Wupatki National Monument, Arizona

Wupatki National Monument in Arizona is one of those places where you can easily lose your frame of time walking among what is left of the once largest Pueblo from nearly 800 years ago.  Located on the Colorado Plateau, Wupatki was known as the meeting place for several Native American Indian cultures.  Even then, this area was dry and very warm making it not the most comfortable environment for living or growing crops for food.

To this day, no one knows why Wupatki flourished despite the harsher conditions of the land.  But it did, and that could be one of the reasons why the ancient Pueblo survives today.  Visiting the national monument is a joy to reconnect with the old ways of life.  It is also a great way to delve within your inner self, as this monument is the least traveled and easy to lose yourself in the past as you walk along quietly, usually only with your own group as company.  That is what makes visiting Wupatki so special to our family.  We love to feel as if we’re the only ones out there and that can happen at Wupatki, even in 2010.

The hikes are easy.  It is only a ½ mile round trip to see the largest pueblo in the park which is named Wupatki Pueblo.  Records indicate that about 100 people lived in Wupatki Pueblo around 1182.  Then it was the largest building within 50 miles.  The thousands of people who lived in the vicinity at that time, had a day’s walk to get to the pueblo.  The stories of the Wupatki Pueblo are passed on among the Hopi, Zuni, Navajo, and other tribes who understand the importance of remembering and sharing the history of their generations.  Hopi Indians believe the people who lived and died at Wupatki remain as spiritual guardians.

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Arizona/Utah

A place that is sure to leave a lasting impression on your soul is Monument Valley located on the border of Arizona and Utah in the U.S.A.  That could be the reason this place is the most used for filming movies on location.  The beauty is stark, dramatic and so riveting it’s hard to take your eyes off of the splendid nature in front you of you spanning 360 degrees.  If Mother Nature had indeed created her own art gallery, it would be the impressive sandstone monoliths sprawling in every direction in Monument Valley.

Our family recently went to Monument Valley to celebrate the beauty of life.  Don and I wanted to share this special place with our children Dani and Josh now that they are older and more aware of the emotional ties that make us who we are today.  I lost my oldest sister a few years ago.  When her husband told me that Monument Valley was their favorite place in the whole world, it made me want to see the red cliffs even more.  I knew then that just standing among the beauty of the valley would make me feel a bit closer to her spirit.  And that thought alone made my own spirit soar as we traveled.  I just couldn’t wait to get there again.

Monument Valley is a special place.  The quiet is so still there you can actually hear it within your own beating heart.  The valley is infused with the rich traditions and tranquility that personifies the Navajo Indian spirit.  Driving in the Monument Valley Tribal Park gives you the flavor of what the Navajo way of life was in the past and up to the present.  The Navajos have seamlessly bridged and preserved their old ways with the new ways without losing their rich cultural traditions.

The park has a visitor center, campground, restaurant and a lodge.  There is a $20 entry fee to take the 14 mile graded loop drive which takes you to the famous monoliths:  the Mittens, Totem Pole, and the Yei Bi Chai among others.  These are the ones that have become the landmarks of the area and highly recognizable from movies, TV shows and commercials.

As you drive keep a good look out for the livestock.  The Navajos who still live in the monument and have for generations, raise sheep who graze in the open lands.  The Navajo way of life is preserved and sheep wool is spun and woven into native rugs which are sold in the valley and in surrounding stores.   The weavers raise the sheep and sear, wash and spin the wool in the traditional ways of their old cultural ancestors who passed on the methods through the generations to preserve the art.  It is not uncommon to see a weaver sitting on the floor in front of a Navajo log loom as they spin their tradition.  This is most exciting to see near a Hogan, the ancient Navajo dwelling, which are still used for living in the valley.

Our family loves to visit Monument Valley and see the rich ways of the Navajo life.  The sandstone orange and red hues are vivid any time of day and make for spectacular photos.  If you are ever in the valley, we hope you will stop and visit the Monument Valley Trading Post.  We are proud to say our “OutDoors And not…Arizona” travel DVD is on sale there and your purchase helps the Navajo way of life endure.  As the Navajo people perceive their homeland, this strong spiritual belief in the land of Monument Valley requires that Mother Earth be treated with the deepest respect.

Let’s go!

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Arizona

For those who like to really get away from it all, there’s Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument in Arizona, 40 miles east of Flagstaff.  Being in the area of this cinder cone volcano can make you feel more as if you are on another planet.  It’s desolate, quiet and simple in beauty.  And even though you cannot walk directly into the cinder cone, the trail was closed in 1973, you can still marvel at the awe of the surrounding San Francisco Volcanic Field and dark lunar landscape look and feel.  But don’t worry, as you explore the territory, volcanologists believe Sunset Crater erupted between 1040 and 1100 and will probably not erupt again.

