Sunset Crater, Wapatki Pueblo, and Not All Cows are Created Equal

While in the Flagstaff area, we took advantage of two nearby National Monuments, Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and Wupatki National Monument, which abut each other and are in essence, partner parks.

Sunset Crater was formed almost 1000 years ago in a volcanic event that some of the Hopi people living in the area at the time attributed to the fact that the people were "koyaanisqatsi," or living a life out of balance. The Kachina Qa'na Katsina (Kachinas are the powerful spirits which govern the natural world around us, according to several Native American peoples)caused the eruption to serve as a warning that they needed to get back to a more principled way of life. It is said that a failure to lead that "balanced life" could cause another eruption, so given today's state of affairs, we're probably overdue for a big one...





It was really quite interesting hiking around lava flows that reminded me more of Hawaii than of the high country of Arizona. You aren't allowed up to the crater itself anymore as a measure to try to preserve it's condition, and you can actually see the remaining damage from those climbing around on it decades ago.



Wupatki National Monument preserves the remains of numerous pueblos, with the Wupatki Pueblo (pictured below) the largest in the area. In it's heyday about 800 years ago, it would have had over 100 rooms, and it is estimated that over 2000 people would have lived here or within a day's walk. This pueblo is the most significant in the region for the time period and was likely a central meeting place for the agricultural peoples of the area. There are quite a few more pueblos within the monument, some of which are accessible by the public, others that are off limits, and still more that have not been excavated at this time. It's hard to imagine that such a number of people living in a seemingly desolate landscape would be successful in an agricultural lifestyle, but somehow they made it work (although they did ultimately abandon this immediate area for even larger villages by about the year 1300).

Laura was really in her anthropological element, and I know she wants to return to spend more time here, so we'll have to add this to the list of places to revisit.






If you've ever traveled out west, you've no doubt seen, and probably driven over, the livestock grates installed in the roads to prevent cows from wandering helter-skelter about the countryside. If you haven't, here's

Exhibit A:



Obviously, the cows can't negotiate the grates, so the road can be open, but still contain the livestock (to be completely honest, I had a hard time walking over them also, so I'm not sure what that says about me). However, it appears that not all cows are created equal, and Arizona must have some dumb ones.

Exhibit B:



Laura assures me that dairy cows are smarter and would not be fooled by white lines painted on the roadway.