HIKING IN SEDONA - OAK CREEK CANYON PETROGLYPHS
Visiting friends and family in Arizona this month, and had a chance to get out to see Dr. Bob in Oak Creek Canyon, near Sedona last week.
His son Vlad showed us around a hi-rise peak, forced up like a skyscraper in the middle of the flat river valley. From up there it's possible to see 360 degrees all around and it only took 25 minutes to climb it. No Trail(!) He showed us old cave dwellings built into the side of the mountain by the ancient local Indians, who could easily monitor the entire area from up there.
It's close to 300 meters tall I would estimate, around 1000 ft. Gives a great view of the surrounding Beaver Creek and hyway 17 going north to Flagstaff.
After an hour of climbing up, then down, this giant rock pedestal, we were off to see Ancient Indian Petroglyphs at the V-V Ranch nearby.
The symbols are left to interpretation, and can only guess what messages were intended. We can't be sure exactly their meanings since many generations have come and gone over the centuries.
The petroglyphs were created by the Sinagua Indians between about 1150 and 1400. The Sinagua mysteriously disappeared from the area around 1400 and drifted in different directions. They had vanished by the time the first Europeans came to the area.
Having discovered ancient dwelling sites, the Spanish gave the name "Sinagua" to these ancient civilizations. The name means "without water".
Benjamin Franklin Taylor and his wife settled the area where the V-Bar-V is now located. Archeologists were made aware of the petroglyphs in about 1945. The Coconino National Forest acquired the site in 1994 and opened it to the public in 1996.