shade, snow started popping up in little patches here and there. Some had yet to melt off the tree limbs around us and it reminded me of cotton fields. Soon the trail had frozen over and the dry ground became patches between the snow. Eventually there was no ground exposed and there was snow all around us. Here's what the tree limbs looked like at this point. Puddles of water had frozen and there were icicles hanging off of the rocks around us. It was pretty cold considering earlier on the trail I'd been thinking that I didn't need to bring my jacket! But the cold didn't last too long as we reached the end of the canyon and the trail wound up to a rock ledge that was exposed in the sun. Here was the vortex! Though we didn't see any aliens from the Sirius system. But we did get treated to a fantastic view of the canyon we'd just hiked through! So we pulled up a rock and ate our lunch there. I think the cold turned a lot of hikers back because we were able to finish our lunch and take a decent break before anyone else climbed up there. The hike back wasn't so bad once we'd had a break. Plus, now you have some landmark references to help pass the time as we walked back.
Overall the hike was about 5 miles round-trip and the elevation was only about a
400 foot difference and we did the whole thing in about 3 hours.
We went to the Grand Canyon for Christmas this year and camped in our favorite spot in the woods. Weather.com had informed us that it snowed a few days before our trip so we were prepared for the worst. There was snow in our neck of the woods, the roads were covered and icy and the site where we camp with friends was snowed over. Fortunately there were dry spots where the sun peeked through the trees and our favorite spot was dry, too.
Our new Yaris handled it great! We plowed on and off road, through snow drifts, and across icy, dirt roads and it never gave out! At one point, we'd discovered hundreds of other campsites scattered along the old dirt road that goes by our site. And at a bunch of these other campsites we found wood collected and left behind by previous campers so we laid a tarp in the back of the Yaris and filled it with wood. After two trips of filling the car, we had enough wood to last the whole time. We also discovered that we weren't the only people who wanted to camp at the Canyon for Christmas. We saw this tent while looking for wood so we turned around and didn't bother them.
On Christmas Eve we wanted to see the sunset at the Canyon. As we were heading out of the woods we were treated to a nice light show in the trees. The Canyon was amazing as the sun set! The colored layers of rock blazed in the orange glow of the sun. From where we sat on the South Rim, we could see the Grand View Hotel light-up as the sun hit it. The recent snow fall was still covering the top of the rim and everywhere you looked there was evidence of all the different wildlife in the area. Interestingly enough in the bottom of the canyon the temperatures hovered in the 50's. Even as the sun was going below the horizon some hikers were just going down into the Canyon! They must've been planning to hustle because the nearest campsite is a few miles away still!
On Christmas morning we tried to sleep in but it was a bit cold. Turns out that the temps went to 6 degrees that night -- a new personal record for us! We built up the fire and broke out my brand new, two-burner, camping stove to cook some bacon and eggs. After we opened our presents and we're sitting by the fire, a young buck came out of the woods and crossed the dirt road right near us. So we tracked him through the woods for a while and I got this pic of him looking back at me. We watched him for a little while longer before he got spooked and ran off.
The next night the low only went down to 22 so we were much more comfortable.
All-in-all we had another great camping trip to the Grand Canyon and we're
really psyched about the performance our new Yaris. One tank got us from
Tempe to the Canyon and we were on our way home before we had to fill up again.
Whoo-hoo!
Bonnie and I went to Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam for my birthday. We drove up on Friday morning and made the dam our first stop.
Hoover Dam was absolutely amazing! The size is indescribable but in this picture, use the big, flat-bed truck at the top of the picture for scale. We took the tour of the plant where we got to go into one of the two power plants with eight huge turbines in it. Next the tour led us up into one of the four Diversion Tunnels that were originally used to divert the Colorado River away from the construction site. The tunnels were later plugged and are used as overflow valves for Lake Mead. Though there have only been two times in history that the overflow tunnels have been used: once they were tested after being installed and the second time was in 1985 when Lake Mead flooded and the water line was only seven feet from the top of the dam. When the dam moves water to turn the turbines, it sucks the water through four intake towers (two on the Nevada side and two on the Arizona side). Here you can see the current waterline behind this tower; the water leaves calcium deposits on the rock leaving the white mark. We didn't get much of a snowfall last year and it shows. After the tour, we kicked around the information center where they had a really cool model of the dam being built. Since the dam was built in the 1930's, everything had a neat, old "modern" feel to it, for example this tile design in the power plant floor or these cool statues which are situated on a model of the solar system. We took a few last pictures then headed off to Vegas.
