FOUR IN ONE DAY

 It was cold again this morning, 27 degrees.  Brrr.  I left after having a horrible breakfast at the hotel heading for Walnut Canyon National Monument.  I got there about 8:45am and had to wait until 9am for them to open.  The road into the park had dozens of elk feeding on the sides of the road and a little bit of snow, too.

The Visitors Center was perched on the side of the canyon.  I walked through to the far wall of glass and looked out to the canyon. It is a spectacular view.  On the far canyon wall you can see the dwellings built into it.   

When I left the center I took a short walk along the rim.

There are stairs going down into the canyon where you can get close to the ruins of the dwellings.  This sign is at the top of the stairs.

And then it was time to move on to the next park, Sunset Crater. I arrived at the Visitor Center at about 10am.  

A small doll display

Sunset Crater is a volcano that last erupted about 1000 years ago.

There is no access to the crater, but there are lots of beautiful hikes to take in the area.  I took a short walk through a lava field.  Its kind of creepy, and you wouldn't want to fall down on the rough lava.

I took a short walk around the lava fields.

Then it was a long drive to the next park, Tuzigoot National Memorial which preserves a 2- to 3-story pueblo ruin on the summit of a limestone and sandstone ridge. The pueblo has 110 rooms and was built by the Sinagua people between 1125 and 1400 CE. Tuzigoot is the largest and best preserved of the many Sinagua pueblo ruins in the Verde Valley.

I arrived at about 12:20pm and stopped in the Visitors Center to stamp my passport, buy some postcards, a magnet of the park and an info brochure.  Then I walked up to the monument.

It was hot outside but amazing very cool inside.

Back in the car I headed to the next park which was not a long distance away.  I arrived around 2pm.

Montezuma Castle National Monument.  Montezuma Castle is attributed to the Southern Sinagua people, a pre-Columbian archaeological culture that may be closely related to several ancestral indigenous peoples of the southwestern United States. Evidence suggests that the dwelling was constructed as early as 1125 AD and occupied until as late as 1395 AD.

It has been a long day with lots of miles.  There was one more stop to make very close, Montezuma Well.  I drove to it, but was just too tired and worn out to walk to the well.  So, I turned around and headed to Julie's where I will be spending the next few days.