Road Scholars

Learn How to Become a Junior Ranger at Montezuma Castle

I handed the ranger $10 for all five of us to enter the park for Montezuma Castle.  She then quickly offered for my boys to walk around with laminated pages hooked on a key ring to learn more about the park so they could become Junior Rangers.  She went on to tell me the boys could use the erasable marker provided and cross off all the items they found in the park while learning more about the Sinagua people.  When we returned, she would quiz them and then give them a certificate elevating them to Junior Rangers.  The boys were beyond excited about it.  It may have been partly because they got to hold and use a marker (which I tend to use sparingly with them since inevitably it's used on a wall, dresser, or couch in my home) but also because they love anything to do with nature.  Never-the-less we set off to see this ancient cliff dwelling built hundreds of years ago with a marker in their hand and an enthusiastic step in their pace.

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The kids were learning about the plant life in the area and keeping a look out for any wildlife.  Unfortunately, we didn't see much of any wildlife except a blackbird because of the time of year but they kept busy crossing off each new plant and sign they came across in their Junior Ranger book.

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Montezuma Castle is a 5 story cliff dwelling in northern Arizona and is quite impressive.  Niki and I chatted for awhile about the pros and cons of living in the side of the cliff.

Pros:

• Easy to see any enemies approaching
• Cool in the summer and warm in the winter
• Probably safer from bobcats and cougars
• Beautiful views of the land below

Cons:

• You have to climb up there - if children/babies lived there it must have been very difficult to bring them up and down the ladders
• You had to haul food and water up a vertical cliff
• If children even just slept up in there, you had to make sure they didn't fall

We have a theory - and it's just a theory - that the chief or wealthy families of the Sinagua lived up in the cliff dwelling.  The plaques along the path said about 35 people lived in the cliff dwelling and about 100 Sinagua lived in "Castle A" on the ground. Niki pointed out that if our theory was correct, the chief/wealthy families would be looking down on the people living on the ground and the people living on the ground would be looking up at those living in the cliff.  It makes a pretty powerful statement of who's in charge if you look at it from that stand point.  Besides that, in any society, who usually gets the fanciest home and best views?

Part of the excavated Castle "A" on the ground

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Montezuma Castle

The park has a paved path looping in front of the base of the castle that could easily take you less than half an hour to walk leisurely but we ended up spending close to two hours there. Niki and I helped the boys with their Junior Ranger book and I quizzed them all periodically about the Sinagua people based on the information provided along the path.

At the end, the boys were, in fact, quizzed by the ranger and answered all her questions correctly.  She pulled out certificates and each of them received one.

Receiving their certificates

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Saying their Junior Ranger oath

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And...of course, a Junior Ranger is only completely ready when he has a Junior Ranger hat and vest

 

 

"Hold my hand, I don't want you falling into the Grand Canyon"

We parked the van and opened the doors to realize our trip to the Grand Canyon was going to be much chillier than originally expected.  I immediately started digging through the duffle bags in the back of the van in search of the jackets and hats I had packed - anticipating the cool autumn air as we traveled back north.  Niki saved the day!  I had taught her how to knit shortly before our big excursion.  She passed the time on the drive by knitting and listening to the audio book we were all enjoying - "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry.  By the time we got to Arizona, she had knitted 3 scarves.  Those were snatched up in a hurry!

Niki knitting at a stop in Tucumcari, NM

There are free shuttles that take you around to different stopping points along the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  Most of these stops offered by the shuttles are not accessible by your personal vehicle so you need to park in the public parking and choose one of the buses for a ride to view the canyon below.

I will have to say, I'm very glad my mom came along with me.  There are areas with no guardrails and kids can easily fall into the canyon.  Chris didn't believe us and told grandma, "Don't worry, if I have a pillow, I'll be fine."  Um...no Chris.  That's not how this works.  We had to explain it to him on a 7 year-old's level of what would happen if we got too close to the edge.

Later we saw in the gift shop a book about all the known people who have accidently fallen into the Grand Canyon - 600.  So...if you have small kids, you may want to think twice about taking them to the Grand Canyon or alternatively have a high ratio of adults to children.

The kids are farther away from the edge than it appears in the photo.  Off to the side, outside the frame of this picture, is my mom ready to grab any child that moves unexpectantly...just to be safe.  Gotta love grandma!!!

At our first bus stop, there was a short path before seeing an unguarded (no rails or walls) view of the spectacular canyon below.  We had fun posing for photos on our way to the outlook.

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An example of the drop offs at the Grand Canyon

I picked up a handy dandy, fold out guide to the types of rock readily seen from the cliffs of the Grand Canyon.  The kids enjoyed finding the layers and identifying them using their guide.

It started to snow while walking around and the kids were getting antsy because of the drop in temperature.  We ended up looking at the canyon below us at four different stops before climbing back into our van in search of hot chocolate and coffee.  Overall, the kids, myself, and my mom enjoyed looking out into one of nature's phenomenal wonders.  The kids begged to hike down into the canyon...but that will be saved for a few years down the road.