My First Flagstaff Adventure: Sunset Crater Volcano

Last weekend, my new friends and co-workers, J and A, called me up Sunday afternoon asking if I wanted to go on a sunset hike with them... so, I said sure! I mean, what else was I going to do besides hang out in my apartment that currently consists of a pile of books, my beloved netbook, a bed, and a borrowed camp chair and table? Did I mention I am using an overturned laundry basket as a night stand? Good practice in minimalist living for me over the past two weeks. Who knew how much you could miss having a microwave??? Yes, that is a little embarrassing to admit, but I digress. Where was I?

So off we went about 20 minutes out of town. This place was pretty indescribable. This is where my lack of descriptive writing skills will probably begin to fail me. We found the point to hike up to the crater and across from where we parked was what I imagine was an old lava field? For as far as I could see, there were these large black discs/chips/I don't know of what must be old lava. It was the most interesting terrain I have EVER seen. I tried to take a picture, but my little phone camera was not up to the task of capturing the texture.

The hike itself was a fairly brief 1 milish hike up a moderate slope. Really, the hardest part was walking on the cinders that make up the path. I should mention that get everywhere! When I got home my toes were covered in black dust despite wearing socks and tennis shoes! Ewww! Once we made it to the top, we took a few pictures and then just hunkered down to talk and enjoy the sunset. In general, sunsets have been pretty spectacular in Flagstaff. There is usually some cloud cover to reflect the setting sun which leads to some gorgeous colors to enjoy.

Knowing it was a volcanic crater and not "just a valley" was pretty cool! I think you will be able to tell from the pictures what it is. What I really find mind boggling is that this happened like 2000 years ago! I mean, there is still so little vegetation that has grown after all this time as you will see in the pictures. It really shows the long-term impact and destruction of this natural occurrence.

It was a lovely way to end my first weekend in Flagstaff. It was peaceful, and it was a nice time to sit back and start really getting to know some of the people that I will be working with closely for the next two years. More about J and A to come.

Here is a link to website that tells a little more about where I was:

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

Here is the link to the pictures. If you have any trouble accessing them if you aren't on Facebook, let me know and I will stretch my technical skills to figure out how to post them here.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2189900&id=18808643&l=367e89dcf8