Tucson to Flagstaff
In terms of vast dramatic and varied scenery, from what we have seen of the USA I would have to say that the Southwest must be pretty close to the top of the list !
We started out the day in the brown expanses of countryside surrounding Tucson and heading north toward Phoenix the countryside, although still brown, had much more vegetation as the road passed through rolling hills and valleys. After about an hour or so we reached Phoenix which is a large sprawling city and a major airport hub.
Montezuma Castle National Monument
As we approached Phoenix, you could see plane after plane coming into land.
However, with the interstate highway and the four-leaf-clover interchanges, you don’t get much slower than about 65mph as you skirt the city and drive through the sprawling outer suburbs (these roads put our M4, M5, M7 etc to shame !).
We headed on north of Phoenix to a place not far off the interstate in the hills, near Camp Verde, called Montezuma Castle National Monument. Here, extremely well preserved, is an ancient cliff dwelling city which dates back to around 1100. It is estimated that the Sinagua people that lived here, abandoned the dwellings for some reason in the early 1400’s. They were discovered in the 1860’s . We overheard a guide telling a group that the dwellings are 90% original and that some re-surfacing (the darker brown mud seen in the picture) was done in the 1990’s. Actual access has been forbidden since the 1950’s – it would be some effort to get up there anyway ! There are other dwellings further along the cliff face less evident although there are lots of cave holes visible.
We then headed off the main road and in toward the town of Cottonwood, slightly south to a town called Jerome. This was an old copper mining town and it is built on a steep cliff face. Half the cliff has been excavated for the copper and the homes of the town built precariously on the other. The houses can have one or two stories at the front and 4 or 5 at t
Red Rock Crossing
he back due to the slope ! Established in 1883, it was a pretty bad place in the “wild west” – being proclaimed the “wickedest town in the west” in 1903 by the New York Sun. We picked up “gas station” lunch supplies and found a nice park in the town to stop.
Further north, we headed for the town of Sedona. It is famous for its red sandstone formations in the surrounding mountains – the Red Rocks of Sedona. They are truly stunning ! Some of the surrounding mountains show the different layers of coloured rock – from white to red and back again and some with black layers. These are the changes in the geology of thousands of years from deserts to sea beds.
Hills around Sedona
The other red formations amongst the green trees clinging to Oak Creek (which runs through it) topped by the bright blue sky are dramatic. The scenery around the area generally has made it a popular place for movie making with numerous films being shot around the area.
Sedona has become one trendy place and apparently expensive to live in or around. We certainly saw some fancy places around ! At weekends the roads can come to a standstill with the crowds flocking to the area. It is also “New Age”, with a “Harmonic Convergence” caused by the “spiritual vortices” concentrated in the area. I think Liam’s scepticism alone has unsettled the “karma” of the numerous “Soul Readers” we have seen advertised !
Church in the red hillside, Sedona
There is also a stunning church building – the Chapel of the Holy Cross – which rises 250 feet above a massive red rock formation. The sunset strikes the chapel at the front which naturally lights the chapel in the evenings.
Getting into these mountains was a steady climb which increased further as we headed onto Flagstaff. (It is almost 7,000 feet above sea level compared to Phoenix at 1,000). After leaving Sedona we passed through forested canyons before climbing again to the plateau where the town of Flagstaff sits.
Hills around Flagstaff
Flagstaff itself sits against the largest contiguous Ponderosa Pine forest in continental USA. It has a mild climate throughout the year but the temperatures drop dramatically at night – from a high today of about 24, it is forecast to get down to 3 overnight !
So today has been one of dramatically different countryside and scenery. After heading north for most of the day, tomorrow we make our final turn west and our last night’s stop in Las Vegas. We have covered some of this ground on a previous trip but there will also be plenty of new sights to take in along the way.