Walking Wupatki: Part 6

LENOX CRATER

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

Summit of Lenox Crater

View from the trail

Woe to Lenox Crater. Crushed, pummeled, bullied and ultimately overshadowed by its younger, more aggressive volcanic neighbors, this humble cinder cone is older than the tumultuous lava flows and red-tinged peaks that have nearly obliterated its rounded and relaxed profile. Unlike the park’s star attraction---Sunset Crater---it's okay to climb Lenox. It's not a difficult hike, however, pea-to-pebble-sized black cinders underfoot create a mildly hazardous carpet of sandpapered marbles.  Ponderosa pines and Gambel oaks shade the trail on its way up to the summit. On top, there's no discernable "crater”, but an impressive cinder-ash flow sliding down the south face is evidence the hill's explosive past.  Take a moment to scoop up a handful of cinders and examine the structure and lightness. Pumice like this can sometimes float on water and has been used to smooth and file rough skin. Each of these pebbles began life as a molten projectile spit from the crater like terrestrial meteorites.  To the north, the mounds of O’Leary Peak and Strawberry Crater stand out above the Bonita Lava Flow.  Both of these volcanoes---located outside of the monument boundaries---are climbable and although, Lenox Crater concludes the Walking Wupatki series of hikes---guess where I'm going next? 

LENGTH:  1 mile roundtrip

RATING: moderate (loose footing)

ELEVATION: 6,940' - 7,240

PETS: are not allowed on any park trails in buildings.  
Please do not leave pets in cars---heat can be fatal.

FACILITIES: restroom, visitor center, vending machines

GETTING THERE:

From Flagstaff, travel north on US 180 to milepost 444.5.  Turn right and continue 30 miles to the turn off on the left. Roads are 100% paved. Alternate access: enter the park from US 180 at milepost 430 and go 5 miles to the trailhead.

INFO: National Park Service, 928-679-2365

http://www.nps.gov/sucr/index.htm

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Walking Wupatki: Part 5

LAVA FLOW TRAIL

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

Moving south ---and about 2000 feet uphill-- from Wupatki National  Monument,  scenic "volcanoes and ruins" loop road enters the tortured terrain of Sunset Crater National Monument.  Complementing a bevy of  scenic view roadside pullouts  for casual sightseers; two hiking trails delve deeper into the otherworldly landscape.  First up: the Lava Flow Trail.  This hike-by-numbers trek uses a guide booklet available in a box at the trailhead or the visitor center down the road to describe various volcanic features along the route. The trail has a .25-mile section that's paved and barrier-free, but the remainder of the trail requires sturdy (closed toe) footwear as it moves over some rough-around-the-edges lava.  Just under a mile in length, the trail manages to get hikers into the guts of a massive lava flow that issued from the base of Sunset Crater some 900 years ago.   In terms of geological time, this is newborn rock. Unfettered by the ravages of time, the molten crust that  squeezed, belched, oozed and sprayed from the belly of the earth retains its wild, "fresh from the smelter" veneer.  All around the trail, a placid sea of black cinders peppered with hardy tree sprouts laping  at the base of Sunset Crater Volcano belies  a history of fire raining from the sky.

LENGTH:  1 mile loop

RATING:  easy (some loose rock and steps)

ELEVATION: 7,000' - 7,050'

PETS: are not allowed on any park trails in buildings.  

Please do not leave pets in cars---heat can be fatal.

FACILITIES: restooms,  vending machines and water  at the visitor center

GETTING THERE:

From Flagstaff, travel north on US 180 to milepost 444.5.  Turn right and continue 29.5 miles to the  turn off on the left. Roads are 100% paved. Alternate access: enter the park from US 180 at milepost 430 and go 5.5 miles to the trailhead.

