Indian Ruins in Verde Valley, AZ

Wednesday
It got pretty windy last night and temperatures today are noticeably lower. Even I wore a jacket when we set out on our excursion today.
Oh Willie, Poor Willie. The part under the tail light is really black. Just a little bit of the road.

Or maybe I should say Happy Willie – this is what he is made for. Hum…not quite dirty enough.

Today we went to Montezuma’s Castle – We’ve been there a couple of times before but always see or learn something new. (Click on it to enlarge it) I think the first time we were here was in the early 1970s - when the kids were real little.

The Sinague (Without Water) farmers built this five story 20-room dwelling in the early 1100s. It is 100 feet above the valley floor. As you walk down the path from the Park entrance you round a corner and there it is. A real WOW moment.

A closer look at it.

These “apartments” are to the side of the main dwelling.

Montezuma Castle reached it maximum size around the 1300s. The cliff dwellings were built along major streams in the valley. This is Beaver Creek. It is a small river but was a dependable source of water.

Closer still – some of the windows.A couple of them are round.

Inside this window is a ladder. The ladders were pulled up into the dwellings to keep out their enemies.

A cross section illustration of the building. Can you imagine building that? If it were up to me I'd be living on the floor of the canyon.

Another look at the whole cliff dwelling.

Just a picture of the area surrounding it. Lots of trees.

This is another dwelling right beside the “castle.” It is on the canyon floor and is not as well preserved. It is called Castle A

Some of the rooms of Castle A

One of the rooms with a grinding stone – “metate” sits on the ground.

A window in the wall above.

 

Lots of interesting things to look at. These trees were neat. It is an Arizona Sycamore – the bark is real colorful.

by the 1400s the dwellings had been abandoned. No one knows why.
A short video about the dwelling and the life of the people who lived there -  you can make it a little bigger to view.

We did even more today - visited the Tuzigoot Ruins too.  More later.