We went to two national monuments today. There's a third in the Flagstaff area: Walnut Canyon National Monument, which we will explore later. These monuments preserve cultural as well as geological history. Many native American cultures look on Sunset Crater and the San Francisco Peaks as sacred parts of their ancestral identity.
The San Francisco Peaks dominate the Flagstaff skyline to the north. The tallest, Humphreys Peak, is the one with the snow cap. All of these mountains and hills are the product of volcanic activity.
We hiked through a lava field at the base of Sunset Crater. The lava in this area (a'a) is much rougher than the mainly smooth and ropey lava (pahoehoe) at El Malpais.
The Sunset Crater itself is a cinder cone, named for the red cinders near its peak. They show up much better in person and when the light hits them right.
We went on to Wupatki National Monument, just a few miles to the north on FR 545. Here we toured extensive ruins of pueblos occupied during the period when the Sunset Crater volcano was active. It's hard to believe that people were actually able to make a living farming this arid and unpromising land--and that they were able to find and store sufficient water to sustain them.
We stopped at the Doney Mountain picnic area to hike up to a couple of vantage points. You can see for miles and miles, even to the Painted Desert.
Of course we stopped at every vista point and visitor center and such. It was after 6:00 p.m. when we arrived back home, tired and happy.
We watched the final game in the Jeopardy Tournament of the Decades, featuring Brad Rutter, Ken Jennings, and Roger Craig. All three are amazing Jeopardy players, but I really wanted Ken to win. Brad went home with the million dollar prize money, so he's a Jeopardy multi-millionaire. Ken got $100,000 and Roger got $50,000, pretty good consolation prizes!
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