After a little sidetracking to do some hectic yarn spinning (fiber type yarn, not tall tales), I'm back on the trail of places we visited during the summer.
Walnut Canyon National Monument (click for more info) is located near Flagstaff, Arizona. The monument is the site of some early inhabitants of the area who lived there from about AD 1100 to 1250. Exactly why they left is unknown. Personally, I'd say climbing up ladders to get home at the end of a day of tending crops would do it for me. Acutally, they might have been climbing down ladders to get to their dwellings if they planted crops up at the top of the canyon. There is considerable plant diversity in the area of the canyon. The inhabitants focused on growing corn (maize), beans, and squash--the "big three" of North American archaeology. The elevation at the top is 6700 feet and the bottom of the canyon is about 350 feet below. None of the cliff dwellings is accessible to the public, but may be viewed from the trails and visitor center.
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| A view of the cliff dwellings from the trail (you might need to click to enlarge) |
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| Cliff dwellings as seen from the visitor center |
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| Another view from the trail |
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| Number 2 and Daughter at a stop along the canyon rim |
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| Remains of a house along the canyon rim trail |
Stay tuned. More to come. We still have Sedona, Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest, and more to cover.
