Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

On the morning of December 1st, I drove from Phoenix to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument to photograph the 18 inches of snow they had received two days ago. From Phoenix, to Flagstaff it's only 130 miles. I moved from Illinois, to escape the snow, and I still like to see it, but only for one day. After having dinner in Flagstaff, I returned to the much warmer Sonoran Desert.

When I lived in Arlington Heights, Illinois, I used to get depressed every winter, and my OCD usually became worse. However, living out of my Honda CRV near Phoenix during the winter, has mostly eliminated my depression. It's still there in the morning, but goes away much quicker with the sun beaming through the car windows at sunrise, and directly on my face. However, winter is the second rainy season in the Sonoran Desert, but the occasional cloudy skies, rain, and flash flood warnings are easier to deal with, and the desert is beautiful after a heavy rain. If I want to see snow I can just drive up to the Colorado Plateau or the Mogollon Rim.

Sunset Crater Volcano

The Bonito Lava Flow

The Bonito Lava Flow

The Bonito Lava Flow

This is called a squeeze-up. It forms when molten lava oozes through a crack in a solid lava shell. The pressed -up lava is very plastic, like clay, and is molded into a wedge-shaped mass as it rises from the crack.