Flagstaff, Part 1 - October 4 thru 26, 2023

 For my first RV trip in seventeen months, I decided to visit Flagstaff in the northern part of Arizona.  My intention was to stay a full month, but most of the RV parks were booked up.  I wound up getting the last available site in a park I had used before and liked, but they plan to close for the winter on 10/26.  I still have to decide whether to return home at that time or find another place for a week.

My primary reason for choosing Flagstaff as a destination was to see and photograph fall colors.  In addition, I was hoping to see a different variety of wildlife than is available in Sierra Vista.  Finally, it is a totally different environment reachable with a one day's drive.  I've spent time here in years past and know there is a lot to do within reasonable driving distance.

To this point, it has been a rewarding trip as far as fall color, less so when it comes to wildlife.  There are lots of birds here, and good places to view them, but the birds are skittish and the viewing areas require more walking than I'm capable of right now.  Still, driving back roads in the magnificent ponderosa pine forests is a treat regardless of wildlife sightings.

On my first full day here, I rested in the morning and visited Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument in the afternoon.  As a point of reference, this entire region is known as the San Francisco Volcanic Field and Sunset Crater Volcano is the youngest volcano in the field, erupting just under 1000 years ago.  All of the mountains around Flagstaff are volcanic in origin and volcanic rocks cover much of the surrounding land.

Some early wildlife sightings included a prairie dog from one of the numerous fields they occupy, as well as a Steller's Jay, which are fairly common here if not very cooperative.  

One of the extinct (hopefully) volcanoes sits practically downtown and dominates the view from most parts of town.  Named Mt. Elden after an early settler whose family lived on the lowers slopes, it tops out at 9300 feet in elevation.  Here is a view of it from my RV park.