From the dam, it was only about a 30 minute drive to our hotel. We stayed at the Plaza and the front doors opened right onto the Freemont Experience. Bonnie was nice to the lady at check-in and got us a 20th floor room overlooking the strip: our view. We spent Friday evening walking up and down Freemont. It's covered by a huge digital screen that has shows and effects on it. And there are tons of the original Vegas neon lights like this cowboy. As you can imagine there were a lot of crazies on the streets, like this guy who almost got himself arrested for losing his temper on his girlfriend. He's the one in the white shirt, the cops are everyone else. The police and security were everywhere and they were usually pretty quick to prevent things from getting out of hand.
On Saturday we walked up and down the strip checking out all the stuff to see. Vegas was really overwhelming when it came to something to see and do. We checked out Caesar's Palace and watched their cheesy Living Status show, we watched the water show by the Bellagio, and ate a half-pound hotdog. At the New York, New York we saw a Japanese TV show being filmed and took a ride on the roller coaster that winds in and out of the hotel. We also got to see "Bodies: The Exhibition" which caused a big stir when it came to the U.S. It's hard to explain so I'll refer you to their website. We had planned on hanging out on the strip for a few hours in the morning, then heading back to the hotel to rest, and then going back down to the strip. As it turned out, we stayed on the strip all day and by the time we got back to our room our feet, legs, and knees were killing us! We gambled in our hotel casino a few times throughout the trip but never more than a couple of bucks each time.
Well, Sunday was checkout day. We lounged in our room until after 11am
then packed the car. We left the car in the hotel's parking lot and caught
a double-decker bus down to the
Stratosphere Hotel
where we rode up to the observation deck and took in the view of
the Strip,
Circus
Circus,
Bonnie, and our
own
shadow. At the very top of the needle there are some thrill rides and
Bonnie and I did two: the Xscream which hung you out over city and shook you
around; the other was the
Big Shot which
shoots you straight up really fast, then the seat stops and you float in your
chair above the city. Did I mention that the observation deck is 120
floors up? And that the rides were another 5 or 6 floors higher? The
Big Shot was the scariest!
On Friday the 11th, Bonnie and I headed south for the weekend to hike around Fort Bowie and the Chiricahua Mountains.
Fort Bowie was established in 1862 to guard a natural spring in Apache Pass. The spring, Apache Spring, drew hundreds of white emigrants, prospectors, and soldiers into long-held Apache territory and the fort protected these travelers from attacks. Initially led by Cochise, there were two key battles at the fort: the Bascom Affair (where Cochise was wrongly accused of stealing stock and kidnapping a young boy) and the Battle of Apache Pass (which ensured Fort Bowie's permanent establishment). Between 1862 and 1886 campaigns were fought from Fort Bowie against Cochise and then later Geronimo. After Cochise surrendered 1872 and dyed in 1874, Geronimo continued the fight with a band of renegades who had escaped the Indian reservations in southern Arizona. Finally, in 1886 Geronimo surrendered to Brig. Gen. Nelson A. Miles and was exiled to Florida. With the defeat of Geronimo and the remaining Apaches, Fort Bowie ceased to serve a military usefulness. The last troops withdrew from Fort Bowie October 17, 1894.
Our visit to the fort started with an 8-mile off-road adventure into the mountains. The Infinity handled it pretty well even though it rained while we were at the fort and driving out through muddy, wet, washes was a test. Arizona Parks provides parking in Apache Pass but you have to hike another mile and a half to get to the ruins which are at an elevation of about 5,000 ft.
