Our first stop was Walnut Canyon National Monument. It was another ancient Sinagua site with small cliff dwellings. The cliffs were formed by eroding limestone and the ancient people took advantage of the area. We hiked the Island Trail which went right up to some of the ruins and offered a good view of many of the others. We were happy to do it early since it was steep! The rim trail was closed for the summer so we headed further east.
The second destination was Petrified Forest National Park. We came in the southern section and hiked among many of the giant petrified logs. We found ourselves pointing to the interesting colors emanating from the log shaped rocks. It certainly fit our notion of the National Parks as National Oddities. We then went to view petroglyphs at Newspaper Rock and Puerca Pueblo.
Our last stops at Petrified Forest were the overlooks of the painted desert which looked mostly pink in the afternoon sun.
We met Amy and Tom at our last stop of the day, the Meteor Crater. It was a well preserved massive hole in the ground from the impact of a meteorite. There was a human sized astronaut at the bottom that we couldn't see with the naked eye but could with binoculars! Just like the grand canyon, it was easy to lose the scale without something to compare it to!
On the way back we decided to drive through Winona, Arizona...it was just a few modular houses and a closed bridge. We couldn't even take a picture of a sign!
Tonight is our last night in Sedona, but tomorrow we're heading south for Casa Grande and Saguaro National Park.
Are you heading East yet? All your aminals are great, but miss you!
ReplyDeleteWe headed east today...but we'll be heading west again tomorrow. Make sure to give Pumpkin belly rubs from me!
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