October 5-7 2021

Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monument

Bonito Campground Flagstaff, Arizona

We woke up on the 5th and it was pouring rain. I had no desire to walk in the deluge and so we packed up and got ready to ride down the road.

We had plans to meet our good friends, Lee and Claudia, in a campground near Flagstaff. We traveled in rain for most of the morning and arrived shortly after noon. We arrived first and so we picked two adjacent sites. We were so happy to see friends and to share our evening meal, lots of stories, and good red wine!

On Saturday, the sky was clear. Claudia and I had a beautiful morning walk.

We all packed picnic lunches and then hopped in our Jeeps and took the loop road to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. We walked a couple of short trails near the lava flow. This volcano erupted about 1,000 years ago. In fact all of the hills and mountains in the surrounding area were volcanoes.

We traveled on to Wupatki National Monument. We stopped to explore the Wukoki Pueblo. This particuar house was three stories and built on a huge rock formation. This allowed for the families who lived here to be out of harm’s way during flash floods and gave them an excellent viewpoint. This castle like structure was occupied in the 1,100’s.

We went on to Doney Mountain where we enjoyed our lunch. Afterward, we hiked up the cone and admired the view.

Wednesday evening, Lee and Claudia cooked for us. Alaskan sockeye and silver salmon…just delicious! We chatted until it was dark and we were too chilly.

Thursday morning, Claudia and I took another good walk, this time to the lava flow.

We said goodbye to Lee who was leaving for an elk hunt and Claudia hitched a ride with us to Tucson. We were so happy this meet up worked…to spend time with our kindred spirits. Lee and Claudia just spent the past six months traveling to Alaska and back. They also have children and young grandchildren and they totally get us! Until next time…fond farewell…what adventure awaits?!?