The trail takes you past the post's old cemetery that holds the remains of soldiers killed by Apaches, a Medal of Honor winner, Geronimo's only son, and a couple of Apache children. Most of the headstones had been replaced because of wear but there was still one original headstone left.
As we left the cemetery, we spotted a thunder storm working its way through the mountains behind us. We didn't think it was heading toward us so we decided to keep going which was the right choice. As we were hiking out later, we saw that the storm had clearly passed us by for now but we didn't know that we'd see the same storm later that night.
Fort Bowie's ruins were numerous. Some structures had been covered in a protective mud by the Parks Dept and others were left exposed. But it was a nice touch to see the flag was still there. There was a Ranger Station at the site which featured visitor info, books, and a nice collection of military equipment and rifles that have been found at the site. Also, the station featured one of the two twelve-pounder mountain howitzers used in the Battle of Apache Pass. The site has been left virtually untouched by the Parks Dept. and the trails are littered with old square nails and rusted horse shoes. It is stressed that all visitors not touch any of these artifacts.
It was a great hike with lots of flowers in bloom and as we left we spotted this huge hawk that flew along the road next to the car.
The Chiricahua National Monument was about 25 miles SE of Fort Bowie and our next stop.
Chiricahua (cheer-i-ka-wa) means "sky islands" and this mountain range was so named because they rise out of a "sea" of grasslands. The mountains are filled with pinnacles the Apaches called "standing up rocks." Thousands of years of weathering by ice wedging and water erosion has created the famous Organ Pipe formation. Notice how some rocks jut out into open space without falling.
When we arrived at the National Park, we discovered that the storm we'd seen earlier had been waiting for us at the mountain top. Before setting up camp (and still deciding if we wanted to camp in the rain) we drove up to Massai Point (about 6,800 ft) to see what we could see. The rocks were cool but the view was a bit foggy. Here's a video I took to show how fast the clouds were moving through.
The rain wasn't too bad and it seemed to be letting up so we decided to camp. The park had a nice campground complete with picnic tables and bathrooms. There was a stream by our site that was just loud enough to put me soundly to sleep that night. But even in the park we had to watch out for flooded washes. We had a tarp for our tent to keep us dry if it did rain again and even found some sticks to hold it up! That evening we were visited by a very brave and curious bird.
On Saturday we hiked the Natural Bridge trail which winds its way from an elevation of 5,560 ft up to 5,980 ft. It's a 5 mile hike round-trip so it was a little longer than the hike at Fort Bowie. Sometimes the trail was easy to see and sometimes it wasn't. But either way there were plenty of places to stop and look. We could see the surrounding plains, amazing rock formations, and this rock which I think was called "China boy." We even saw a lizard with a very different color scheme than we've seen before. When we finally reached the end of the trail we needed a break. So we ate lunch and admired the amazing natural bridge that was formed thousands of years ago by flowing water.
After we ate and rested the hike out wasn't so bad. And since the weather had cleared from the night before we drove back up to Massai Point to see what we couldn't see the night before. The final treat was as we were driving out of the park we saw a mother deer and her two fawns.
Bonnie and I ran down to the Kartchner Caverns State Park for a nice over-night camping trip to beat the heat in Phoenix. The park is about 50 miles southeast of Tucson. The caverns were discovered in the early seventies by a pair of hikers, who were exploring a small sinkhole. They knew right away the importance of their find and they decided to keep the caverns secret to help preserve them. Eventually the pair of hikers revealed their discovery to the landowners and together they secretly worked to have the land bought by the state and set-up as a State Park.
We took the tour through the Throne Room, Rotunda Room and Mud Room. Unfortunately, you're not allowed to take pictures inside the caverns but we picked-up some postcards to scan. In the Throne Room there's a 60ft pillar named Kubla Khan that is a stalactite and a stalagmite that have formed together. In some areas the water flowing over the ceiling leaves a deposit that, over centuries, form cave bacon. Bacon can sometimes hang many feet from the ceiling and be as thin as a drop of water. The tour was very nicely done. The Parks Dept. had pathways that were wheelchair accessible and they took great care to preserve every aspect of the caverns from misting systems on tour guests to cut down on damaging dust and lint to lighting only the areas that tours are in at any one time -- this cuts down on heat emissions from the bulbs.
