Black Sands: The Lava Fields at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

As evening approached, we drove past Sedona and through the Coconino National Forest, where the foliage was already turning to a spectrum of red and gold that would have envied any New England postcard.

the visitor center at Sunset Crater Volcano

As the sun sunk low in the clear Arizona sky, we arrived at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, an ancient volcano and sprawling lava field.

the volcano itself

Sunset Crater is a part of the San Francisco Volcanic Field, a range of volcanoes that are still considered active. Sunset Crater itself, however, has been certified to be extinct. Its last eruption was around 1000 years ago, although the results of the violent eruption are still clearly visible in the nearby lava field.

a dead tree in the lava field

Even today, very few plants can grow in the black volcanic soil, and many of the trees that are strong enough to survive are twisted and gnarled. The ground is cracked and broken from the ancient eruption, and the lava field is covered in jagged pieces of volcanic rock. It's a surreal landscape.

the hike took us through the lava field

Much of the lava field is closed to visitors in order to preserve its unique and delicate natural features. However, there is a 1-mile loop through the Bonito Lava Flow which can take you past some amazing and otherworldly landscapes.

the volcano in the distance

The trail isn't exactly smooth! Though it's just one mile, it's steep in parts, and very uneven, as the path takes you over boulders and weird lava flows.

the trail grew steep at certain points

The volcano is inert, but there was a big scare back in 2015. Since Sunset Crater is so close to Flagstaff, it needs to be monitored carefully. A couple of years ago, weather satellites picked up smoke coming from the mountain. Before declaring a big evacuation of the town, it was discovered that the smoke was just from a small forest fire near the volcano.

there were many fallen trees - each one twisted and gnarled

If the San Francisco Volcanoes erupt again, they could cause a big problem for norther Arizona. The blast zone would cover a large part of the region. In fact, after visiting the park, I became more aware of how many places in and around Flagstaff have black volcanic soil, which just goes to show how widespread the previous eruptions had been.

exploring the lava field

Sunset Crater Volcano became a national monument in 1930 in order to protect it from a movie studio which wanted to detonate the volcano for a special effect. It was given national monument status by President Hoover due to its unique scientific and natural features. It's also just beautiful, albeit in a weird and alien sort of way.

a crack in the earth formed by the violent eruption

As we left the national monument, a rainbow cut across the sky. It was a cool, dry day, but the sun must have refracted off water vapor or ice in the atmosphere. It was our last full day in Flagstaff, and by the time we left the national monument, we were exhausted. We had had an amazing time visiting so many national parks and monuments over the past few days.

a rainbow appeared overhead just before sunset

The People of the Verde Valley: Three Pueblo Sites of the Sinagua People

When my mother and I were traveling in and around Flagstaff, Arizona, we spend a full day exploring some of the lesser-known monuments outside of the Grand Canyon. We spent a full day visiting a trio of National Monuments dedicated to preserving a series of ancient pueblo sites built by the Sinagua People over 1000 years ago.

Montezuma's Castle National Monument

The Aztecs never made their way as far north as Arizona, but when archaeologists and explorers stumbled across an ancient pueblo site in the early 19th century, they didn't know any better. Montezuma's Castle has absolutely nothing to do with Montezuma or the Aztecs, but it is one of the United States' best-preserved ancient sites.

Today, Montezuma's Castle is protected as a National Monument.

artifacts on display at the visitor's center museum

The "Castle" is really a spectacularly-preserved cliff-side pueblo dwelling. It is located around 90 feet up on a sheer cliff face, and is made up of around 60 rooms. Since the 1950s, the dwelling has been protected by the National Park Service, and is off limits to visitors. The park continues to maintain the structure in order to preserve it in its current state.

Montezuma's Castle

A model at the park displays what the dwelling looks like beneath the face of the cliff. It was once a thriving and vibrant community, but was mysteriously abandoned around 800 years ago.

a model of what the pueblo site looks like beneath the surface of the cliff

The national monument is situated on a beautiful piece of land south of Flagstaff. The people who once lived there had access to fresh water, food, and plenty of trees. Nobody knows why they abandoned the site. Maybe there were threats from neighboring communities. Maybe there was a drought or another ecological problem.

beautiful scenery at the national monument

Whatever the reason, they left behind numerous artifacts and this beautiful and fascinating historical treasure which is now preserved as Montezuma's Castle National Monument.

Montezuma's Well National Monument

Montezuma's Well National Monument was just ten minutes away by car. The Well, like the Castle, was not built by the Aztecs. In fact, I guess it's fair to say that Montezuma's Well was built by a fluke of geography!

