Sometimes a trip doesn't have to be some big planned adventure.
We headed out of Cortez Friday morning with our great friends the Robinsons. We were headed to Flagstaff for a wedding Saturday night, had the campers in tow, and figured we might as well turn the drive down into a little exploring.
The plan was pretty simple. Spend Friday afternoon making the loop through Wupatki and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monuments, camp at Bonito Campground Friday night, then head over to the wedding at the Flagstaff Nordic Center on Saturday.
As usually happens, Mother Nature had a slightly different plan.
Wupatki and One Hell of a Storm
We made it out to Wupatki Friday afternoon and started exploring.
I've spent a lot of time around the Southwest, and this stuff still amazes me. The ruins, the geology and just thinking about the people who lived and worked this land hundreds of years ago. You can read about it all you want, but standing there and looking across that country is something different.
And we definitely had something building.
You could see the weather coming across the high desert, and eventually it absolutely opened up.
I don't know exactly how much rain we got, but I'd guess at least an inch. Tons of lightning came along with it just to make things a little more interesting.
Eventually there wasn't much else to do except retreat to the campers, make some lunch and watch one hell of a storm roll through.
Honestly, not a bad way to spend an afternoon.
The original plan was to keep going and spend the rest of the afternoon exploring Sunset Crater. That didn't happen.
Next time.
Well... So Much for Bonito Campground
We planned on spending Friday night at Bonito Campground, right next to Sunset Crater.
The campground itself looked great. Clean, nice sites and an awesome location for exploring the monuments.
Actually getting a campsite was another story.
The information we'd found online about the first-come, first-served sites and what we were told when we arrived didn't exactly match up. Either way, there wasn't a site for us.
So... Plan B.
We decided to head toward the Flagstaff Nordic Center, where the wedding was going to be the next day, and see what we could find for dispersed camping.
Turns out, Plan B worked out pretty damn well.
Sometimes Plan B Is Better
We ended up finding a great dispersed spot off Forest Road 222.
There were quite a few other people camping out there, but also plenty of room and plenty of spots available. We found ourselves a nice place tucked into the pines, parked the campers and called it home for the night.
And then it rained again.
This time we were settled into camp and could actually enjoy it. The rain came through, the weather cleared, and we ended up with a beautiful sunset and a great evening hanging around camp with friends.
Getting shut out of Bonito wasn't looking so bad anymore.
Dinosaurs, Geology and a Little More Time to Kill
Saturday morning we had some time before we could get into the wedding venue and set up camp, so we headed over to the Museum of Northern Arizona.
I'm kind of a sucker for this stuff.
The history and geology of the Southwest just amazes me. The museum covers everything from dinosaurs and the geology of the Colorado Plateau to the people who have lived and worked this country for generations.
I especially enjoyed seeing the Indigenous and Native American art and cultures represented from across the Colorado Plateau. Pottery, jewelry, textiles and artwork, along with some Route 66 history thrown in.
We could have easily spent more time there.
But we still had some time to kill.
So naturally, we decided to crawl underground.
Into the Lava River Cave
We headed north of Flagstaff to the Lava River Cave.
This ended up being one of my favorite parts of the weekend.
The cave is actually an old lava tube formed roughly 700,000 years ago and runs for about a mile underground.
You basically climb down through a pile of rocks and disappear into the earth.
Once you're inside, it's dark.
I mean dark.
We put on the headlamps and started working our way through the tube. There are piles of rocks to climb over, low sections, big open rooms and some really cool formations along the way.
We hiked roughly a mile up the tube before turning around.
And it's cold down there. Temperatures can be around 42 degrees even during the summer.
Bring a jacket. Bring good shoes. Bring a good headlamp.
Actually, bring a backup light too.
There are certain places where pictures just don't really do it justice, and this is one of them.
It was a really cool experience.
Oh Yeah... We Came Down Here for a Wedding
After crawling our way back out of the lava tube, it was finally time to head over to the Flagstaff Nordic Center.
We got camp set up and finally did what we'd actually driven to Flagstaff to do — celebrate a wedding with some great friends.
The rest of Saturday was friends, food, drinks and a wedding in a pretty damn beautiful place.
Sunday morning was considerably simpler.
Coffee.
Pack up.
Hit the road.
And a stop at Safeway for gas, where I finally got an opportunity to use some of those damn Safeway gas points.
Hey, it's the little things.
Not a Bad Weekend
This wasn't some huge expedition.
We weren't gone for a week. We didn't travel halfway across the country. It was basically a quick weekend trip from Cortez to Flagstaff for a wedding.
And that's kind of the point.
One of the things I love about living in the Four Corners is just how much stuff we have within a few hours of home.
Ancient pueblos. Volcanoes. Lava tubes. Museums. Mountains. Forests. Dispersed camping.
And that's barely scratching the surface around Flagstaff.
We didn't get to everything we'd planned. We got absolutely dumped on. We got shut out of our campground.
And it all worked out just fine.
Sometimes you load up the camper, grab some good friends and go see what happens.
We'll definitely be back.
If You Go
Wupatki & Sunset Crater Volcano National Monuments: The two monuments are connected by the scenic loop on Forest Road 545. Check current National Park Service road conditions before heading out, especially because closures and construction can affect the loop.
Museum of Northern Arizona: Definitely worth a stop if you're interested in the geology, archaeology, paleontology, art and cultures of the Colorado Plateau.
Lava River Cave: About a mile long, rocky, dark and cold. Wear sturdy shoes and bring warm clothes plus at least two reliable light sources. There are no lights inside the cave.
Camping: Bonito Campground is right next to Sunset Crater and would be a great base camp when you can get a site. There is also dispersed camping in the surrounding national forest. Always check current Forest Service rules and fire restrictions before setting up camp.
Conditions, campground availability and road access can change. Check with the National Park Service and Coconino National Forest before heading out.