Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Sunset Crater


2 Chicas say the Sky is Falling

If you head down Route 66 East from Flagstaff, you will see signage that leads to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.  This place is like landing on the moon, but it is actually a volcanic eruption that is mad crazy!
Chica 2 was excited to think she was frolicking in the middle of a great lava flow, until she got a small cut on her foot. She asked the park ranger could she now be an official part of the Sunset Crater display.  

The ranger didn’t get it and neither does Chica 1.  An injury on the property doesn’t make you a part of the history of the area. So please wear appropriate footwear and let the ranger handle more realistic questions.

The site is the cinder cone remains of a forest and farmland maintained by the native people after a devastating volcano eruption.  The dark black hardened lava flow creates a crusty landscape that goes on for miles.

Chica 2 wanted to excavate an area and look for survivors, but as the brochure states, the eruption was over 900 years ago.  So about the only thing that would be found are fossils!

Further along the trail are Indian ruins. Chica 2 said the Indians had to be in shock from the explosion which rose 850 feet into the air, well before professional firework displays. I'm not so sure that's right, but it would apply in this situation Chica 2.  The Indians in the surrounding area would have thought the end of the world had come, because everything within 5 miles was destroyed.

Later explorers named the area because to them the beautiful colors around the rim of the crater reminded them of a sunset.  Chica 2 wants to find a Native American tribe that can tell the story of the volcano, and for once she just may be right. There are ancestral stories about the volcanic explosion.  It's just going to be difficult to find someone to tell us the story Chica 2, but we will keep on trying.

Sunset Crater is a very interesting trip into the volcanic history of the wild west.  Swing by and give it a tour!
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