Montezuma's Well

An ancient sinkhole, which formed thousands of years ago, provided shelter to the local Sinagua who built their pueblos as cliff dwellings in the walls of the cliff surrounding the sinkhole. The water in the sinkhole itself is poisonous (with high levels of CO2 and arsenic) and no fish live in it, but was useful for irrigation. A nearby freshwater stream provided plenty of safe water to drink.

the pueblos are built around an ancient sinkhole

Unfortunately, before it was managed by the National Park Service, the area surrounding Montezuma's Well wasn't always properly looked after. A piece of graffiti from 1818 shows that lack of respect for historical landmarks isn't a new phenomenon. This painted inadvertent for a Phoenix photo studio is now over 200 years old, and is still clearly visible.

early 19th century graffiti

The local area surrounding Montezuma's Well is beautiful as well. The sprawling Verde Valley offers views for miles in all directions. It must have been a very safe and well-secluded place to live, and the people who made their homes there could remain more or less hidden while still being able to spot danger from far off.

the area surrounding the well

A few crumbling ruins of other pueblo sites can still be identified surrounding Montezuma's Well, although like the castle, it was abandoned nearly 800 years ago.

remains of other pueblos near the well

Down below, near the fresh water river, stands a massive sycamore tree. Nobody's sure quite how old it is, although it's believed to be the biggest sycamore in Arizona, and possibly the biggest in North America! This doesn't have anything to do with the Sinagua or Montezuma's Well, but it's an interesting fact!

Arizona's largest sycamore tree

Tuzigoot National Monument

After lunch we continued on to Tuzigoot National Monument, about another hour away south of Sedona.

purple cacti at Tuzigoot

Tuzigoot may the most impressive pre-Columbian site in the United States. This ancient city was once made up of over 100 houses, though like the previous two sites, it has been abandoned for nearly a millennium.

desert scenery near the national monument

When we visited the National Monument, we began by exploring a little museum at the visitor's center. The museum held a wonderful collection of artifacts, all dating back at least a thousand years. To me, the most impressive items weren't the arrowheads or pottery shards, but the little wooden horses made up of bundled sticks. I guess the desert is so dry that these 4000 year-old figures never fell apart.

artifacts from Tuzigoot on display at the visitor's center

Tuzigoot isn't the real name of the site. In fact, nobody knows what the ancient city was really called. During the archaeological expedition, a local Native American worker suggested the Apache name "Tuzigoot", which means "Crooked Water". The site became a national monument in 1939, and is considered to be one of the best-preserved ancient historical sites in the country.

Tuzigoot - an ancient city in northern Arizona

The most amazing part of Tuzigoot is how well-hidden it is as a ruin. Unlike many other ancient pueblo sites, it was never plundered by treasure hunters or unscrupulous archaeologists during the 19th century. The ruins are almost invisible from far away, and so the site is a rich source of ancient artifacts which tell us a lot about the Sinagua People who used to live there.

the city was made up of over 100 individual homes

Like the other sites, it was mysteriously abandoned 1000 years ago.

nobody knows why Tuzigoot was abandoned nearly a thousand years ago

We spent some time hiking amongst the ruins of the ancient city.

In a place like this, you can't help but wonder what life must have been like for the ancient people who once inhabited these pueblos.

exploring the ancient city

I love history, and places like Tuzigoot, Ayutthaya, or Angkor Wat are endlessly fascinating to me. I love being able to walk around and touch real pieces of history.

Tuzigoot National Monument outside of Flagstaff and Sedona

Somehow, being able to explore an ancient ruin site just makes it all seem more real. It just helps to feel a bit more connected to the ancient people who lived on our planet so long ago.

The Grand Canyon!

When you live somewhere, sometimes you don't always see the big popular sites. If you live in NYC, for example, you may never have visited the Statue of Liberty. In Bangkok, there are tons of touristy things that I've never done, even after six years!

panorama of the Grand Canyon

In all of my life, I had never visited arguably the most famous natural wonder in the United States: Grand Canyon National Park. I always thought it was funny how so many of my students in Thailand had seen more of the US than I have. Now, whenever I visit home, I try to make a real vacation out of it. This year, I finally made it to Arizona - on a special stopover with the purpose of finally visiting the Grand Canyon!

coffee at a gas station on the way to the park

It was my mom's birthday, and she had met me in Flagstaff so that we could celebrate together on my way home to Texas. We decided she should spend an birthday at the Canyon! We left the hotel early, and drove the hour and a half from Flagstaff to the park. It's autumn (low season), and the North Rim is already closed. Even though it was the middle of the week, the parking lot was filling up fast. I can imagine how crowded it must be during the peak summertime weeks!

The canyon was - simply put - incredible, and photos cannot do it true justice.

1 mile deep and 8 miles across

We mostly stayed in the area near the visitor's center. The park is massive but a lot of it is inaccessible without lots of time, equipment, and probably a good guide. First, we hiked along the Rim Trail, admiring the breathtaking views of the Grand Canyon, which is 8 miles across and a staggering 1 mile deep. The sense of scale and depth that you get when you first look at the Grand Canyon is shocking. It's hard to imagine how the Colorado River could have carved something so awe-inspiring.

visitors at the rim

This year is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the national park, which was established on February 29, 1919. It was later recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is one of the most visited natural wonders in the world.