After the tour we poked around the visitors center where I got to see my friend the sloth. This is a mock-up of the only mammal (besides bats) ever found in the caverns. Scientists believe it fell into the cave and was trapped. Though there is only one known way into the caverns (the way found by the original hikers) so no one knows how this giant sloth got in there. The center also had a garden filled with local flowers and plants. It was also buzzing with humming birds, butterflies (though he's pretty well camouflaged in this pic), and lizards.
The park had pretty nice campsites with power and water. They also had the cleanest public/campground bathrooms and showers I'd ever seen. The only drawback was that we couldn't have a fire. So instead of shish kabobs we had a beef and veggie stir-fry. That night we were treated to a very colorful sunset.
On Sunday morning we went for a hike on the Foothills Trail that winds around and over the mountains that the caverns are in. This area of the state recently got a bunch of rain so everything was green and in bloom -- which is very different than Phoenix. The ocotillo grew in numbers that we were not used to at all! Even the barrel cactus offered up a few flowers. The hike was only 2.5 miles but we stopped pretty often to admire the view or play in the washes. When we sat to admire the view, we discovered a rock full of fossils from when this area was covered by seawater. At one point, we crested a rise to see three great mountains but were instantly hit with the idea that we had to hike around (or worse over) them. Fortunately, our trail weaved it's way in front of all those mountains. We were hoping to see a Gila Monster as they frequent the area. No luck there but we did find this spiny lizard that looks very prehistoric.
Overall a great weekend getaway. They open up tours to another portion of
the caverns called the Big Room in October so Bonnie and I might make another
trip down there then.
For our friend Michael's birthday, we went camping at the Grand Canyon with a bunch of friends. It was pretty cold that weekend and Bonnie and I hit a new record low with 11 degrees on Saturday night. The campfire couldn't be big enough!
On Saturday, Bonnie, Greg, Kaye, and I went along the south rim stopping to admire the great views. Some spots were pretty close to the edge and even made me feel a little nervous.
We had a great weekend as Bonnie and I always love to be camping. On
Sunday afternoon, Bonnie and I stayed at the campsite after the group had left
for home.
We took a long walk in the woods and scouted potential camping spots.
We found some interesting camping sites and saw this
plant growing straight
out of a rock and even a rainbow!
It was a nice cap to the weekend.
Over the Christmas holidays, my parents came to visit. They have some old-school friends in Sedona, Randi and Howard, who invited all of us up to their vacation home.
Sedona was awesome! On the first day we started out with breakfast at a fancy place that had a really nice stained glass window in the wall where we sat. Next we headed out to see some sites including Bell Rock and a beautiful Catholic church built into the side of a mountain. Here's a view from inside. The real treat was when Randi and Howard took us out to Oak Creek where we could see Cathedral Rock. We hung around the river for a while and checked out the little rapids and the ducks. Bonnie even found a sea shell! We hung out to watch the sunset and soon after the sky behind Cathedral Rock lit up into bright pinks and purples.
On the 27th, my parents and I went up to see the Grand Canyon. The weather was much cooler there than back in Tempe, so we didn't hike too much. But my parents got to see the beautiful sites including a huge elk. He wasn't too concerned about tourists getting close for a picture.
We took my Uncle Tommy hiking up the Sears-Kay Ruin Trail on Saturday. Its not too bad a hike especially with the weather that we had. The trail runs up a rocky hilltop to the ruins of a Hohokam village. There were about 40 rooms and it housed about one hundred people. It was interesting to see how the original builders used rocks to form straight walls and walkways. From the hilltop there were awesome views of the surrounding mountain ranges.
There was also one huge rock perched precariously on the edge of the mountain. To give it some scale, here's a shot with me and Uncle Tommy.
For Bonnie's Birthday, we went on a camping trip to the Grand Canyon. We were joined by a new friend of ours, Kaye. We had a great weekend! The temperatures were 30-60 degrees cooler at the Canyon than in Phoenix -- it was tough to go home to the triple digit temperatures.
