My mom had a coupon for a several free nights at any Marriott-owned hotel so we (mom, brother and I) chose to go to Arizona. Vegas was the other location considered but neither of their sites were directly on the Strip so we canned that idea early on. Plus neither my mom nor brother had been to Flagstaff before. My mom had been to the saguaros in southern Arizona years ago with my dad however. Totally different scenery up here in northern Arizona.
It took us about seven hours to get to Flagstaff from Glendora, with a one hour break for lunch in Kingman. Wasn’t ridiculously hot getting there, but 89 gas did cost over $3/gallon in Needles. Had we known Arizona’s gas would be 50-60 cents cheaper, we would have just gotten it later. I guess I should have known better, after all I’ve pumped gas for as little as $1.60/gallon in Massachusetts this year. Prices haven’t been that low in California since I was a beginning driver in the 90’s.
When we got to “Flag” we checked in and my brother stayed behind due to a cold so my mom and I went for a late afternoon walk on the Lava Flow Trail in nearby Sunset Crater National Monument. The previous times I’d been there the trail was covered in snow so it was nice to see what was under the snow. I found out the volcano itself was actually a stark black and red color which was interesting visually but difficult to photograph. It isn’t any easier to photograph in winter as I’ve found in the past. However I did once see a photograph of sunset alpenglow lighting up the top of the Sunset Crater Volcano on a stock photo website hence the name. Perhaps that was my hint to try again in the future.
After walking the Lava Flow Trail, which took about a half an hour, we continued down the loop road to Wupatki National Monument stopping first at the Wukoki Ruin. It was small but close to the roadside as with most of the other dwellings. My mom spotted a blue lizard on the ground so I tried to get a few pictures in the mixed shaded lighting. I tried the on-camera fill flash which helped out the less than ideal lighting.
By then (6:30-7 p.m.) the light was within magic hour, so we went over to the Wupatki Pueblo which is supposedly the largest dwelling within the park. It was definitely bigger than the other ruins I’d seen at Wupatki but as big as I had imagined. I tried to visit the Wupatki Pueblo in 2003 but ran out of time so I made sure not to miss it this time.
Wupatki Pueblo was impressive nevertheless and sprawling on a hill. I took images of the pueblo with and without tourists in warm golden sunset lighting. You definitely can’t go wrong when shooting in situations like this unless you’re a total hack or having an “off-day”. After the sun dropped I hung around waiting to see if any twilight glow, or “earth shadow” I believe it might otherwise be called, would appear in the sky. It never came. I’m not sure what conditions are necessary for that effect to appear usually 15 minutes after sunset but the stars certainly weren’t aligned today. I saw a strong twilight glow in the sky last time so I know it happens here. Perhaps if Galen Rowell were still alive I could have asked him to tell me when to expect seeing a pink sky. (Read his book, Mountain Light for further explanation.)
By the time we got back to Flagstaff it was already dark and about 8:30. We picked up my brother from the hotel and went around looking for food on Route 66 but struck out at two restaurants before getting into Sizzler right before closing time. The food was miserable but at least we had dinner. The waitresses recommended looking for dinner downtown if we were running late in the future. They were right as we found out the next day. There’s much more happening in downtown Flagstaff than on Route 66 for sure.
Back to the 2nd day: My brother stayed behind again to recuperate while my mom and I set out to experience a little of Navajo Nation. The original plan was to stop by Hubbell Trading Post in Ganado then wander around the rest of the day in Window Rock which is on the New Mexico border and a three hour drive from Flagstaff. Window Rock is the capital of the Navajo so I was curious to see the town and maybe purchase some traditional arts and crafts. It wasn’t to be. With my ill brother back in Flagstaff and given our experience with the near-missed dinner the night before in town we decided to cut our day short at the Hubbell Trading Post. We weren’t too disappointed because we’d seen more scenery than we had expected stopping for a while at the Petrified Forest National Park which was amazing. The Painted Desert really came to life under the partly cloudy lighting. I’d never seen such amazing colors in nature before not from flowers, clouds, Utah, sunsets, Grand Canyon or anything that compared to the Painted Desert. It sure looked a lot better up close than from the distant Painted Desert Vista in Sunset Crater.
The roadside navajo arts and crafts stands along I-40 gave us something to look forward to on the ride back to Flagstaff from Hubbell Trading Post. (For more on the Hubbell Trading Post, see my “Weaver” photograph in the People gallery).
