Montezuma's Castle, Arizona

For the first time EVER, hubby suggested we pull off the highway (highway 89) and stop at Montezuma's Castle.  Do you know how many times we have driven by it and have NEVER stopped?  A LOT...We pulled in about 10:00 a.m. and clouds were gathering above.  Otherwise it was a nice day.  It wasn't too crowded there and with hubby's National Park pass, we were able to walk right in.  I was surprised and impressed by the beauty of the ruins.  They are up high on a cliff and were built about 1100 A.D. and were used for about 300 years, when the inhabitants suddenly disappeared.  There is a river nearby, the Beaver Creek, so the inhabitants had a plentiful water source to irritate their crops.  You would never know it is there, just driving by...it is so well tucked away into the canyon. This site was much more interesting than the crumbled ruins near Lynx Lake.  Apparently this one was better protected from the elements because it IS built right into the cliff.  You can still see windows and doorways of it and I tried to zoom in on a few of them, and I'll post those photos later.  I'm so glad that we finally stopped to see this marvelous ruin!