DAY 166 MONDAY 25th FEBRUARY 2008

Sedona, AZ (Miles to Date: 17900)

Fortunately the winds have died down and we can safely continue our journey. From our campsite we can see the snow capped peaks of the San Francisco Mountains at the base of which is the city of Flagstaff. The highest peak is Humphrey’s peak -at 12,633 feet the highest point in Arizona. These peaks were once a huge volcano towering above the plains at over 16,000 feet above sea level (higher than any mountain in the modern contiguous United States). This peak exploded in a massive eruption millions of years ago blowing away enormous amount of rock – similar to the last major eruption of Mount St Helens. The volcano field around this area is vast containing some 600 cinder cones – with the last eruption occurring 1000 years ago at Sunset Crater. This is still an active volcanic area so more eruptions are likely in the future.

Having explored a meteor crater we felt the need to visit some more craters. Also we had seen some pictures of an area called Grand Falls – so off we set. The route takes us past some very nice cinder craters and good examples of lava flows. Eventually we enter the Navajo Nation Reservation and take Indian Road 70, which is a dirt road. Unfortunately when it had rained these roads had evidently been driven on, having dried up they are heavily rutted. Despite being in Jeep the vibration is tremendous and after about 5 miles we give up and turnaround as Karen is concerned about the car falling apart (it is after all 10 years old). We return to the RV park, pick up the motor home and continue on to Flagstaff.

At Flagstaff we park the motor home and drive the Jeep up to Sunset Crater, the site of the most recent eruption in these parts some 900 years ago. This is now a National Monument so we go to the visitor centre to pick up some information on the area. Climbing is not allowed on the banks of the crater wall as the effect of visitors in the past had begun to damage the environment but you can drive around the very well preserved cinder cone. We also take a short ride to a trail which takes you to the lava flows, which we enjoy greatly.

Daylight is starting to fade when we pick up the motor home and continue our journey to Sedona where we will be staying for the next few days. The straightest route is the 89A which follows Oak Creek through Oak Creek Canyon. The word canyon should have been a clue to what was to follow -as should have been the signs saying “no vehicles over 55 feet” – but we had no idea. Over the next several miles the road descends about 1500 feet through a series of hair-pin (switch-back bends). Fortunately we had decided not to tow the Jeep on this leg of the journey so Karen and Jack were following behind the motor home. Not having much experience driving the coach made this a hair raising experience – and the elevated view from the drivers seat gave excellent views of the precipitous drop from the road edge some 12 inches away. 4 nerve wracked miles later the bottom of the canyon was reached and we could relax a bit before getting to our campsite in Sedona.