INFO: National Park Service, 928-679-2365

http://www.nps.gov/sucr/index.htm

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Walking Wupatki: Part 4

WUPATKI PUEBLO

The main structure

Welcome to the  main attraction of Wupatki National Monument.  What may have been Arizona's first "planned community" (think: Medieval Anthem), this  community built on the edge of the Colorado Plateau includes a 100-room pueblo, ballcourt and community gathering arena.  Archeological discoveries on the site suggest that a mixture of cultures inhabited this area during the 12th century. Its location at the crossroads of major travel routes coupled with the excavation of myriad pottery and architectural styles indicate that Wupatki may have been an important  way station for commerce.  A nicely paved path with placards corresponding to a guide book available in the visitor center threads among the ruins.  Of particular note are how the stone structures were engineered to take advantage of natural geological features.

Like most folks, the inhabitants of Wupatki loved a good ball game, and just downhill from the big house, a reconstructed ballcourt tells a silent story of an imaginative community that blended  hard work with serious playtime.

ballcourt

LENGTH:  0.5 mile loop

RATING:  easy, paved, some stairs

ELEVATION: 4,900'

PETS: are not allowed on any park trails in buildings.  

Please do not leave pets in cars---heat can be fatal.

THE RULES: as with all archeological sites, it is illegal to tkae or damage anything.  Take only pictures, leave only footprints. Also, do not climb or sit on teh fragile ruins.

FACILITIES: restoom, visitor center, vending machines

GETTING THERE:

From Flagstaff, travel north on US 180 to milepost 444.5.  Turn right and continue 13 miles to the  turn off on the right. Roads are 100% paved.

INFO: National Park Service, 928-679-2365

http://www.nps.gov/wupa/index.htm

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Walking Wupatki: Part 3

DONEY TRAIL

Wupatki National Monument

the saddle

on the trail

Geek that I am, I have a facination with lava bombs.  Heck--even the name is cool.  Lava. Bombs.  These products of volcanic eruptions form when highly viscous molton rock shoots into the sky from an explosive event,  partially solidifies on the way back to earth, then slams into the ground with a heat-warped taffy splat.  This process results in in mangled crater-side blobs and contorted ribbons that are best (indelicately) described  as "stone turds".  I think they are beautiful and I wish I could have been around to witness their formation.  Okay, not really, but it's almost a certainty that people living in the area 1000 years ago would have been treated to the fireworks.  Still, 21-century hikers can observe some very nice old, but fresh-looking lava bombs on the Doney Trail.  The trail leads to two of  four cinder cone summits that sit on a north-south line  of the Doney Fault which is visible from the top of peak number two.

lava bomb

A short walk over black cinders leads to a saddle with a bench and a lone one-seed juniper tree standing sentry over big views of the Painted Desert.  From here, the trail divides.  Go left to peak number one which features the ruins of an ancient  field house.  Peak number two is a little steeper climb, but the trail has been stabalized with wooden beams. On top, there's a viewing bench and a sign describing the surrounding peaks.  Look closely to the southeast and you should be able to spot the white roofs of the Wupatki Pueblo visitor center---next stop on the tour. 

LENGTH:  0.7 miles roundtrip

RATING:  moderate (loose rock)

ELEVATION:  5,300' - 5,500'

PETS: are not allowed on any park trails in buildings.  

Please do not leave pets in cars---heat can be fatal.

THE RULES: as with all archeological sites, it is illegal to take or damage anything.  Take only pictures, leave only footprints. Also, do not climb or sit on the fragile ruins.

FACILITIES: restoom, picnic table

GETTING THERE:

From Flagstaff, travel north on U.S. 89 to milepost 444.5.  Turn right and continue 9 miles to the Doney Picnic Area turn off on the right. Roads are 100% paved.

INFO: National Park Service, 928-679-2365

http://www.nps.gov/wupa/index.htm

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Walking Wupatki: Part 2

CITADEL and NALAKIHU RUINS

Wupatki National Monument

Citadel ruins and Citadel Sink

Nalakihu Pueblo

Whether this stone-hewn, hilltop structure was a swanky living space, fortress, ceremonial gathering spot or a Middle Ages-era marketplace we will never know for sure.  What is certain though is that this second stop on the Wupatki-Sunset Crater circuit will stoke your imagination.  A paved trail--suitable for strollers and walkers--leaves the parking area heading uphill on an easy grade. The site consists of two ruins.  The first is a tiny field building called Nalakihu (Hopi for “House Outside the Village”) that archeologists think was used by farmers in the 1100s.  Slabs of sandstone and lumps of black volcanic basalt mortared together in intricate layers form several rooms overlooking a stark landscape of improbable farmlands.  But farm the ancients did---using ingenious techniques like check dams to coax crops from brutal terrain.

