Monday, April 28
57 degrees this morning as we head north, through Tucson then Phoenix, to Montezuma's Castle, a National Monument. We discover that our GPS connection is not working, so have to rely on the phones. Suspect the connection was jolted loose during those rough roads and we can't reach the connection which is behind the dash.
Montezuma's Castle is a five story, 20 room cliff dwelling dating back to around 1200. There are also adjacent rooms carved into the cliff. Located in the Verde Valley, it was occupied for over 100 years and no one knows exactly why it was abandoned. The Southern Sinagua were mainly farmers who grew corn, beans, squash (known as the three sisters) along with cotton, and supplemented through hunting and gathering.Their dwellings ranged from one room houses to large pueblos. There is a large sinkhole with springs nearby that provided water for living and irrigation. This was an active trade area as well, with evidence of items like salt, copper, scarlet macaw feathers and pottery from other areas.

Neither of the monuments offer camping facilities, so we head to some BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land about 10 miles south of Sedona with dispersed camping areas. We found a spot in the Javelina area - a very busy place! Greg finds a bit of shade by a juniper tree but things cool down nicely by late afternoon.
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