As we walked along the Rim Trail, a series of signs and viewpoints displayed information about the park. The Rim Trail is by far the most popular path at the South Rim. It's flat, mostly paved, and fairly easy to walk.

a viewing station

In order to manage traffic at the Canyon, most of the roads inside the national park are closed to visitors. Instead, people can get around the South Rim by the 4 lines of the free park shuttle bus, which stops at all of the major sites in the area.

the free Grand Canyon shuttle bus

It's a hop-on-hop-off bus, and is super easy to use. As the bus crosses the park, an automated recording announces the next stop and what you can do and see there. By the time we had eaten our picnic lunch, we were feeling tired of walking, and were very grateful for the bus to carry us onward and deeper into the park.

riding the shuttle bus

In late afternoon, we made our way via shuttle bus to the Hermit's Rest, an old rest house which once served hikers and travelers making their way across the harsh landscape.

beautiful Arizona scenery at the Grand Canyon

Now, the Hermit's Rest is a gift shop, but it still offers amazing views across the wild vistas of northern Arizona.

Though it had been chilly in the morning, the high altitude and bright sunlight brought the temperature up to the mid 70s Fahrenheit by afternoon. We sat down at Hermit's Rest, admiring the views, as a few lone elk walked past in the late afternoon sunlight.

Hermit's Rest

We didn't go down into the Canyon... that needs to be a separate trip with a lot more planning! Maybe next time we can plan on visiting the much more remote North Rim. One day was hardly enough to see the Grand Canyon, but it was a perfect way to celebrate my mom's birthday.

enjoying the cool air and scenery

We made it back to Flagstaff just before sunset and - exhausted - decided to dine in at the hotel's restaurant. Our full day adventure to the Grand Canyon had ended, but our exploration of Northern Arizona had just begun, and we would need a good night's sleep for the adventures that the next day was to bring.

the old rest house

Flagstaff and Little America

I'm back in the US now, but before heading on to Texas, my mom and I planned to meet up to celebrate her birthday in Arizona!

I had a one-night layover in Los Angeles after arriving from China, then a short flight to Phoenix, a 30-minute layover, and a 17-minute flight from Phoenix to Flagstaff. After five flights, I was excited to have a few days to explore Arizona - a state that I had never been to before!

the Little America Hotel

Mom arrived about two hours after I landed in Flagstaff, and we collected our luggage from the arrivals area of the tiny airport, picked up our rental car, and headed to check in at the Little America Hotel.

Welcome to Arizona!

The hotel was warm and cozy, and was already getting ready for Christmas! In fact, when we checked in we were told that the very next night would be the annual Christmas lighting event! They had decorated the hotel grounds with over 1 million lights!

the warm and cozy lobby

It was mid-afternoon, but we wanted to get an early start on our adventures in Arizona. When we checked in, the lady at the front desk told us that we could walk over to the gas station next door for a fun community event.

The Sinclair Dinosaur float is on its way to NYC to be in the Macy's Parade! As it crosses the country, it's stopping at several Sinclair gas stations for a celebration. We arrived in Flagstaff just at the right time! We got to enjoy free hot dogs at the cookout, as well as pick up some free gifts from Sinclair. I've got to look for the dino during the parade.

the famous Sinclair Dino on the way to NYC!

On our first evening, we drove to the nearby Walnut Canyon National Monument. It's not nearly as impressive as the Grand Canyon, of course, but it's still a beautiful piece of nature just outside the town. Walnut Canyon has a lot of great hiking, but we arrived just before the park was about to close. Instead, we took a short hike along the canyon rim to a small archaeological site.

Walnut Canyon

This ancient pueblo ruin was our first experience learning about the Sinagua, the ancient people who lived in northern Arizona. We would learn a lot more about them over the coming days!

an ancient pueblo site

The next night was the Christmas lighting event. It really was a community event! In fact, we could barely find parking at the hotel that night! Every tree was covered in colorful lights, and there was a Santa's workshop, games, and activities for visitors to enjoy. They were even busing people over from the university!

Christmas lights at the hotel

The photos don't do it justice, but the lights were really amazing! It was cold that night, too. During the day the temperatures got up to the mid-60s, but at night they fell to below freezing.

it was a cold night in Arizona!

Still, it was not as cold as I had expected it to be in northern Arizona in November. Flagstaff has a super nice climate. Even though it's just a short distance from Phoenix, summer temperatures rarely rise above 85.

It's a very trendy town, too. Flagstaff is popular with retirees and snowbirds, but it's also a college town. There are a ton of cool bookstores, cafes, and restaurants. One night, Mom and I went to a local brewpub for dinner. We shared a beer flight of six tiny samplers, which were all brewed right on location.

a beer flight at a local brewpub in the city's historic downtown

They also served excellent burgers and onion rings!

Vietnamese burger with some of the best onion rings ever!

On our final morning in Flagstaff (or, "Flag" as the locals call it), we took a walk along the hotel's nature trail. The 1.6-mile loop runs through the forest behind the hotel. Flagstaff seems like a very active city, and a great place for outdoor activities and hiking.

walking the 1.6-mile nature trail behind the hotel

Flagstaff is located right in the middle of the largest ponderosa pine forest in North America. We walked through the chilly forest, enjoying the views of the distant mountains.

early morning behind the hotel

In the afternoon, it was time to go home.

boarding a tiny plane at the tiny airport

I'll be writing about our adventures in the national parks and national monuments around Flagstaff over the coming days! For now, it's just good to be home!

the Grand Canyon from the air