beemerdons
Certifiable Old Fart
Arizona's Walnut Canyon - A Hidden Gem, from Charles Ratliff, AZ Beemer "mymidlife" has put together another fantastic pictorial of an Arizona Wonder! JSNS!
With another pleasant weekend predicted, I headed up to Flagstaff yet again to explore Walnut Canyon, the third of a trio of monuments in close proximity, and the only one of the three I had yet to visit. The other two, Wupatki and Sunset Crater, I've seen twice before as documented here on this forum. Walnut Canyon is a sharp, deep, creek-cut canyon to the east of Flagstaff, and was the home of members of the Sinagua tribe, one of numerous cliff dwelling peoples of this region. This is a beautiful and somewhat hidden park. The self-guided hike down into the canyon is easy and circles the waist of a large rock 'island'. The walking trails up top lead to two fine overlooks. Cliff dwellings are visible in multiple locations throughout. Interestingly, one of the friendly park staff is a recent UCF grad! Go Knights! In addition, on the way up I turned off to see Kinnikinnick Lake, a popular fishing spot found opposite the southern portion of Mormon Lake. Nice clay road (no dust!) with plenty of trails to investigate later! This unplanned added section ran me a little late but from hitting the beeline at 6:30, I made it back in the waning dusk with a terrific 400 mile day!
See linky below:
https://picasaweb.google.com/100612197032175377059/WalnutCanyon110914?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMzJgYaQzpGhMA&feat=directlink
With another pleasant weekend predicted, I headed up to Flagstaff yet again to explore Walnut Canyon, the third of a trio of monuments in close proximity, and the only one of the three I had yet to visit. The other two, Wupatki and Sunset Crater, I've seen twice before as documented here on this forum. Walnut Canyon is a sharp, deep, creek-cut canyon to the east of Flagstaff, and was the home of members of the Sinagua tribe, one of numerous cliff dwelling peoples of this region. This is a beautiful and somewhat hidden park. The self-guided hike down into the canyon is easy and circles the waist of a large rock 'island'. The walking trails up top lead to two fine overlooks. Cliff dwellings are visible in multiple locations throughout. Interestingly, one of the friendly park staff is a recent UCF grad! Go Knights! In addition, on the way up I turned off to see Kinnikinnick Lake, a popular fishing spot found opposite the southern portion of Mormon Lake. Nice clay road (no dust!) with plenty of trails to investigate later! This unplanned added section ran me a little late but from hitting the beeline at 6:30, I made it back in the waning dusk with a terrific 400 mile day!
See linky below:
https://picasaweb.google.com/100612197032175377059/WalnutCanyon110914?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMzJgYaQzpGhMA&feat=directlink
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