Wupatki National Monument and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

 10 16 12

Got up at 5:30 to catch the sunrise at Mather point.  I was the third person to arrive.  By 6:15 there were more than more than a 100 trying to find space to view the sunrise.  It turned out to be a bust.  No clouds to provide soft colors, but still the Grand Canyon is a magnificent place at sunrise, clouds or not.

I went back to the trailer to grab some quick breakfast and get the wife and dog for a trip to Sunset Crater National Monument and Wupatki National Monument.  We started south down AZ 64 towards Flagstaff and was going to cross over to Highway 89 north of Humphries Peak to Highway 89 north.  Turns out, that road is 15 miles of very rough road.  Wed took the longer route through Flagstaff.

Most people think of Arizona as a dry arid desert with hot climates.  It’s true in the southern regions, but in some of the northern regions, it has high elevations and winter snow.  Who would think?  Fall colors, a peak at 12,633 feet (Arizona’s highest), snow and volcanoes.  It’s all here.

At Sunset Crater Volcano we saw a crater that last erupted in 1064 with vast lava flow fields and beautiful vegetation.  Everywhere you go for miles the ground is covered in fine black volcanic cinder.  Some of the native plants provide a stark contrast to the black earth.  The crater is at about 6,000 feet elevation.  Looking south past the crater you can see snow covered Humphries Peak looming in the background.  

Heading south on the loop road, we come to Wupatki National Monument.  Located here are many ancient Pueblos that were occupied by Hopi and Zuni Native Americans.  In the Wupatki National Monument there are 5 Pueblos.  Heading north on the loop road, the first is Wukoki, then Wupatki, Lomaki, Citadel, and Nalakihu Pueblos.  These pueblos were occupied about 800 years ago and are still in remarkable condition.  You can see the individual rooms, the ball courts, and food storage rooms.  If you notice, most of the rooms have no doors.  They were entered from the roof.  Also, many of these structures had multiple stories and were reached by ladders.  When a family left to move on, the rooms were sealed by those who stayed.  Hopping for the occupants would return.  The Wupatki Pueblo contained more than 100 rooms and as many as 1000 people lived and farmed there.  The Native Americans that occupied the Wupatki area farmed the volcanic rich soil for about 400 years and then eventually moved on to other lands.

Humphries Peak

Lava Flow

Sunset Crater

Wukoki Pueblo

Wukoki Pueblo

Wukoki Pueblo

Wukoki Pueblo

Wukoki Pueblo

Wukoki Pueblo

Wupatki Pueblo

Wupatki Pueblo

Vegetation on Black Cinder

Vegetation on Black Cinder

Lomaki Pueblo

Lomaki Pueblo

Early visitors explored the lava flows and took rocks for souvenirs.  Others looted the archaeological sites.  In 1928 filmmakers proposed creating a landslide on Sunset Crater for a movie.  This created such an out roar that irrecoverable damage would be done, then President Hoover established the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument in 1930.

Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon

More than 5 million years ago the Colorado River began carving out the canyon we now know as the Grand Canyon.  There are three distinct layers of rock that make up the canyon walls.  The softest of the layers are located at the bottom, thus, the rapid erosion.  Exposed rocks in the canyon are between 1.7 million to 4.7 million years old making it the oldest exposed rock on earth.  Originally the river brought sediment downstream and was red in color.  That is why it was named the Colorado.  In 1956 the Glen Canyon Dam was built near the headwaters of the Colorado River.  When completed, Lake Powell was formed. The lake collects the sediment and now the Colorado no longer runs red.  Eventually (not in our lifetime) Lake Powell will fill with sediment and the river will again run red.  It’s only a matter of time.

The Grand Canyon extends East to West for 277 miles.  The south rim is located at about 7,000 feet and the North rim is about 8,000 feet.  The only way to get from the South rim to the North rim on land,  is to walk, or ride a mule down into the canyon and up the other side, or drive.  Although it is about 11 miles across, the drive is over 200 miles.  There are no roads that cross the canyon.  You have to go all the way to the eastern edge of the canyon and cross the Navajo Bridge to cross the Colorado River.  

With more than 4.5 million visitors a year, the Grand Canyon is one of the most popular of our National Park System.  The park can be very crowded in the Spring, Summer, and Fall.  The best times to visit are in the Spring after school starts and Fall.  Winter can be a very beautiful time in the canyon.  Crowds are light and the air is crisp.  Facilities at the South rim are open year round.  Although, it not uncommon to see snowfall.,  The snow on the formations make stunning pictures.  Because the North Rims is at 8,000 feet elevation, snow forces closure of roads leading to the North rim.








                          The Watchtower at Desert View

                                       

Desert View

The Watchtower

Watchtower in Background

Taos Pueblo

Taos Pueblo

I have loaded some pictures of the famous Taos Pueblo in Northern New Mexico. 

The Pueblo is at an elevation of about 7000 feet and has been occupied for more than 1000 years.  Today about 150 people occupy the pueblo full time.  Many other families have other homes in the Taos area, but return to the Pueblo for gatherings and special occasions.  Traditions dictate that no running water or electricity are allowed within the Pueblo walls.   The two main structures, Hlauuma (North House) and Hlaukwima (South House) are considered to be the oldest continiously inhabited communities in the USA.

The Pueblo is open to the public for an admission fee.  You can watch them making bread, clothing, jewelry, artwork, and other native items during your visit.  Of course, all available for purchase.

Did You Know…?

Native American reservations comprise over 27% of the entire state we know as Arizona.

Native Americans have lived in the Arizona for at least 25,000 years, maybe as long as 30,000 years.

Three of the earliest tribes in the Arizona region were the Hohokam, Anasazi, and Cochise.

The Hohokam were pretty much gone by 1400 A.D.  However, it is believed that the some of the current Pima tribe were descendents of the Hohokam.  Hohokam is a Pima word meaning “Those Who are Gone”.

The Anasazi is a Navajo word meaning “The Ancient Ones”.  The Anasazi civilization reached its peak between 1000 A.D. and 1300 A.D. 

Welcome!

After much delay, planning for the Americana Tour is back underway.  We have not been very successful in obtaining corporate funding, and private donations have not met expectations.  So, we will begin as a self financed project.  The original focus will remain the same, but the scope of the project will have to be altered significantly.

With that said…

What better way to begin our tour, than to start with our first nations tribes of Arizona.  The Navajo, Havasupai, Hopi, Cocopah, Kaibab, Apache tribes are just some of the twenty-one Indian tribes located in Arizona.  Who can forget (if you’re over 40), Cochise, chief of the Chokonen band of the Chirichua Apache nation.  These tribes were the first nations of what eventually became the United States of America and had a great influence on our history.

Many of our National Parks and National Monuments are located on tribal land in Arizona.  The Grand Canyon National Park, Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, and Canyon de Chelly National Monument  are just a few that we will be visiting in October and November this year.

If you wish to be part of the experience, you can follow along by clicking “Like” on our Facebook  page or follow our blog.  Links for both are located on my web site at http://www.LYPhotography.com