Not a Hike

One day Ron joined the WINs for a trip to a few historic sites.  He graciously agreed to take pictures for the blog as long as I didn't expect him to write the post.

The first stop was Fort Verde State Historic Park.  In the late 1800s, during the Indian Wars, the fort served as a base for General Crook's U.S. army scouts and soldiers.

The park contains well-preserved buildings like this one which served as the bachelor officers quarters.

Next they moved on to Montezuma Castle National Monument. This 20 room 'apartment house' was built and occupied by the Sinagua people between 1100 and 1400 (and given a very strange name somewhere along the way.)

Even more interesting to me is Montezuma Well.  Here is an explanation from the National Park website.

Montezuma Well, a unit of Montezuma Castle, is located 11 miles from the park. Formed long ago by the collapse of a limestone cavern, over one million gallons of water a day flows continuously into the Well. This constant supply of warm, fresh water provides an aquatic habitat like no other in the world, and has served as an oasis for wildlife and humans for thousands of years.

The Sinagua created irrigation ditches, sections of which are still used today by nearby residents for gardens and livestock. (Not this section obviously.)

I'm sure there were a few 'Eek's when the WINs came upon this guy.  Looks like a rattler to me.

Last was a stop at V Bar V Heritage Site - location of the largest known collection of petroglyphs in the Verde Valley.

Although the real meaning of petroglyphs is known only to the people who made them, it is believed that these particular etchings were used as calendars.  By watching the movement of sunlight across the rock images, the ancient people knew when to plant and harvest crops or when to begin certain ceremonies.

I mentioned in a previous post that we took a car trip to Prescott to visit our friend Carol.  I forgot to post the only picture I took on that trip which was with my phone.  Watson Lake is unbelievably scenic.

Almost makes me wish I had kept my kayak.

This concludes our time in Sedona/Cottonwood area.  Funny thing - anybody who has been to Sedona knows the popular shopping area called Tlaquepaque.  Although I am not a shopper, I understand it is really something to see and I still haven't been there.  Oh well, there's always next time.