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Arizona vacation – Part 1: The National Monuments

While in Flagstaff, I saw various things, including the Power Observatory (where they discovered "the stellar object formerly known as the planet Pluto"). Other highlights including hiking around Walnut Canyon National Monument, Wupatki National Monument, and Sunsset Crater, all very close to Flagstaff. This section includes photos from all of the above.

Click on the thumbnail images to get larger ones (around 100-300K). Click on the "huge" link to get the full size pictures (around 3M). 55 pictures included.

See also:
Part II: hiking into Walnut Canyon and to Supai on the Havasupai Indian Reservation (the Grand Canyon, more or less.)
Part III: hiking the falls (Mooney, Havasu, and Navajo) on the Havasupai Indian Reservation.

Jerome, AZ

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One of the notable things is the old jail, which slide 100 feet down a mountain to its current location. It's mostly in ruins and is fenced off. The first picture shows the jail, the second is of the dark corner to the right, and the third is the graffiti that is visible inside the cell (I had to use a flash and have the camera positioned low and throw the bars of the fence.

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A shot of the front of the jail, from above it. Looking out on the hill. And finally, a scarecrow near a restaurant where we ate. Generally, everything is on a hill in Jerome. Or, at least it was on a hill.

Walnut Canyon National Monument

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The first two shots are from the rim trail, just beyond the visitor center, showing Walnut Canyon. The last shot shows some of the cliff dwellings across the canyon.

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Some scenic stuff, including the canyon, the silhouette of a tree and a kind of cliff. It was a beautiful, clear day.

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The first shot is the trail we walked on. The second has Nicole and Jess (the three of us where sightseeing that day) by a cliff dwelling. And finally, one of the dwellings. The tribe are called "Sinagua" because the mountains in the area were called "Sierra Sinagua" by the Spanish, meaning "mountains without water."

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Nicole pokes her head in from a neighbor's "house." And two close-up shots of the rocks (the camera has a decent macro function).

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Another shot of the canyon, and a cool tree that was there.

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Two close-up shots of the tree and its texture.

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The sign says "stay on trail," as if there was any choice, other than plummeting down. And the obligatory shot of me and Nicole.

Sunset Creater

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The Bonito Lava Flow is an area that's about 900 years old. It looks like fresh dirt or mud from a garden that's been dug up and turned over. Except it's all rock. Cool to see.

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Another shot of the Bonito Lava Flow and a close-up of the lava rock. Then a shot with the Painted Desert visible in the distance. The pinks, reds, and oranges really stand out from the black and brown near it. It was still quite far away from us.

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Another shot of the Painted Desert in the distance, a picture of what I think is Sunset Crater Volcano, which is still mostly black and unreclaimed, though there are some trees growing there. And Cinder Hills Overlook.

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Yet another shot of Sunset Crater Volcano (into the sun), and two more of the Painted Desert in the distance.

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The last shot of the Painted Desert in the distance. The camera really doesn't do it justice. A shot of Jess and Nicole sorting out what we're actually looking at. Shadows of me (with the hat), Nicole (without), and Jess (for some reason sporting a squarted version of a body part she normally does not possess. And finally, a shot of the three of us, with the Painted Desert in the background (though probably not visible).

Wupatki National Monument

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Wukoki, the "big house" is the ruins of a multi-level dwelling that was abandoned around 800 years ago. The middle picture is a sign about Wukoki, and the other two shots are of the ruins itself.

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Frank posing, trying to look cool by a wall at Wukoki. The "front yard" by Wukoki is pretty cool (to one who doesn't come from the desert). And the view out the "front window" is pretty amazing.

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There was a sign by Wukoki that, so far, no one can figure out what the image is supposed to represent. It seems more like some sort of US Park Service Rorschach test than a "do not enter" sign. The two other shots are of Wupatki Pueblos.

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The wall of the pueblo was catching the light from the setting sun and looked cool. The second shot is of more pueblos.

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The first shot is of more Pueblo ruins. The second is of the path leading to the ballcourt and blowhole. The ballcourt is the circular area to the left and was a public meeting area as well as an area for sports (playing ball of some sort). The blowhole is to the right, not terribly visible, but it's a hole in the ground that air will vent through due to pressure differences between the large underground caves and ambient air pressure. There was a grating over it and cool air was blowing out. It was quite neat.

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Three shots of the beautiful sunsets from the road on the way back.

See also:
Part II: hiking into Walnut Canyon and to Supai on the Havasupai Indian Reservation (the Grand Canyon, more or less.)
Part III: hiking the falls (Mooney, Havasu, and Navajo) on the Havasupai Indian Reservation.

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