We arrived late Friday night, set-up camp, started the fire, and ate our usual camping dinner of shish kebobs. It was chilly that first night but not too bad -- a little cloud cover that night helped keep the temps somewhat warm.
Saturday we took our time getting up and running. We headed into the park around 11 and found our usual parking spot. We were surprised to see the ONLY Smart car registered in Arizona. It's part of a campaign to get the Smart car imported to the States.
This was Kaye's first time to the Grand Canyon so we only hiked about 2 miles. Then we took the inner-park busses to see all the viewpoints along the South Rim. As usual, the views were awesome! During our hike, we found a nice secluded spot that looked out into the canyon and had a quick snack and some shade.
We continued on and Kaye got a nice picture of Bonnie and me on the rim's edge. Here's a shot of me trying to stay out of the sun.
The South Rim trail ends at Hermit's Rest which provides bathrooms, concessions, and a place to sit. While we rested there and munched on some trail mix, a really brave squirrel came up behind me and put both his front paws on my leg and stretched up to reach my trail mix. Though I didn't give him any, he didn't seem to mind just hanging out with us.
So after a nice break we limped back to our car to head back to camp. Unfortunately our usual camping spot was taken so we had to set up in a new spot, which turned out to be pretty nice, too. There was plenty of wood. In fact Bonnie and I managed to pull a huge downed tree out the woods to put on the fire. Unfortunately, Kaye wasn't fast enough with the camera to get a shot of us struggling with this log (which is a good thing) but here's a shot of all of us with the big log on the fire.
On Saturday, Bonnie and I went to the Tonto Natural Bridge in Payson, AZ. Payson is about an hour and a half northeast of Phoenix and it's in the mountains. So the temperature there was about 10-15 degrees lower. It was a great day for a hike.
In order to get to the park we had to drive down a very windy mountain road. The park was very nice and clean with picnic areas galore. The bridge was made a state park in 1990 but the bridge was discovered in 1877 when a man named Gowan was attacked and chased by Apache Indians. Gowan hid out in many of the natural caves for three days. It was when he came out that he discovered the bridge and the green valley around him. It took another 20 years before he could convince any of his family to come over from Scotland and settle the area.
The park has three trails: the Waterfall Trail, Pine Creek Trail, and Gowan Trail. Bonnie and I started off on the Waterfall Trail which led us to a small waterfall that hides a cave behind it. It was very beautiful and lush. Some parts looked less like Arizona and more like South America. It was also cool to see the stalactites within the cave. The Waterfall Trail was only about 300 feet long and the trail was man-made and very easy to walk.
Next we went down the Pine Creek Trail. Though the trail was marked with little arrows to guide the way, it was tough to see the trail sometimes. A couple of times, Bonnie would be looking around asking, "Where is the damn trail?!" Most of the trail is created by the creek that runs down from the mountains so there were many times when Bonnie and I are scaling boulders and trying to stay out of the water. And there was plenty of water. Because the creek was so rocky, there were pools of water every few feet with waterfalls between each pool. The pools held a ton of crawfish, too. All along the trail were many reminders of how long the water had been carving out the rocks here. Some rocks looked like sponges.
It was fun to think about this guy Gowen running from Apaches. There were a bunch of caves along the creek in which to hide. But I couldn't imagine trying to get horses into the area because there were plenty of tight spots and a lot of areas where the ground was split but you could only see it from below.
Then as we rounded a corner and looked up, we saw the ground above us was all eroded away. Then we saw the mouth of the tunnel (if you look closely in the bottom left corner, you'll see some people so you can get an idea of scale). This is the largest travertine bridge in the world. The span is 183 feet high, it's 400 feet long, and measures 150 feet at its widest point. Inside the tunnel the temperature was very cool. There was also a very deep pool inside the tunnel. People aren't allowed to swim inside the tunnel but all the other pools along the creek are open and we saw a lot of people swimming. Here's a shot Bonnie took of me from across the pool.
