A Colorful Lizard, Ancient Structures, and Memories of Camping in the Lava Field
at the Bonito Campground in Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument - Letters from a Wanderer No 11
“I thought it was a fake lizard,” I heard a hiker walking in front of me say.
When I got to the spot he stood, I noticed the creature, too. As still as a statue (or a plastic toy) stood a colorful lizard perched up on a rock with the sign “Help us protect fragile plants”. It looked like it was there to bring attention to the sign.
Hello and welcome to another Letter from a Wanderer! Thank you for being here!
Hope you enjoy this post about one of my camping trip in Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.
The lizard didn’t move a muscle when I stopped near him on the trail. The only reason I knew he was alive was his rigid pose, with tensed muscles.
I didn’t get closer, so as not to step on any of the fragile plants he was protecting, but snapped a photo of him.
I am usually against using my smartphone while hiking (except for photos), but in this case it helped me identify my new lizard friend.
I found out he was a collared lizard, common in and around Wupatki, where I spotted him. His bright colors told me he was a male. Territorial, he didn’t back down when I got closer, rather stared at me. Considering he was so much smaller than me, it didn’t exactly scare me, though I detected a slightly menacing attitude. I’m sure he would’ve bitten me if I got closer.
I met this collared lizard on a morning hike along the trail to the Box Canyon Ruins, in Wupatki National Monument, after a night camping at the Bonito Campground in Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument nearby.
Jeff and I have been camping here for over thirty years during the hot Phoenix summers. First just the two of us, later with our kids, from the day they were tiny toddlers until they grew up and stopped going on trips with us. When they were young, we often camped several times in a season. It’s always been one of our favorite spots in Arizona.
This time, it was just the two of us. Our children grown, our youngest in college, we are back to traveling duo. And, since we no longer have to wait for weekends to take a trip, we often go on trips mid-week, and find the same places deserted, more peaceful.
On a Thursday night, the Bonito campground was quieter than we’ve ever seen it. While enjoying the tranquil setting, with only the bluejays and crows making an occasional noise, we were reminiscing about the old days of our stays there.
We first camped at Sunset Crater over thirty years ago, on a 4th of July weekend. We had just moved to Arizona that March, and were still exploring the state.
We knew nothing of the unpredictable weather in and around the high peaks surrounding Flagstaff. Which is why we were hiking without a care, in shorts and flimsy t-shirts even as dark clouds gathered around us.
Instead of a summer rain, the clouds brought a heavy hail storm, with ice pieces hitting us while hovering under a ponderosa pine.
The hailstorm came and went within minutes, leaving tiny ice balls on the black lava, and cooling the temperature for at least ten degrees. I was shivering, but laughing on top of Lenox Crater. I never experienced anything like that before, and never expected it on a hot, sunny day. However, the adventure contributed to my love for the area.
In later years, we camped with our kids, and through them, we met families who also camped at the site. One of the easiest ways to make friends when traveling is through your kids. Especially when young, children have no reservations playing with kids their age. As our kids made friends, we met the parents, and I remember on occasion we “visited” each other’s campsites and had picnic dinners together.
Our oldest child learned to ride a bike here, at barely 3 years old. Our ballerina daughter practiced dance moves here over the years. And our youngest observed wildlife and made up elaborate stories set in the crevices of the lava flow.
We’ve always seen several types of lizards, grey and Aberts squirrels, Steller jays, woodpeckers, and plenty of crows, besides larger mammals, like deer, elk, and pronghorns in the area. Most often it was our children who pointed them out.
This time was no different. During our sunset hike, we spotted a herd of elk in the distance in the field across the campground.
Listening to the wind in the Ponderosa pines and the rumble of thunder, I remembered a time when we were caught in a sudden rainstorm. No hail this time, but the rain lasted longer. And we got soaked inside our brand-new tent.
As our family grew, we didn’t fit in our old three-person tent. But the reason we didn’t bring the tent had nothing to do with this fact. We had no plans of camping that night when we left Phoenix. But, as it often happens with us, we changed our minds mid-trip. And as we did, we decided that we needed a larger tent anyway, we were too cramped in our old one. So, we stopped at the Walmart in Flagstaff and bought a six-person tent, large enough for the family. It was a decent tent, relatively easy to set up, and large enough for all our (new) blow-up mattresses to fit, also tall enough for the kids to stand in.
However, we didn’t waterproof the new tent. I didn’t even know you had to, and Jeff didn’t expect rain before he had a chance to do it at home. But, after we were all tucked in, ready to sleep in our new tent, a sudden rain started. A few minutes later, it was raining inside. We all got soaked and ended up leaving the campsite, driving the two hours home.
We learned over time that the weather was unpredictable here, since the mountain was making its own weather pattern, regardless of what was going on a few miles down the road. And in the later years, we were always prepared.
This time, however, we didn’t need to worry; the weather stayed calm all night long. A bright, full moon was lighting our way as we walked around the deserted campground on a Thursday night. We slept comfortably with no sudden noises waking us up in the middle of the night.
Before heading home in the morning, we drove along the Sunset Crater-Wupatki scenic road and stopped at several sites in Wupatki.
Watching the ancient structures in the morning light, we realized we had never visited them at this time of the day. We usually ended up here any time between midday through sunset, but not in the morning hours, when the light hits them from the east.
We spent time at the smaller sites, showing up at their best in the morning light. Lomaki Ruins was illuminated to show its best features, and the desert viewed from it showed up in colors I’ve never seen before.
The trail on our last stop, leading to Box Canyon Ruins, was the place where I met the colorful collared lizard, sunbathing and guarding the sign.
As I stopped to take his picture, he watched me closely. I tried to be as non-threatening as possible, as I leaned closer, without stepping off the trail.
I left him standing, like a statue on top of the rock, as I walked off towards the ruins. On my way back, I saw him running across the trail and perching on another rock across the way, this time closer to the trail. I stopped again, taking several more photos of him. This time, I caught him in motion, proving that indeed, he was not a plastic toy or a statue. is
If you’d like to read more about Sunset Crater and its vicinity, I have several posts about it on.
Things to Do Along the Sunset Crater - Wupatki Scenic Road
Visit Wupatki National Monument
Thank you for reading, and Happy Travels,
All the best,
Emese
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Such a beautiful creature! He may have been territorial but I've met lizards that were really curious before. Once when I was sitting on a secluded beach in the Bahamas waiting for my husband who was out snorkeling I watched a lizard slowly approach me a little bit at a time until he was so close that I thought he was going to jump on me!