The Two RV Gypsies: Full-Time RVers
explored Sunset Crater
inside Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
in Arizona
September 7, 2012

Below: Sunset Crater began erupting in 1064 A.D. and marks the northwestern end of this fissure. Damage from hikers forced the National Park Service to close a trail leading to the center of the crater.

Hundreds of volcanic eruptions gave life to this region's present landscape. All the hills and mountains seen in this area are volcanoes. They are part of a 2,200 square mile landscape of lava flows, cinder cones, and other volcanic wonders known as the San Francisco Volcanic Field. Sunset Crater is the youngest in this string of volcanoes that is related to the nearby San Francisco Peaks. [Note: The San Francisco Peaks, backdrop for Flagstaff and much of northern Arizona, were named in 1629 by Franciscan missionaries in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. This was more than 200 years before what was then a small town in California acquired a similar name.]

Roughly 900 years ago, the eruption of Sunset Crater Volcano reshaped the surrounding landscape; forever changing the lives of people, plants and animals.

Below: Sunset Crater as seen from the lava flow

Below: The Lava Flow Trail is a self-guided loop trail; an easy 1-mile round trip.

Pinus Ponderosa: Most of the pines along this trail do not look like their majestic and ponderous counterparts growing in nearby forests. The drier, hotter environment and nutrient-poor soils of this new volcanic landscape stunt growth. Their twisted, spiraling wood under the bark increases flexibility and helps the tree survive wind and snow damage.

Below: The standing section of lava shown below is called a squeeze-up. It forms as pasty lava from beneath the surface oozes through a crack in the lava crust, like toothpaste squeezed from a tube. Vertical grooves appear where the lava scrapes against the walls of the crack, creating an interesting formation.

Buried under Sunset Crater's lava and cinders are dozens of pithouses. Those excavated revealed few artifacts; even building timbers had been removed. This suggests people had ample warning of the impending eruption. The changed environment forced new adaptations, which included migration from the area. Those who stayed nearby had to adapt their traditional agricultural technology to lower elevations and cinder-covered land.

Cinder cones erode easily and scars are slow to heal. In 1973, Sunset Crater was closed to climbing when 2-foot-wide rails eroded to 60-foot-wide swaths. Tons of cinder were shoveled back up the cone to fill hip-deep trenches. Scars are still visible today. Plants will eventually return to areas where cinders are left undisturbed. Walking in barren areas dislodges soil particles forming between the cinders.

Below: The two RV Gypsies on The Lava Flow Trail at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.

Below: Beautiful flowers growing through the cinder, fields of lava.... breathtaking!

CINDER HILLS OVERLOOK: A series of red cinder-covered vents are in the valley shown below, marking a fissure along which the most recent volcanic activity occurred.

Wupatki National Monument (shown below) is located along a 35-mile scenic loop road through open meadows, beautiful ponderosa pine trees, juniper grasslands. Drive time along the loop road is about one hour.

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