Winter Scenes in Northern Arizona

Last Wednesday, on the spur of the moment I took a shot at reserving a room on the rim of the Grand Canyon.  To my surprise, many were available, so instead of heading west out of Phoenix on Friday, I journeyed north...up to the plateaus, into the snow.  The last snow had fallen about five days before, so the roads were almost completely clear, and it was uncrowded and beautiful!  Winter is really a fine time to explore Northern Arizona if you do it between snowstorms, which is eminently possible.  Here are the San Francisco Peaks, north of Flagstaff.  Towering to over 12 thousand feet, they're volcanic...the region has seen volcanic action for millions of years, with the maximum activity moving east over time.

I'm in Sunset Crater National Monument.  It's only two miles off the main highway north out of Flagstaff, which I've traveled many times, yet I don't think I'd ever been to this spot...bad negligence on my part!  This is a snow/lava mosaic, only about nine hundred years old.  Well, the snow is much newer but that's when Sunset Crater formed.

Here is Sunset Crater on a crisp winter day.  In the 11th century AD lava suddenly erupted from volcanic fissures, rapidly forming a cinder cone and sending the local inhabitants elsewhere...archaeological evidence indicates they had warning of the impending eruption and bailed before it occurred, evacuating their farms and homes near what became the crater.

I moved on to the canyon, entering the park from the east, and came upon this scene at Desert View.  Almost looks like a painting rather than a photograph.  Winter light is excellent for landscapes.  If you avoid snowstorms, winter is really a great time to go roaming...just take your gloves and a toque and you'll be fine.

Desert View tower was designed by the famous architect Mary Colter, and constructed in the early 1930s.  She had Native American artisans design the interior of the tower.  One can draw a parallel with the artists who painted the interior walls of Coit Tower in San Francisco at about the same time.  This is a typical mural inside Desert View, rendered by a master muralist, a Hopi if I recollect.

Desert View Tower amid the P-J forest.   A biting winter wind was blowing.  Harsh but majestic.

Late afternoon sun...plus the sunset mode on my camera...enhances the canyon colors.

Blow up this pic and at the center left you'll see a winding swath of vegetation on the Tonto Plateau.  That's Indian Gardens, and the snowline is not far from it.  At 3500 feet, IG probably got a little snow a week ago during a cold storm that dropped temperatures at Grand Canyon airport to 23 below zero F.  It was milder this morning however...8 above!

Sunset at the canyon, a few steps from my room at Bright Angel Lodge.  I had a cozy cabin with a partial canyon view...on two days notice!  A travel coup.

The canyon shines in the gathering dusk.  Short notice travel to the Grand Canyon in winter, between storms, is highly recommended!