A Long Walk Not Taken: Walnut Canyon Nat'l Monument 5/26/10

You want me to walk how far, exactly? Oh yes, I see how easy it is to get down, but the climb back up? A 185-foot ascent with 240 steps? All at 7,000 feet elevation in a hot Flagstaff wind? And the ruins? Blasted away, looted, and reduced to broken facades in a cliff wall? No, I agree that the surrounding canyon is a sight to behold, complete with lush ponderosa pine and gambel oak, prickly pear cactus, and Arizona black walnut. My, my. The Rim Trail? Yes, I'm fine with that, believe me. Can see everything from here. Really, I'm good.

Are we lazy? Hell yes, but more than that, we were warned. Getting down to the canyon floor for the Island Trail is no sweat, but the return trip will break you. Well, not you, per se, but those for whom exercise is alternating between the Animal Style burger at In N Out and the sweet vanilla shake. Those who love to look, observe, and take it all in, but who also believe that the best vantage point from which to see it all is the prone position. At worst a comfortable chair. Walnut Canyon National Monument, which, as stated, features a striking vista via a tree-lined canyon, also features some ruins dating back to 1100. Only they're not ruins so much as hastily stacked bricks left over from decades of pot hunting and the usual adventures with dynamite. So you can test your heart and lungs and arches and all that for a peek, but would we not be seeing Mesa Verde in a few days? Isn't that the real deal? Damn right we'll wait. Ain't no ancestor going to pop out from behind a wall and offer us fatties a Coke Zero, that's for sure.

I know what you're thinking with the above photos....pretty rocks and such, right? Well, those are the ruins. Yep, all of 'em. Sure, the people who built their homes into these limestone walls were hearty as all get out, but I'm an American softened up by clean sheets and indoor plumbing. I wouldn't know about dry-farming and hauling water down sheer rock faces. And so I stay at the rim, zooming in as best I can for a view of what's left of their civilization. If we're being honest, Walnut Canyon could just as easily have remained a state park, and its inclusion in the NPS registry is simply their way of declaring for all to see that anywhere they found an ancient corn husk, they're bound to pull out the paperwork of protection. I defend keeping land away from developers and bastard energy men as much as the next person, but for me, this one seems to be just tacking one on for the hell of it. Hey, we're glad to have it, but I doubt we would have missed it had it escaped attention in the first place.

FINAL RATING

2/10