Meteor Crater and Walnut Canyon National Monument..............

Once again, we got up at oh dark o'clock, and left as the sun rose so we could be at Meteor Crater when it opened at 7am. There really is a method to our madness. We were able to see some of the sites in the area without endangering ourselves in this god-awful heat!

Meteor Crater is located in Winslow, AZ, (as in "standing on the corner") right off of I-40, about an hour and a half from our home in Williams. The road leading to the crater goes right through grazing land, and we spotted lots of cows and their young. Need to pay attention driving! Anyway, in the distance, we could make out a giant ridge, and wondered if that was the actual crater. Yes....it is! Gives you an idea of the size of that crater!! Can you imagine?

lots of cows and their babies grazing along the side of the road...and crossing the road!

see the giant crater in the distance? pretty much the whole left side of the picture!

a sprawling Visitor Center

We arrived as the Visitor Center, and opted to go outside and view the crater before seeing the movie. There are three viewing platforms, at different levels, so you can see the crater from different angles. It is unbelievable! There is a short trail, but you must be part of a guided tour to go on the trail that skirts the rim for a bit. The tours didn't start until 9:15am, and being that it was just 7am we knew we'd skip that. Also, we were completely satisfied with the views from the viewing platforms. "WOW" was all we managed to say to each other for a few minutes!

actual meteorite piece

our first view...as we walked out to the viewing platform

wow!

one of the viewing platforms

scopes are fixed on specific attributes

awesome!

the white area at the bottom of the crater was a drilling area, to "find" the meteor

Some information on the crater: it is nearly a mile long, and its 550 feet deep. The crater was formed when a meteor hit the earth 50,000 years ago (that was before my time!), hurtling at a speed of 26,000 miles per hour. The crater is large enough to fit 20 football fields, just to further put the size in perspective.

We went down to the lower level viewing area, and really started to think about some things....like where is the meteor? What happened to it? Shouldn't there be fragments or something?

heading down to the lower viewing platform

enormous!

early scientists couldn't determine what caused this crater, but they saw no signs of volcanic activity

drilling went on to see if the meteor was buried

eventually, a scientist that studied nuclear blasts determined it was definitely a meteor and found fragments and melted pieces all over the area

its a little hot in the sun already!

Next, we headed up the stairs to the highest viewing platform. My favorite view....really! You could see the landscape beyond, and it just put it all in perspective.....like...what is that? We could also see the "trail" that went a bit around the edge of the crater, and decided that was something we would have no problem skipping.

view from the highest platform

can you see the land beyond the crater rim?

not really liking the height here, or the flimsy chain!!

again, see the land beyond the rim of the crater?

a view of the path on the crater's rim (guided tour only)

headed back down to the Visitor Center

one last view down into the crater

the rim...

the rim on the other side

yup...that was pretty high up

Lizards everywhere...and apparently they climb brick walls too! We re-entered the Visitor Center and walked through the displays, which were very interesting. Some of our questions were answered too! About the meteor....it basically vaporized from the impact. Earlier scientists tried to drill under the earth, looking for metal from the crater. Fragments and tiny tiny pebble-sized portions were all that remained of the meteor. We saw the film, which was quite informative as well. We saved the indoor stuff for last, so we would be out in the heat and sun earlier in the morning. It doesn't take long for things to heat up!

climbing the walls!

an aerial view of Meteor Crater

this explained my biggest question

photo op...on the bottom of the crater!

the background looks pretty real...were you fooled?

It was also interesting to learn that astronauts trained here at Meteor Crater, in preparation for walking on the moon and other planets. Check out the picture of that astronaut in training....he has an early version of a GoPro on his chest.

the astronauts trained on the bottom of the crater

check out that GoPro!

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Meteor Crater. It is privately owned, and therefore is a bit costly especially if you are bringing a family. For more information, click here.

Since the temperatures were still pleasant, we had one more stop on our way back home....Walnut Canyon National Monument. In doing our research, we decided we wanted to go on two hikes...the Island Trail, and the Rim Trail. The Island Trail goes right up to the ancient ruins, and you can go in them too. The only bad thing about the hike is there are 250 stairs....and you have to come back up! Okay, that would be doable, but the height issue made me stop right in the beginning. I was so disappointed in myself. Tom was kinda happy, since it would be really hot by the time we finished the trail and had to head back up. Hahah.

starting bravely down the Island Trail

the farming was done up above

see some of the cliff dwellings across the canyon?

close up

see the paved trail below? that's where we are headed  (well, NO CAN DO...so nevermind!)

the paved trail goes around the "island", with a good view of some of the cliff dwellings 

another view of the trail....doesn't look too bad, but you have to get there!

the trail goes around both sides of the island

a hawk soaring in the canyon

soaring past another cliff dwelling on the other side of the canyon

the scenery is just gorgeous

sorry Tom...no can do....but I can wait for you!!

this is as far as I got 

close up

more cliff dwellings...they were just everywhere

Once back up to the top of the trail, we then turned around and went on the Rim Trail, a much different trail for sure! The views were still awesome, but we could only see some of the ruins from a distance. No worries....we still enjoyed our day and learned a lot.

looking over the canyon

there must have been a ton of people living here at one time! look at all those ruins (light yellow)

close up

a close up view of the trail

more

more

these cliff dwellings were below the trail and inaccessible to visitors

This trail was definitely more my speed...it traveled along the rim, but was far enough away that it wasn't scary at all. The viewing platforms gave us an overall view of the canyon and we saw ruins everywhere!

heading along the Rim Trail....

lots of spots to stop and look for cliff dwellings...they were just everywhere

looking back at the Visitor Center

there were dwellings under the Visitor Center too!

close up

not too close to the edge

no height issues....thankfully!

There were even ruins under the Visitor Center! They were just everywhere. Though the trail was in full sun, the breeze kept us from feeling the full effects of the heat. At one point, I thought I spotted water across the way.

beautiful canyon surrounded by cliff dwellings

amazing place! (and a little windy here on the ledge)

looking across the canyon

a pool of water? no...I think its a crevice in the rock

a wonder to observe

From our viewpoint, we could see the Island Trail very clearly, and we made a wise choice not to proceed. Just like some of the comments on TripAdvisor, it was not a trail for those with a fear of heights or small children. Some spots go pretty close to the cliff edge. We did not envy the folks we saw climbing back up the stairs in the full sun and heat either. So, even if you can't manage that trail for whatever reason, this is still a wonderful place to stop for a visit.

some folks walking back up the steps

another lizard...with a blue/green tail

We followed the Rim Trail to other ruins in the park, that were very well preserved too. Along the trail, there was signage explaining that a ruin was left un-excavated so that the public could see what a site looks like before excavation. Now we know what to look for while on our adventures! Tom would love to be an archaeologist!

another set of ruins along the trail-lots of different people lived in this area!

more ruins...

obviously not cliff dwellings....these are from different Native Americans

would be hard to spot ruins...especially with trees growing in them

Aferwards, we went back to the Visitor Center to watch the very popular movie (standing room only!) and check out some of the displays. Walnut Canyon...another great place to explore if you are in the area! Early is better, as the temperatures starts to zoom up by mid-morning making hiking unpleasant.

fascinating!

almost 90 and its still mid-morning!