The Adventurous Squirrel

T Squirrel decided to get off the paved roads and take a beaten track out into nature to see some beautiful Sedona sites with Pink Jeep Tours.  He signed up for the 3 Hour Scenic Rim Tour (Scenic Rim 3.0).  The tour took a very bumpy and rocky trail through the Coconino National Forest to the top of the Mogollon Rim, 1500 feet in elevation. During the trip, the guide and driver pointed out interesting sights and talked about the area and the history.  He even told us that the trail that we were using was once a paved road and sometimes, even now, google maps will use it as the most direct route, through the Coconino Forest, from Rt 17 to Sedona.  T Squirrel suggests that you do not attempt this route unless you are in a high clearance vehicle with 4WD!!! Starting on Schnebly Hill Road and the Munds Wagon Trail the tour took T Squirrel up to the Mogollon Rim, a huge rock wall which extends over most of Arizona.  Time was given to walk about and admire the views and to take photos

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument Less than 100 miles south of the Grand Canyon and a short drive north of Flagstaff Arizona are two national monument parks.  While quite different, these parks are joined together by a 35 mile loop.  T Squirrel would have paid a single entry fee to visit both parks, but he's covered with his America the Beautiful National Park season pass. The first monument is Sunset Crater Volcano.  Created from an eruption sometime between 1085 and 1090 AD, this cinder cone is the youngest of the volcanoes found in the San Francisco volcanic chain.  The summit is at 8,042 feet.  The cinders are primarily made of basalt which piled up in cone form during the eruption.  During eruption the lava flow formed what is now the Bonito and the Kana-a lava flow fields. The Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument was created by President Herbert Hoover in 1930 to protect this unique feature.  After there were plans to detonate explosives on the cone in order