View from the Citadel

Above Nalakihu sits the impressive citadel.  As the trail swings around the backside of the butte, a large sinkhole depression comes in to view.  This is "citadel sink" which formed when an underground limestone cavern collapsed. On the summit, a swath of geological wonders fills the horizon.  The flat-topped cone to the northwest is SP Crater---an intriguing destination for anybody looking to scale a cinder cone.  Framing the sinkhole are the San Francisco Peaks--the remains of a strato volcano that at one point towered to 16,000 feet before blowing its top Mount St. Helens-style shaving it down it its present 12,633' height.  The paved trail ends at the top of the butte, but those with sturdy footwear can enter the site (be careful on the loose rock) to check out how the citadel structure was built into the natural stone of the butte and ponder the millions of unanswered questions buried in the rubble.

LENGTH: 0.2 mile

RATING: easy, barrier free

ELEVATION: 5,380'- 5,440'

FACILITIES:  none

HOURS: open year-round sunrise to sunset

PETS: are not allowed on any park trails in buildings.  

Please do not leave pets in cars---heat can be fatal.

THE RULES: as with all archeological sites, it is illegal to take or damage anything.  Take only pictures, leave only footprints. Also, do not climb or sit on the fragile ruins.

GETTING THERE:

From Flagstaff, travel north on US 180 to milepost 444.5.  Turn right and continue  4.3 miles (or 0.3 mile past the Lomaki site) to the Citadel Ruins parking apron on the right. Roads are 100% paved.

INFO: National Park Service, 928-679-2365

http://www.nps.gov/wupa/index.htm

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Walking Wupatki: Part 1

LOMAKI PUEBLO & BOX CANYON RUINS

One of the Box Canyon ruins

Over the next few days, I'll be chronicling my one-day hike-drive in Wupatki National Monument and Sunset Crater National Park. This two-park tour is famous for its multi-cultural Native American ruins, volcanic geology and outstanding Painted Desert views. Also, the park's 2,000-foot elevation variance blends desert scrublands, rich pine forests, sandstone mesas and rivers of lava for perhaps the most complex cluster of hiking trails in Arizona. 

Lomaki Pueblo

Using the 35-mile "volcanoes and ruins loop road” north of Flagstaff as the main travel artery, I made six stops for short hikes totaling 4.25 miles.  First up: Lomaki Pueblo & Box Canyon.  Located at the north end of the park on the high plains of the San Francisco Volcanic Field, this collection of red-sandstone ruins built on a gaping earth crack have not been restored, so visitors can marvel at the precision architecture and mortar work that has held up for more than 800 years.  Three main structures teeter on the edge of a narrow box canyon where the original inhabitants may have farmed and used imaginative technology to harvest rain water.  Interpretive signs along trail augment the hike with insights into pertinent archeological research.

Box Canyon ruins

LENGTH: 0.5-mile loop

RATING: easy (non-paved, some steps)

ELEVATION: 5,325'-5,350'

GETTING THERE:

From Flagstaff, travel north on US 180 to milepost 444.5 (north entrance to the parks).  Turn right and continue 4 miles to the Lomaki turn off on the left. Roads are 100% paved.

FACILITIES: restroom, picnic table

HOURS: open year-round sunrise to sunset

FEE: $5 per person, good for 7 days at both Wupatki and Sunset Crater

PETS: are not allowed on any park trails or in buildings.  Please do not leave pets in cars---heat can be fatal, even on cool days.

INFO: National Park Service, 928-679-2365

http://www.nps.gov/wupa/index.htm

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