The next morning my brother was feeling better so we went to the South Rim. The day started off pretty well with our free complimentary breakfast then stopping at the White Buffalo ranch for a half an hour on the way to the Canyon. It was at White Buffalo where I saw my first Bull Mastif. I should add that I grew up with a fear of dogs of any size and would run from them as a kid. I can handle smaller to medium sized dogs now because I’ve had two Jack Russell Terriers since then but big dogs still make me nervous. I was warned to look out for the dog although it was harmless.
So I go the back door of the ranch to see the farm animals when I see the dog standing at the door waiting to come in. It stood taller than the doorknob while on all fours and it weighed over 200 pounds from what I was told. I had second thoughts about going out there but decided to anyway so I open the door and the dog just walks right past me and into the gift shop. Whewww, I dodged a bullet there.
When we approached the Grand Canyon, it was raining slightly and mostly overcast thus keeping us cool. The wind eventually blew off the clouds but the wind also eventually forced us to leave early. I’ve been in really rough weather but this was beyond my tolerance level. The dry winds were blowing heavy gusts and sand into our eyes and mouth constantly after lunch. There’s really no point in taking pictures or sightseeing when you can’t see out of your eyes!
We left for the Navajo Arts Crafts Enterprise and Cameron Trading Post in you guessed it, Cameron. The Crafts Enterprise wasn’t as good as what we’d seen the day before so we didn’t spend much time there but the Cameron Trading Post was top-notch. It was huge and comprised several buildings. If you can’t find Navajo arts and crafts of your liking there then you probably don’t appreciate their art.
We spent the fourth day in Sedona. Got lost for 40 miles before realizing it though. We were nearly halfway to Phoenix before I realized the scenery wasn’t anything like Oak Creek Canyon. We apparently missed the turn to 89A in Flagstaff and passed Sedona. I rarely forget the scenery of the places I’d been so driving for an hour without having seen Oak Creek made me consult the map for a second look. It turned out that I’d failed to notice that 89A and 17 were the same road in Flagstaff and splits off outside of town. It wasn’t too disappointing though, the route we went was scenic in its own right. Believe it or not we got turned around on 89A near the town of Oak Creek one mile south of Sedona because of a car wreck. So we had to detour again and finally arrived nearly two hours after we left Flagstaff! Normally it would take about 30-45 minutes to go south depending on how fast you drive twisting mountain roads. You can always spot the hardcore city slicker tourists by how they drive these roads. They brake constantly, drive super slow on turns only to speed up at straight sections and never pull out at the turnouts no matter how much tail-gating, high beams, hand gestures and cussing you and the 15 other cars behind you do. Needless to say bad drivers are my number one pet peeve. My worst experience with this type of driver was once coming back down from Big Basin State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I’ll save that story for another time.
There was a nearby fire which made the sky in Sedona resemble Southern California more than Arizona but with a polarizer most of the haze was cut from my images. Never thought I’d love cloudless blue skies so much but on days like these coming away with blue sky pictures is a blessing. Wasn’t too many tourists in town surprisingly though I’m sure on the 4th it was to be a different story. The best part of my day was lunch. Simply put: FISH TACOS AT CANYON BREEZE. The restaurant/bar is located in Uptown Sedona. The best tacos I’ve ever had in my life. I haven’t been able to think about anything else since going there. I will probably rant about the tacos for the rest of my life. They were that good. Even if you’re a local, you have to go to Uptown just for the fish tacos. Hell, I’d move to Sedona just to eat fish tacos.
We had dinner in Downtown Flagstaff for the third day in a row. I highly recommend Pesto Brothers if you like Italian food. The bread you get is great, then the Chicken Parmigiana and Canelloni are both top-notch entrees. Enough said.
On the final morning, I headed out once again at 4:30 a.m. for the fourth day in a row for sunrise photography northeast of Flagstaff while my mom and brother slept. The five-mile dirt road up to Lockett Meadow is pretty freaky if you’re in a passenger car but worth it. Aspen, snow-capped San Francisco Peaks and ponds galore. The morning before I was freezing to death up there while waiting for sunrise so I made sure not to make the same mistake twice. Bring clothes, I don’t think we’re in the desert anymore Toto.
After breakfast we were off to hot, smoggy ‘ol Glendora. Home sweet home.
Labels: Arizona, personal, scenic nature, travel
