G.A.S.P.

I then headed north toward two other National Monuments – Wupatki, another Sinagua site, and Sunset Crater Volcano, where I expected to camp for the night. The campground at Sunset Crater was closed for the season, however, which left me with a large problem – no place to stay for the night in the vicinity of the Monuments. The nearest possible place to stay was in Cameron, about 35 miles north of the Sunset Crater. Since Sunset is only about three miles off the main road and Wupatki is 18 miles further off the main road, I decided to bypass Wupatki for this time. I found Sunset Crater to be quite interesting, however. The main feature is a cinder cone volcano, standing about 1000 feet high, that was built from the ground up in 1064 and 1065. A cinder cone volcano is created when solidified rock falls around the central vent and builds a cone. The parts I liked best, though, were the lava flows that occurred in 1064 and 1180. Today, these are wide, deep blankets of cinder rock, but back then, they were molten flows that burned everything in their path and must have scared the heck out of the local Sinagua. The other volcanoes I’ve visited on this journey, Mt. St. Helens and Lassen, did not have this kind of lava flow. The last volcanic activity for Sunset Crater was in 1250 when red and yellow cinders shot from the vent and landed on the rim. The colorful glow reminded people of a sunset, hence the name Sunset Crater.

When I got to Cameron, I found that there isn’t any campground. There is a motel, but it’s fairly expensive, and a Mobile Home Park where RV’s can park for the night. I talked them into letting me stay at the Mobile Home Park. There was no shower, no restroom, no picnic table and no decent tent site, but the cost was only $5, and I could use the restroom at the restaurant until 9:00 at night, and then again at 7:00 in the morning. It worked out okay. There was a little bit of bathroom humor, however. I was cleaning my glasses in the men’s room after breakfast when I heard a guy in one of the stalls says something like "arrgg." I was still there when he came out, and he explained that a scorpion had attempted to climb up the inside of his pant-leg. He showed me the evidence, now squashed on the floor. It looked like a scorpion to me, although it was smaller than I thought it would be. I’m very, very glad it wasn’t me – the sound would have been a lot higher pitched than "arrgg."