On the other end of the tunnel was a big waterfall that splashed down on a another pile of boulders. Here's another shot of the splashdown area. Back on the top of the bridge there were viewpoints where you could see the waterfall from the same level. Also, you could see where the water runs along the ground toward the edge.
Once we walked out from below the waterfall, we found a shady spot along the creek and had our lunch. Here's a parting shot of the tunnel.
There were a few other things to take note of along the trail. Because of the elevation, the position of the creek, and the way the sun hits the valley, one side of the creek looks like a rain forest while the other side offers cacti growing out of cliff walls.
After our hike, we walked up to the lodge (where the Gowans lived) and bought a couple of rootbeers. They had a very nice garden by the lodge and Bonnie wanted her picture taken with all the flowers.
That's all for Tonto but on the way home, we stopped in Fountain Hills, AZ for some Cold Stone Creamery ice cream and to see the world's largest fountain. Here's a shot with me in it for scale.
On Sunday, Bonnie and I went to the Casa Grande Ruins National Park in Coolidge. The weather was awesome and there was a cool breeze all day that helped keep us cool. The ruins that we could walk around in were in Compound A. There were about four or five compounds but only Casa Grand was open to the public. Casa Grande is the largest structure from Hohokam times built before 1350 AD. It's four stories high and 60 feet long. The entrance was gated, so we couldn't get into the building. But we could walk up to some of the surrounding buildings. Also there were three holes in one side of the building used to tell different times of the year.
Even though it wasn't in Compound A, National Parks Service set-up an observation deck from which you could see the Hohokam ballcourt. The ballcourts appear in the 12th century and mark a change in the Hohokam life-style. The people were moving from the fields into concentrated villages and cities. The ballcourt and Casa Grande show that this area was an important village in the Hohokam world.
We sat in a little picnic pavilion and drank some water before we headed home. All around us were brown, round-tailed squirrels. They had no fear of us and would come right up close to us. Sometimes they'd lay their body flat against the cool cement floor.
Our neighbors had given us some coupons to Cold Stone Creamery, so Bonnie and I ended the day
with two huge ice cream cones. They were perfect after walking around in the sun all
afternoon.
Bonnie and I spent Easter picnicking in the Pueblo Grande Museum. It was very cool. The Hohokum Indians built their village roughly about 400 AD and it was quite a big accomplishment. The cool thing about the museum was that you could walk around the structure and get a birds eye view of some of the rooms.
It was amazing to see how they built some rooms to help mark the seasons. And as needs changed they would change the layout of some rooms.
The museum also showed how their gardens were set up, their community ovens, and it had replicas of the suburbs that were built near the village. Inside the huts the temperature was very cool and we were surprised at how much room there was. Also, they had a special room that for trash and burials as archaeologists found both human bones and discarded pottery. The Hohokum even had a special arena for ball games!
The weather was awesome and there were a ton of
flowers in bloom. Plus, some of the
prickly pears were in bloom and some of the
other cacti were blooming, too.
Bonnie and I hiked up Piestewa Peak on Sunday the 13th. Bonnie was told that Piestewa was used by locals to train for the Grand Canyon hike so we figured that's where we needed to go. Looking up the mountainside from the parking lot was a bit daunting but we were confident and started up the trailhead.
The trail was very rough and rocky. There were many times when we were crawling up this mountain not hiking. It was a pretty tough climb. We climbed to just over 3/4 of the way. The trail was 1.2 miles and the last quarter of the trail was really steep. By this point my legs were tired and wobbly so we found a nice rock outcropping where we could climb out and see the view. There were a lot of wild flowers in bloom. Temps here lately have been in the upper 70's to lower 80's.
After Bonnie and I took some pictures of each other we began the trek down. Normally this would be the easy part but it was still slow going. A lot of big steps covered in slippery gravel made us really focus on where to put our feet.
Eventually we made it back to the car and after a quick trip to Wendy's for chocolate frosties, we spent the rest of Sunday napping on the couch.
