Land of Ancient Sculpture

I was back in time from the Caribbean for Easter and then for the glorious table of Greek Easter, then, off again.

It was great fun, to be climbing up the big red Bell Rock! Just a few paces off of the main path and you could play on the rocks all you wanted. The ascent went pretty quick, though I did pick one of the steeper routes. When I finally came to a place that gave me some reason to contemplate, I stopped and looked down. Below a small group of 10 or so people had gathered, watching me and more than one taking pictures of me with their little cameras. Most adventurous people could easily make this climb, though, both the audience and intimidating route above gave me the first pangs of vertigo.

So, here I've been exploring Arizona and New Mexico this past week. It's neat to go from the extreme's of Caribbean humidity to this sun-baked, wind-swept land of sculpture.

Arriving in Tucson, I made an evening drive into ranch land. The next day I did shoots of galloping horses and cacti, silouetted by the distant mountains that always seemed so near. The days were in the high 90's and the winds whipped up quite strong, but the sky remained clear for the most part.

Making my way in the direction of Scottsdale, I had a chance to stop at one of the more interesting points along the way, Picacho Peak. The 1,500 foot peak stood out pinnacle-like from the surrounding flats. I pulled in and decide I would make a little climb. I always try to travel with a reserve of water and I had a full bottle of water. Half I would down to hydrate before and I would leave the rest for my return. I had my video camera and did not plan on making too long of a journey.

The heat left this path near the peak pretty much just to me! I looked at a pass and would make my way for it. It's always nice to have a goal on a hike and this would hopefully afford me the chance to see what was in the valley beyond while also getting a full experiences of the environs. I draped my shirt on my dome and paused ever so often to enjoy the immense rocks around me. There were buzzards soaring on the thermals above. As I made my way past the cactus and creosote, two A-10 Thunderbolts flew overhead. Those are such cool aircraft! They are the slow-moving, tank-busting jets that have their engines spaced out rather far apart. They looked just like those buzzards!

With a look over into the other valley, I smiled in satisfaction and made my way back. Another drive further into the park took me to where the Spanish explorers had pushed into while we were busy fighting the British during our Revolution.

Scottsdale was clean and landmarked by Camelback mountain. The resort that I was staying at had pretty cool architecture and $25 million in Native artwork. Instead of the cheesy stuff, it was the life-sized bronzes of Apache staring into the sky or making offerings to the Four Directions, etc. It was the kind of artwork that was eerie to be alone with. So, I tried to spend time with them. They gave some great photo opps, I just wish I had more time.

For eats I went to the controversial 'Pink Taco' but found it was closed. I then opted for the Wild Fish, though it was way pricey. So, I took advantage of happy hour and had a glass of cabernet, raw angus beef that you cooked yourself over a stone, and a giant plate of the best fried calimari. All for around $15. Ha! That's quite a gastronomic victory!

Being that I lose track of where I've been if I don't make daily notes of it (I'm always moving), the exact schedule somewhat escapes me. Let's see... after Scottsdale I made my way north to Sedona, but first made a stop in Flagstaff (further north). As in many a dessert location, you find an amazing drop in temperature the further up in elevation you go. In no time you are in the land of pine trees and cool (too cold, in my opinion) breezes.

Along my journey I came upon one of the most moving moments of my life. For me it was akin to the devote Catholics that get to behold the Pope for the first time and get all screamy, or the Jews who get overcome and get all kissy with the wailing wall or the astronaut that gets to look down at earth. It was seeing an Anasazi cliff-dwellin that did it for me. Now, I kept it together and didn't kiss anything or scream for the Pope, but this culture has intrigued me for some time. I've poured over pages and pages of photos of Anasazi bones, noting the tooth decay and boney growths in their eye sockets, all symptoms of this society's great dependence upon corn. Their spinal columns show a great amount of wear from heavy labor and...we'll enough of that. They are those ancient Indians that built those cool apartment buildings way up on cliffs!

I had not the chance to ever see one of these things until now and as the clock hit 4:20pm I came across the sign to Montezuma's Castle! It closed at 5pm and I knew I could make it! I zoomed in, paid and only a few hundred feet from the visitors center, the opening of the cliff began to reveal itself and, there it was! Built around 1300CE, the structure was about 70% original and intact. A multi-level brick dwelling. To keep myself from getting to weepy I turned my head from it and bit my tongue and then turned back to behold. It was like seeing Oz but if Oz were real!

The amount of engineering genius was spectacular! They had also built it facing south so that they would be cool in the summer and heated during the winter. That they went to such an extent to build this is an indication that they may have had some pretty powerful enemies. But at the height of this civilization, they abandoned these structures for some unknown reason. Anyhoo, it is pretty cool and I strongly encourage you to stop by Anasazi ruins located throughout the southwest. Oh, and why is it named Montezuma's Castle? The Spanish though the Natives of this region to ignorant to have built such a thing and so they gave credit to the Aztec ruler.

I am so, so thankful that I was able to witness this!

The next day, I dropped down into the valley of Ponderosa pines, and eventually saw the true signature of Sedona, Red Rocks. The mountains shoot up everywhere. The downtown of Sedona is full of shops. While they are clean, well organized and match the aesthic of the mountains around them, they are nonetheless shops and surge with tourists.

With a quick stop at the tourist center, prepared by suggestions a friend have given me, let's see, Bell and Cathedral Rock and Red Rock Crossing, I spoke with a guide and was on my way.

The first was Bell Rock. At first I didn't know which was bell as there were two buttes adjacent to one another. But the big one was called Courthouse Rock. I was able to climb most the way up Bell. You had a great deal of privacy up there and could look down and appreciate the land around you. It was like climbing up on a giant's shoulder. While you felt even more insignificant you also felt you were now belonged in their ancient club. These enormous rocks were now your buddies.

The red of the rock cannot be overstated. The soil was reddish powder and the buttes gave away in sheets as your feet passed over them, making you carefully consider just where you were going. There were also plenty of cacti. Man these are unforgiving! But it's the yucca that I found the scariest. This succulent, has very sharp spines at the tip of it's triangular leaves. If you were to trip and fall on one, they would pass right through you!

The wind also picked up somewhat fierce and I made my way down, on a route that was much easier than the one I had taken up.

Cathedral Rock loomed in the distance and near you could find the river of Red Rock Crossing and people cooling themselves in the icy waters. the water felt quite out of place.

Oh yes, vortexes. Some people believe that Sedona has a higher than normal concentration of vortexes, or zones that are supposed to enhance your metaphysical abilities. Twisted trees are also supposed to be a sign of these areas, or so I've been told. I saw plenty of twisted limbs. The spiral of the wood was distinctive.

Soon, I had to make my way to New Mexico. So, out of the valley and across the night time dessert. Eventually I was in Gallup, New Mexico. The following day it was all the way into Ruidoso. First I passed the Valley of Fires which was large expanses of black lava rock, looking as though the lava had cooled only days ago.

Ruidoso was at elevation and was cool and pine-laden. Here I shot and made my way back, the 3.5 hours into Alburquerque. It was not nearly as long as the 9.5 hour route from Sedona, but pretty much gave me all the driving I wanted to do for awhile.

With thoughts of home being so near, I was unfortunately denied. My first flight departed late and as I sprinted to catch my connecting plane, I arrived before the printed time of departure, only to find they had pushed off ten minutes early. No more flights back home this evening. Tomorrow. I wait for tomorrow.