On the first day of our five month summer trip the “check trans” light came on periodically in the motor home. Attempts to make it stop failed, so we took it to a Freightliner shop in Flagstaff for professional checking out at 5:00 PM Sat. We parked in their service drive for two nights, and after hours of computer analysis on Monday, the conclusion was that there was an intermittently defective sensor in the transmission. It has not come on again since leaving Flagstaff Monday afternoon.
Making lemonade out of lemons, on Saturday we explored Sunset Crater and Wupatki Pueblo.
At Sunset Crater we learned that one volcanic hot spot created the Bill Williams Mountain farther west at Williams AZ, After many many years the surface of the earth shifted west over the hot spot and more volcanic activity created the San Francisco Peaks. The same process repeated and volcanic mountains northeast of Flagstaff were created, with the Sunset Crater area being the last, between 1040 and 1100. The actual eruptions there continued over a few years.
Paved foot trails wind around the lava flows. Sunset Crater is in the background in the lower shot
Ponderosa pines growing in the harsh conditions of the cinder areas take grotesque forms when they die.
Here is a large trench resulting from a lava flow.
Sunset Crater is in the background. Years ago visitors were permitted to take a trail to the top. Lucy and I walked part way up it in the early 1960s. The trail became deepened with use, and the trail was closed in the 1970s. Nature has not yet filled in the old trail visible from upper left to higher right.
The San Francisco Peaks still were snow-capped in early May.
The reddish cinders deposited at the top of the volcano similar to those shown here caused it to be called Sunset.
North of Sunset Crater is an area of several pueblos or villages of the natives who farmed in the area.This one is named Wukoki Pueblo and is unusual for its being visible from miles around.
The walls have been stabilized.
While this pueblo is not fortified as much as some others, its being built on a large rock gives it some defenses.
These pots are on display at the Visitors Center and are said to have been made (left) around 700 and (right) around 1100. It is amazing that they have survived intact.
This is the largest structure at the Wupatki Pueblo. It had about 100 rooms on its four levels.
Nearby structures with a ball court at the lower right. It is too large to be a Kiva.
Part of the nearby structures. They also were quite high.
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