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Category: Wupatki National Monument

Waited out the holiday then headed into northern Arizona

trees crepuscular rays Skull Valley AZAfter wintering in southern Arizona I returned to my home base to make plans and repairs while waiting out the holiday weekend before heading into northern Arizona for the beginning of my summer travels.

trees mts clouds smoke I17 N to Flagstaff AZLeft a friend’s house June 1st and drove further into northern Arizona and a smoky Flagstaff from prescribed burns to the west.

trees snowy peaks FR545 Coconino NF Flagstaff AZI hoped my Coconino National Forest camping place outside of Sunset Crater National Monument wouldn’t be affected.  There was a definite haze but doable.

red Paintbrush flowers FR545 Coconino NF Flagstaff AZyellow Larkspur flowers FR545 Coconino NF Flagstaff AZ

                                         Paintbrush                                                                                     Larkspur

Sparsely scattered flowers popped color on the pine needle covered forest floor.

trees Sunset Crater FR545 Coconino NF Flagstaff AZ Sunset Crater

I was excited to be under the Ponderosa Pines once again and had to hug and sniff a tree.

last light trees clouds FR545 Coconino NF Flagstaff AZI figured the smoke and clouds might bring a pretty sunset through the trees but obscure the waxing moon.

tree branches moon FR545 Coconino NF Flagstaff AZ

grass trees reverse sunset clouds moon FR545 Coconino NF Flagstaff AZThen got lucky.

a'A lava flow Sunset Crater NM AZI wasn’t in a rush the next morning to get to my next destination so decided to go the long way.  A loop drive of 35 miles took me through Sunset Crater and Wupatki national monuments.

red Penstimon flowers trees clouds Sunset Crater NM AZBeen so long I’d forgotten just how gorgeous this drive can be.

grass trees SF Pks clouds FR545 AZ

trees storm clouds FR545 AZThen add dramatic storm clouds over an otherwise fantastic landscape.

white Datura flowers FR545 AZSacred Datura

grass SF Pks rain clouds FR545 Wupatki NM AZI stopped frequently for flowers, views, and whatever caught my eye.

cattle shute FR545 AZ

grass SF Pks rain clouds FR545 Wupatki NM AZLike a corral with a place big enough to park and awesome views of the San Francisco Peaks.

Citidel ruin Wupatki NM AZ

Nalakilu ruin Wupatki NM AZ

walls sinkhole SF Pks clouds Wupatki NM AZOnly made one stop in Wupatki at the Citidel and Nalakilu ruins.

storm clouds SR64 W Navajo Rez AZAfter three extra hours of driving I returned to SR89 and continued into northern Arizona to my destination for the next several days.

Indian taco stand Gray Mt AZHowever a growling belly caused me to stop for an Navajo fry bread burger.

 

Arizona, Flagstaff, Places I've been, Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, United States, Wupatki National Monument , , 20 Comments

Ruins at Wupatki National Monument tell a story

The road to Wukoki Pueblo
Black cinders still blanket the ground for many miles surrounding Sunset Crater Volcano on the way to Wupatki National Monument.

Wukoki Pueblo
Yet only shortly after the volcano went silent around 1100AD, people settled into the area building pueblos on the rocks and cultivating corn, beans and squash below in the ash enriched soil.

View NE from Wukoki Pueblo
What a curious place to build a farming community with hot, dry summers and limited water. In this area only a few seeps and springs existed with the Little Colorado River 5-10 miles away.

Wukoki Pueblo
Yet these people shaped their lives to the land. Using the red sandstone outcroppings as a base masons mortared together natural stone blocks as bricks to shelter their families.

Metate, stones for grinding corn
It’s believed that the women built and maintained the home, made pottery, gathered wild plants and prepared food while the men tended the crops, hunted and wove textiles.

Wupatki Pueblo
An open community room may have served for public ceremonies.

Nalakihu and Citadel Pueblos
High walls on the north and west sides help protect from prevailing winds. Terraced rooms to the south and east bathed in winter sun. Flat roofs caught water.

Box Canyon Dwellings
Rooms were added as the family grew.

Lomaki Pueblo
Pueblos dotted the rocky landscape. By 1190AD, as many as 2,000 people lived within a days walk of Wupatki Pueblo, probably one of the largest pueblos in the area.

Lomaki Pueblo
Archeologists are undecided who the people of Wupatki were. Yet the Hopi tell many stories about the migration of their clans.
San Francisco Peaks from Citadel Pueblo
“…for us life is shrouded in mystery and the world defies explanation…humans do not need to know everything there is to be known. The human past, we feel, is a universal past. No one can claim it, and no one can ever know it completely.”
–Rina Swentzell, Pueblo Santa Clara
Wupatki National Monument definitely captured my heart and spirit. The energy of the ancestors surrounds. Pause and listen to the wisdom of the soul.  I floated along on the rest of today’s journey through the Painted Desert and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.
Arizona, National Parks and Monuments, Wupatki National Monument , 21 Comments

Lijit

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