Preventing an Avalanche: Sunset Crater National Monument
For something pretty unique in Arizona, this past Sunday I checked out Sunset Crater National Monument about 10 miles north of the city of Flagstaff, AZ.
Sunset Crater is a dormant volcano, more specifically a cinder cone which are formed in the early stages of an eruption. Now I'm no volcanologist, but I think it is pretty wild that Sunset only last erupted between 1040 and 1100 AD. Which in geologic time is about 30 minutes ago. The park itself is pretty neat, with a long spine road with pulloffs and campgrounds that radiate off of the main road.
My purposes were two-fold, to see Sunset Crater and to climb Lenox Crater, another much older volcano just west of Sunset. The National Park Service closed off trail access to Sunset in 1973 because of environmental impacts to the cinder cone itself.
It's a wonder in and of itself that we even have this NM to visit. In 1928, Zane Grey, of Payson and Western and literary fame intended to blow up a massive amount of dynamite on the western slope of the cone to create an avalanche for his creatively titled movie, Avalanche. Proving that even early days Arizonans had some gumption, the citizens of Flagstaff protested and convinced President Hoover to establish the site as a monument.
Lenox Crater (below), proved as I have described on this blog before as a deceptive little peak. With approximately 300 feet of gain in only .4 miles, its pretty steep and combined with the very loose cinders, was a mild workout.
The views from the top of Lenox (below), primarily of the San Francisco Peaks and particularly Humphreys Peak, are simply stunning.
After leaving Lenox, I drove closer to Sunset for one last look...
What: A very unique cinder cone volcano that erupted as recently as 1040 AD.
Where: Approximately 10 miles north of Flagstaff, AZ
Why: Combined with Wupatki, this would make a very nice day trip for a family with kids as most of the park's vehicular pulloff areas lead to very simple hikes and viewpoints.
How: The majority of the Monument is served by paved roads. A car of any type is fine.
Other stuff nearby: I did not have time to check out Wupatki, the sister National Monument which has Sinaguan, Cohonina, and Kayenta Anasazi cultural relics to include some wonderfully preserved pueblo sites.