Yang passed her citizenship test and was sworn in as a U.S. citizen on Friday the 25th. So to celebrate, she took Bonnie and I out for lunch and a hiking trip in the Superstition Mountains. It's a short drive but before you get to the mountains you drive through an old mining town named Goldfield. It was established in 1893 after gold was discovered there. Today it still looks the same as it did then complete with costumed actors filling in as the townsfolk. It was pretty cool, though. We started at the saloon, had a light lunch, and took in the sights from the backporch.
After lunch we walked around the old town and saw a shoot-out between some cowboys in the street. That was cool but I think it freaked Yang out a little. Next Yang and Bonnie got a little out of control and had a run-in with the local sheriff.
Next it was on to the hiking. We took a pretty long, curvy, drive up into the Superstition Mountains and wound our way to a man-made lake and parked near the trailhead for the Boulder Canyon Trail.
The beginning of the trail was pretty steep. I felt like we were going straight up and by the time we got to the top of the first peak, I needed a break! We planned on hiking in for an hour and a half and then turning around but after 20 minutes I was worried! Fortunately, the trail leveled off some and we didn't have another climb as steep as the first one. Bonnie was excited to see how many wild flowers were in bloom.
When we got to our 1 1/2hour stopping point we had a great view of the mountains and of the river that runs down through them. Bonnie said that the rock (in the previous picture) looked like a piece of cake. I think that was what she was looking forward to after the hike!
At this point we stopped to take a few pictures of the
view around us. We took some of
Bonnie and Yang and one of
Bonnie and me. After filling back up on water, we began the trek back. We made good time going back finishing in an hour. Though I was really happy when we could see the
parking lot we parked in!
For my birthday this past weekend, Bonnie and I went camping and hiking at the Grand Canyon National Park. We'd planned on going to Sedona but the camping permit (for two nights) and the hiking pass (for two) were a little expensive. We can camp and hike for free at the Grand Canyon so our decision was simple.
This was our third trip to the Canyon and we wanted to hike down below the rim this time. After reviewing the map and reminding ourselves that this was our first hike in, we figured we should just go to the 1 1/2 mile marker where there's a rest house. The map said it's 1,131 feet below the rim and should take between 2-4 hours to go down and back.
Bonnie and I went to Tumacacori National Historic Park on May 29, 2004.
Tumacacori is a Pima settlement that dates back to 1691. Jesuit Eusebio Kino arrived that year and founded Mission San Cayetano de Tumacacori and Mission San Gabriel; one on the east bank of the Santa Cruz River and one on the west bank about 15 miles up river. It's gone through a few reconstructions over the years because the raiding Apache Indians would attack and destroy whatever they could.
It was nice to be able to go inside the church and look around. Some of the old paint is still on the alter. Considering how ramshackle their huts were, it was surprising to see they were still up. And they didn't have a whole lot of tools to work with either. They did have a two story storage shed for all the food and stores. Here's Bonnie on the second floor with the church's bell tower in the background. There was also a graveyard with dates as recent as 1906. In the picture, the one painted aqua is a little baby that lived less than a year and she was the last body buried there.
Overall, the church was pretty cool and
surprisingly large. It was neat to see how old the style was inside.
On the 17th we camped at the Grand Canyon and then went to Sunset Crater. The views were awesome but it was really cold on Saturday night. It dipped down to about 15o.
On January 10, 2004, Bonnie and I went to Montezuma's Castle in the Verde Valley of Arizona and then to the Meteor Crater just east of Flagstaff.
The "castle" was pretty cool. It's from the 12th century and has about 20 rooms in it. Early European explorers mistakenly thought it was from the Aztecs and thus named it Montezuma. Actually it was made by Sinagua farmers who lived here for about 2 centuries until their disappearance in the 1400s.
The Meteor Crater was really amazing and the pictures don't do it justice. It was created about 50,000 years ago by an iron-nickel meteorite that was about 150 feet across and over several thousand tons. Though not the oldest or biggest, this crater was the first to be proven to be caused by a meteorite and it is the most well preserved. The floor of the crater can hold 20 football fields which didn't mean much to me but to put it into perspective there is a six-foot cutout of a man and a U.S. flag on the crater floor and we couldn't see it.