Sunset at Wupatki

The chilling blast of wind whipping about us was quite a contrast to the morning of day six of our western vacation. Instead of short sleeves, we were bundled in layers of shirts, hoodies, jackets, hats, and gloves.

The blue skies which had smiled on us at Lost Dutchman Park, had switched to a dark and dreary cover above us when we arrived at Sunset Crater National Monument.

A head of frowning clouds was preparing to blanket the sky as we hustled into the visitor center to escape the cold and prepare to experience the next stop of our trip.

We had already caught a glimpse of Sunset Crater on the road to the park. A giant black cinder cone arose out of the fairly rolling region. An extinct volcano is not something you get to see every day and I was anxious to get a closer look at this destination.

After viewing the displays inside the visitor center and talking with the rangers there about the cold and snowy weather approaching, we stepped once again into the nippy November evening and set out to do a little hiking.

Lava flows, like giant mole burrows, broke apart the terrain around us, creating ridges and valleys and craters of their own. The crater itself, rising black and red in the background, was a mountainous reminder of past chaos and destruction.

We marveled at the terrible beauty of the place while huddling together to keep warm in the constant halting wind.

Before we headed back to the car, we got several photos of the landscape. We were glad to be back in our vehicles, as it had been a chilly appointment with Sunset Crater.

Our next destination, Wupatki National Monument, was only a few miles down the road from the peak that rose 8,042 feet behind us. It is thought that the nomadic bands of Native Americans, after Sunset’s eruption, moved from their destroyed lands to where the cinder cone’s ashy layer lay just thick enough to enhance the soil, but not too deep to make it impossible to grow vegetation. Wupatki, means “tall house” and was used to describe the Puebloan type cities built by the Hopi, Sinagua, and other groups around the National Monument area.

Ironically, the sun was descending as we stepped out to see the park’s largest adobe apartment-like structure, Wupatki pueblo. Determinedly, we braved the cold once more, following the trail to the base of the ancient houses. The light from the setting sun was fading fast, so we snapped some pictures before it became too dark to see with the camera. As we walked along the paved trail in and around the ruins, I tried to imagine what it would have been like to have lived here when the Wupatki people did. I could almost hear the babble of children’s’ voices and the sound of the mothers’ chatter and the warriors’ boasts. We took shelter from the wind in a niche in the wall, played a small game of tag in the ball court, and searched for the blowhole. It was mostly dark by the time we discovered this little wonder, a hole continually blowing air from the underground into the sky. Cool in summer, warm in winter, we warmed our hands over the spout of air, and then tried to balance a cowboy hat over the column of invisible heat.

Finally, it was time to leave the National Monuments. It had been another day of adventure and memories. We drove away in the darkness, glad to have experienced not only the Sunset Crater, but the sunset at Wupatki!

~Halayah