Our Cabin was in Flagstaff. It was a great cabin. We each had our own sleeping area and 2 bathrooms! Flagstaff was very nice and had lots of stuff to do.
On Saturday we went to the Lowell Observatory. Claire is very into outer space so she enjoyed this a lot. We bought a combo ticket and went back at night for planet viewing. We saw Venus and Saturn. Saturn was pretty cool. You could see the rings and even some of its moons.
After visiting Lowell in the morning we headed out to Sunset Crater National Monument. We had a picnic in the car because it was so windy! Flagstaff was having some kind of unusual wind while we were there. We had a great view of the lava fields from the car though...
When we finished with lunch we got out to look around. The first trail we saw was the lenox crater trail. Chris read the sign. It said it was a strenuous hike. 300 ft. Only hike it if you have proper footware, etc. My first thought is "strenuous?, no thank you!" Then Claire took off running and said "let's go". I look at Chris and say, "its only 300 ft. strenuous or not I can do 300 ft!" Well, let me tell you something I learned half way up the mountain...it was not 300 ft. long. It was a 300 ft. rise in elevation! We were already at 7000 ft! And did I mention the entire mountain we were climbing was covered in loose cinders? It was like hiking up a steep mountain of gravel! And Claire ran the whole way! I had to stop a few times because I just couldn't catch my breath. Back in college I had "exertion induced athsma" which meant I'd get winded easily when exerting myself. I hadn't been bothered by it for years. I thought I'd outgrown it or something. Well, that day, on that mountain, it came back!
Claire, of course, made it to the top first. We were yelling at her to come back. We didn't know if there was a drop off or anything. She wouldn't come. She just stood there taking pictures. When we made it to her we saw what she was taking pictures of. The view was amazing. I stood there and realized God was my favorite artist of all time! It was a breathtaking (literally) view of the San Francisco Peaks.
Now, it was just an incredible sight. The pictures don't do it justice. But remember I told you it was windy that day? Yes, well, up on this mountain the cold wind was blowing about 70 mph. I swear to you...I am not exaggerating. Claire had to hold on to someone to keep from blowing away!
But we all made it and we were all so glad we did. I think this was Nathan's favorite part of the whole trip. Notice the ground. All of that black is cinders and lava. It is very loose and crumbly!
Getting down was easier than getting up, but presented a new challenge...walk too fast and you will SLIDE down the mountain! Nathan and I did this for many, many yards. Just as I was yelling to him, "I don't think I can stop!" he wiped out! He said it was the only way he could stop. As I ran/slid past him he said, "I'm ok." I yelled back, "good, because I can't stop to help you!" Finally the slope evened out a little and I was able to stop running/sliding at full speed.
If you want to know more about Sunset Crater go here:
http://www.nps.gov/sucr/index.htm
This is what the website says about the hike we took:
The Lenox Crater Trail provides an opportunity to climb a cinder cone. This steep trail is 1-mile (1.6km) round trip and requires about 30 minutes up and 15 minutes down!
Since we were still so high in elevation, it took me a while to really catch my breath after we got down. It was so worth it though! Chris and Claire both had new pairs of tennis shoes. They sure didn't look new when we came off that mountain! The cinders we were hiking on were black and dusty...so were are shoes when we were finished!
After that we drove through to Wupatki National Monument to visit some pueblo ruins. The kids really enjoyed this...especially when they could go inside one.
Found a gopher snake on the ruins...
A view from inside one of the rooms...
When we got back that night we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. The kids LOVED that!!
Claire was a little scared of the fire, but she didn't let that stop her from having a yummy, warm, gooey dessert!
I guess I'll have to post a part 3 later. I haven't even gotten to the grand canyon yet!
5 comments:
oh that snake would have made me run wild. Loved all of the pictures.
What a way to relive your vacation then sharing it with friends. Pretty sneaky I'd say! ~hehe~ Yep, the snake would've done it for me. WHERE'S THE CITY? I'm so outta here! Beautiful pics. Thanks for sharing, and thanks for stopping by. Happy Memorial Day to you & your family.
Funny thing about the snake...when we showed the picture to the rangers at the ranger station they said it was either a gopher snake or a rattlesnake! We couldn't tell on the small camera screen. Nathan had actually touched it and we were all about a foot from it. I have another picture that shows the tail and I zoomed in on it when we got home...no rattles! Good thing!
So cool... but that snake would have scared me, lol.
Crazy about the wind!!! How exciting to all make the crater hike! Great pics!
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