Givorgy Kraskoff Photography

So after checking out the cliff dwellings, we next made our way up to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. A lot of the trails have been closed off for some reason, so we weren’t really able to do much hiking around the site, but the little that we were able to see, was pretty spectacular. Lava flows and cinders still look as fresh and rugged as the day they formed. I posted some of my favorite shots below. I loved all the trees the area had and just the scenery in general. It’s so different to what I’m used to in Oregon. Everything is so dead, but at the same time, there’s tons of life amongst all the death. It’s crazy to think that this once was a mountain area full of trees and life, now there’s just tons of cinders and ash.

So yesterday Kyle and I ended up taking a trip to Walnut Canyon National Monument. It was pretty amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it before. The scenery is so different from Oregon. Everything is so red, brown, and desert like. At this specific monument, there are intact cliff dwellings. It’s so mind blowing to see walls and rooms of homes that the natives lived in. It’s so astonishing to see how inventive and innovative these early people were with the little resources they had. Some of my favorite pictures of the day, I have added below. Enjoy – soon more will be posted from the rest of my trip here at Flag.