For our annual Brinda/Slay camping trip we chose Flagstaff this year! We also decided to try dispersed camping instead of looking for a campground. Dispersed camping is basically finding a forest service road that allows free camping. Christine went up early and located a great spot for us that had room for both trailers, some shade and plenty of sunny spots for our solar panels!
Our first exploration was to check out the Lava River Cave which was not far from our campsite. It's a cave that was formed about 700,000 years ago, is about 3/4 mile long and stays about 40 degrees year round. Also, once you are out of sight of the entrance, it is pitch black inside, so you have to have flashlights or headlamps to hike it. This is the only picture I have:
The next day we checked out Walnut Canyon National Monument. This Canyon has cliff dwellings that date back to the 12th century. We did the Island Trail which goes down partially into the canyon and passes about 25 different cliff dwellings.
We visited Lowell Observatory where the kids got to play with different science experiments. We saw the telescope that was used to discover Pluto in 1930. We were also able to look through a few different telescopes set up outside to see Venus, the middle star of the handle of the Big Dipper, and M13 (the Great Hercules Cluster) which is a globular cluster containing several hundred thousand stars that are about 25,000 light years from Earth.
Each of the kids also built a model rocket and used the rocket launcher to test it. Carlton took video:
Our next destinations included Wupatki (also Lomaki and Wukoki) and the Sunset Crater. Wupatki Basin saw indigenous people in the area around the year 500 mostly passing through. After the eruption of Sunset Crater in 1085, the cinders helped the soil hold more moisture for crops. After the eruption, people farmed the land in the Wupatki Basin and built the pueblos Lomaki, Wukoki and Wupatki.
These first pictures show Lomaki.
There were collared lizards running around the area too and Carlton got a couple good pics!
Next stop was Wupatki Pueblo, the largest of the remaining pueblos. This one was 3 stories tall and had 104 rooms. It included a community room, Hohokam style ball court and a blowhole.
Here is Avery posing by the blowhole. It's a rare geological feature that acts as a natural vent to the vast tunnel system underground. The vent equalizes atmospheric pressure in the underground caverns, so depending on the weather you will either feel air being blown out or air being sucked in. The underground fractures extend 25 miles away.
Brenden, Gavin and I also explored Wukoki a bit. It was getting warm outside, so not everyone was excited about getting out of the car again.
There is a 35 mile scenic drive that takes you through the Wupatki National Monument and into Sunset Crater.
The volcano at Sunset Crater erupted in 1085 and scattered ash and cinder for miles.
Lots of vegetation growing in the cinders.Avery thought this rock looked like a giant frog.
This is a lava lake that we took a walk through.
Our last day in camp we hiked Red Mountain Trail which takes you to a large cinder cone with a large amphitheater and hoodoos.
There were two options on the trail, either use the ladder (like Christine to the left) or climb the gravelly cinder cone to get to the other side. Christine and I chose the ladder, everyone else did the cinder cone.
The trail was pretty warm with very little shade, so we were ready to cool off! The next hike we did was near Snowbowl ski resort. It was about 1000 feet higher in elevation and in the forest, so much cooler!! The trail was Veit Springs Loop.
Our campsite and group selfies with the trailers.We left Flagstaff and headed to Phoenix to visit with Grandma and Grandpa for a few days. We didn't stay too long - it was around 75 degrees in Flagstaff but about 105 in Phoenix! Ugh.
We enjoyed our time with Grandma, Grandpa and the kids got to play with their cousins.
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