30 March 2018
Mea culpa. Ocotillo is not a true cactus. It has it’s own family in the plant kingdom. The leafing out part I wrote about cactus is correct. I should have known it wasn’t in the cactus family. Sorry.
It wasn’t nearly as cold this morning when I got out of the sleeping bag. Only 54F. I skipped breakfast and broke camp and was away by 8 am. The gps routed me first along US 79 and then US 60 through some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve experienced. It took me through the White Mountain Apache Tribe Reservation and Salt River Canyon.
It was white knuckle time on the steering wheel with sheer drops as you first descended to the White River and then back up to the other side. The experience was as if you were allowed to drive down into the Grand Canyon and then back out. Elevations range from 2,200 feet to 4, 200 feet so you can get some idea of the type of drive you experience. Every turn or bend in the road brought another. jaw-dropping sight. So far, the trip has been worth it for this.
My gps told me the total time to Holbrook, AZ would be around 5 hours so I would be way too early to check into the hotel (Quality Inn – not so quality) so I decided to do something I’ve wanted to do for a while but had not planned on this trip – go to Meteor Crater just west of Winslow.
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I used to explain the theory of Luis and Walter Alvarez about the extinction of dinosaurs by talking about craters on the moon, Meteor Crater, weathering and why most craters are not seen on earth as they are on the moon, and then eventually explaining how large Meteor Crater is (4,000 feet across and 700 feet deep). I then explained how the meteor that formed Meteor Crater was relatively small at 150 feet across and several hundred thousand tons. It would have been too small to cause an extinction event. The Alvarez’ put forth the idea the meteor that caused the extinction hit in the Gulf of Mexico (thus creating that body of water). It has since been proved a meteor of the size that could cause and extinction event did indeed form the “bowl” of the Gulf of Mexico.
I’ve always talked about it and have never seen it so the opportunity was too good to pass up. Like the Grand Canyon (and Salt River Canyon) Meteor Crater is impressive. I did get a little miffed that it is listed on I-40 west as a National Landmark and as such, it should have allowed me free entrance with my National Park passport but instead, I find it is privately owned. That has its own problems, but the crater has been maintained in pretty pristine condition and research is still going on in the crater.
However, never pass up a chance to fleece the tourists. To get to the restrooms, you had to walk through the gift shop and the Subway store. All in all, it was a great experience if you ignore the touristy stuff.
I just read a story of the internet about a California man who, in 2013, illegally hiked down to the bottom of the crater and jumped into the mineshaft (100 feet) to “appease the gods”. Somehow he wasn’t killed and survived some very cold temperatures until emergency services could extract him from the shaft. He suffered from a broken arm and leg and hypothermia. However, once they got him out of the shaft, they had to physically transport him to the top of the rim (700 feet) even though the man weighed 200 lbs. The rescue helicopter was grounded because of flight conditions. The rescue crew worked through zero F conditions to get him back to the top.
Tomorrow is the Petrified Forest National Park with a drive through the park and short day hikes at various points along the drive. It should be a fairly easy day of hikes – famous last words.
