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Day 8 - Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

Friday - September 13, 2019


After the long day yesterday at The Grand Canyon, we decided to stay close and enjoy a little less activity. We left the condo a little after 9:00 AM after packing sandwiches, chips and apples for lunch. The drive to Sunset Crater was only about 30 minutes.


On the way, while Kay was driving, I was getting my camera equipment ready. It was then I discovered my GPS was not working... This is the NEW GPS I ordered from Amazon while in Durango and had shipped to Flagstaff. My old one, which I have had for about 4 years bit the dust the first day of our trip. When I looked at the new one on Tuesday, I commented to Kay that the cable would be a problem. It had straight connectors, not 90 degree connectors. Sure enough, it got knocked and ceased to function. Unfortunately the cable has proprietary connectors and cannot be readily replaced. I can and will return it to Amazon, but it is impossible to get a new DIFFERENT one while on the trip. I will surely miss the GPS feature on my photos.


Sunset Crater is the youngest of over 600 volcanoes in a six-million-year history of volcanic activity in the Flagstaff area. Sunset erupted sometime between 1040 and 1100, thus it is less than 1000 years old; just a baby in geological terms.


We hiked three short trails here, for a total of about 4 miles. One trail was through the lava field, one was near the base of Sunset, and the third was on Lenox crater, which is near Sunset. As you view the few photos I have posted, you can see how long it takes for vegetation to repopulate the areas adjacent to volcanic activity.












I am not sure what we will be doing tomorrow, except laundry! This will be the last stop of our trip where we are in our timeshares and have laundry facilities readily available - so we will get caught up. On Sunday, we will be up early and head out to the North Rim of the Canyon on our way to Kanab, UT.

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