To get a good look into the crater, the best way is to climb to the top of the Lenox Crater Trail, or hike a Forest Service trail up to O’Leary Peak.  Here you can see the scars still evident in Sunset Crater leftover from when folks could walk down, even though it was closed 32 years ago, the resulting damage is still there as a reminder to tread lightly in nature.

Sunset Crater does give an otherworldly appearance.  That can explain why in the 1960’s, NASA had astronauts practice for the first lunar landing in the cinder fields and lava flows around the crater.  The vent at the top of the volcano is 1000 feet above the surrounding landscape.   This giant hole made for an ideal training ground for NASA.

Sunset Crater is also the only eruption in the Southwest witnessed by the locals, as the Colorado Plateau’s most recent volcanic eruption.  Prior to western inhabitation, archeologists believed the Sinagua Indian culture lived in pithouses they dug in the area and farmed corn fields in the open meadows.  Research reveals burned pithouses filled with cinders and lava.

If you look closely you will see how life returns on the cinder field with small batches of wildflowers, desert shrubs, pine and aspen trees, as well as wildlife, in an arid volcanic landscape.

It was President Herbert Hoover whom established the national monument on May 26, 1930 to protect the unique geologic formations for all future generations to enjoy.  It is believed that nineteenth-century explorer John Wesley Powell named Sunset Crater as he marveled at the red and yellow rim colors.  Today the National Monument protects 3040 acres surrounded by Coconino National Forest and is the youngest, least-eroded cinder cone in the San Francisco Volcanic Field.  We invite you to join us on our trip to Sunset Crater National Monument and an ice cave that is no longer open to the public.

Let’s go!

Monument Valley, Arizona

Monument Valley is one of those places where time stands still literally. Just driving through seems to take forever and the landmarks are farther than they look.

There is a reason so many films have been made here. The monoliths are spectacular. And the coloring of the landscapes evokes painted pictures from the masters. The Indian Reservation in Monument Valley keeps the old way of living alive in the present. The scenery is barren but rich in beauty and stillness.

Let’s go!

-Lisa

We left after work and headed to Joe’s house in Pasadena to pick him up.  We were all very excited to go backpacking in the canyon to go to one of the caves.  After throwing Joe’s pack in the back of the truck, we squeezed back in and took off.  We headed to Bob’s house in Brea, picked him up and hit the road. The plan was to drive to just outside the National Park boundary and sleep.  In the morning we would have to go to the park headquarters and get our permits: one to backpack, one to cave.

Everything went as planned and we were at the trail head by nine a.m. the next morning.  We saddled up and started the hike.  The trail got serious right away with about a 10 degree steep angle down.  We had a couple of miles to go and a couple thousand feet more to lose in elevation. The trail slide show will show you some of these steep angles and the views from the trail. 

We arrived at the Mesa fairly fast considering the weight we all were carrying. Consider this:  our water, camping and caving gear including vertical gear, standard for each of us; plus rope and a cable ladder we dispersed through the team to equal out the load.  We found the campground and immediately pitched our tents and made camp.  It felt good to sit down!  After we were done we explored the area.  We found a small copper mine and wondered who was crazy enough to mine there!  We also found the pit toilet.  This was placed on a wooden platform with a screen on the camp side. From the throne, the view was intense.  You looked out over a side canyon where you saw a bit of the Colorado river in the canyon below.  We hiked on looking for a spring.  We found potable water within a half mile of camp which helped a couple of people who under estimated their water intake. 

Back at camp, we readied for caving.  The cave entrance was very close to camp and the cave was supposedly known for it’s beauty.  We entered the cave and saw nothing other than dry and dusty formations and walls.  However we knew that the good stuff took some effort to get to.  Pete led the climb up the wall to rig the cable ladder.  I followed and helped unlock the gate while Pete rigged the ladder for the others.  Once the last person was up, we pulled up the ladder and locked the gate behind us.  Beyond the gate was a dusty crawl that led to a small room with a dirt floor.  There was a little climb that led up a crack and into some of the most orange flowstone and formations I’d ever seen.  We shed our boots and dusty coveralls so the cave would not suffer from our visit.   The cave really didn’t have much length, but we were able to spend hours in there taking photos of everything we saw.  You can see some of them in the Grand Canyon cave slideshow.  We exited the cave after dark.  After a hot meal we all crashed out being burnt out from a very full day of activity.

The next morning we broke camp and hiked to the end of the mesa to take pictures.  After that we headed for the truck over a half a mile above our heads and few miles in distance.  We made it out in about 3 hours.  But we still had a 10 hour drive home!  We waited for everyone to make it up and into the parking lot and said our goodbyes.  It was now getting close to 3 o’clock in the afternoon.  We hit the road and made gas and food stops along the way.  After dropping Bob and Joe off at their places, Lisa and I got home at 3 a.m.  We took showers and went to bed getting only a couple of hours of sleep before heading to work the next day.  Getting around was a bit of a challenge due to our sore muscles. Our leg muscles were sore after that trip.  However,  we would do it again for the sites we saw and captured on film.

D

Out!