Monday walk…castle walk

This may not be what you imagined when I mentioned “castle” in my title. This is a old new world castle, a cliff dwelling built by the Sinagua (without water) people and inhabited from the early 1100s to around 1425. Although it’s called Montezuma Castle, Montezuma was never here. The park isn’t large, but it is lovely and because of the trees, fairly shady, something always appreciated here.

Montezuma Castle was a cliff dwelling housing about 50 people. Residents of the apartment-style structure used long ladders to reach their high-rise homes. ~National Geographic

Until 1951, visitors to Montezuma Castle National Monument also used ladders to access the cliff dwelling. However, thousands of tourists trekking through the site began to wear down the delicate adobe structure. Ladders were removed and visitors can no longer directly access the castle. ~National Geographic

We’re at a higher elevation here than in the Phoenix area and you can tell that we’re also near water because of the trees and vegetation. The park is small but it’s a lovely walk even in the heat. Because it’s a national park, I was looking forward to using my Senior Pass to get us in for free, but because of COVID, there was no entrance fee. Nice of the park system!

Earth: blending in or standing out?

Yellow Mounds, Badlands, South Dakota

for One Word Sunday and Lens-Artist Challenge: Blending in or Standing Out

One Word Sunday…celebrity

Not one, but two celebrities, unbeknownst to them, were captured in this shot:  Half Dome on the left and Bridal Veil Falls on the right, two of the stars of Yosemite National Park.

B&W Day 5…Living on the edge

One of the pleasures of visiting my parents in Arizona is not only the opportunity to be warm in winter, but to sometimes dip into another culture.  Montezuma Castle, not far from Sedona, looks great for being over 800 years old.  The Sinagua who lived here used a combination of hunting/gathering and subsistence agriculture to live until sometime in the 15th century, they left for no apparent reason.

Originally, visitors were allowed to go through the cliff dwellings, but that eventually stopped to better preserve the site.  That move allowed the site to be one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in the United States.  Visit if you get a chance.

The Badlands 1

Designated as a national monument in 1929 and not redesignated as a national park until November 10, 1978, the Badlands has one of the more interesting park names.  Once you’ve seen it, you can understand why the Lakota Sioux Indians called it Mako Sica, which has been translated as “land bad” and as “eroded land.”  French fur trappers called it  “les mauvaises terres a traverser” or  “bad lands to traverse.”  Of course, with modern roads, albeit winding ones, the trip is much easier, one anyone who has the chance should take.  But if you’re hiking, take lots of water, wear suntan lotion and a hat, and stay on the trails.

Yellow Mounds Overlook

Saying good-bye to Yosemite

Our plan was to take a last-morning, long hike.  But with about 12+ hours of pouring rain, the conditions, although sunny, were less than stellar.  On the trail, any non-mucky surface would be slick rock and every tree or bush a dosing of water waiting to happy.  oI’ve been horseback riding in those conditions and a heavy-duty slicker is a must if you don’t want to send up soaked and shivering.  We didn’t have slickers, so after a leisurely early morning, we packed up and started to leave.

I say “started” because the beauty we saw that morning made me say/yell “Pull over whenever you can” at almost every turnout.  The clouds were hanging low, new snow dusted peaks, and the air was crisp.  What a farewell to a most gorgeous place!