Wupatki Ruins

Cathleen at Wokoki Ruins

Wupatki National Monument - October 12, 2003

Near Flagstaff, Arizona, you can find the Walnut Creek, Sunset Crater, and Wupatki National Monuments. Wupatki, the northern most of these, is about 20 miles from the Sunset Crater visitor's center on a loop road. All are close to the Grand Canyon, one of the most visited National Parks in this country.

Wupatki has more Indian ruins. They are spread out over about 10 miles or so, at least the ones I could see. The National Park service says more are out there, but the general public is not allowed to visit those. We were, however, allowed to visit Wupatki Ruins, Wokoki Ruins, Lomaki Pueblo, Citadel Pueblo, and Nalakihu Pueblo.

As in Walnut Canyon, the northern Sinigua Indians lived here as well. There area also signs of influence, at the very least, from the Cohonina and Kayenta Anasazi cultures, so archeologists are exactly sure if all three groups cohabitated, or if the Sinigua were just "influenced".

Northern Arizona in October is much cooler than, say, northern Arizona in July. But it is still hot, even at about 5,000 feet in elevation. This day turned out to be the hottest day of my trip. Part of that was the lack of cover (again, as in Fort Bowie, I got burnt and should have worn my hat), and the sun's reflection off of the rock. Part of it was just the sun itself.

I spent about an hour and a half at Wupatki. I did not see all of the ruins. I did spend quite a bit of time at the Wupatki ruins, which are very close to the visitor's center, and about twenty minutes at the Wokoki ruins, which I encountered before the visitor's center. I stopped at Lomaki, but that was it. I had had enough of Indian ruins by that point - you can only see so many in the day before they all start looking remarkably similar.

Home | My Cats | My Travels | My Family | My Potpourri | My Guestbook | Contact Me