Kari's AZ Visit

Kari is here and we had a very busy day. She arrived at 6:00 last evening and requested pizza at The Garage, a local pub. Since we had not been there yet this season, we gladly complied. This morning we were on the road by 7:30 AM, heading north to Payson then Camp Verde to see Native American ruins and historic sites.

Our first stop was Montezuma Castle, the pueblo ruins near Camp Verde. These ruins are the best preserved and most dramatic cliff dwelling in the U.S. It was an awesome site.

Then is was off to a natural limestone sinkhole, Montezuma Well. Water temperature was 74º. Because of the constant water temp, the pool has lots of algae. There are cliff dwellings along one side and pueblo ruins at the top of the cliff. The Sinagua people had dug an irrigation ditch near the sink hole and along the Beaver Creek that provided water for their crops. We were told the ditch was around 1000 years old and still in use today.

Our final morning stop was at V-V Heritage Site to see a rock wall with over 1000 ancient drawings. This is the largest known petroglyph rock art in the Verde Valley and one of the best preserved.

Our day started by driving through the Tonto National Forest, then into the Coconino National Forest and finally into the Prescott National Forest before heading back to Phoenix. We saw lots of history and a variety of AZ fauna, from desert to pine forests.