Montezuma Castle

 Set in a deep alcove of a limestone cliff is a five story dwelling which the Sinaguan people called home from about 1200 to about 1450 A.D. Standing about 100 feet above Beaver Creek, it is considered to be one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in the U.S. I'm not sure quite why I was more impressed with this over Tuzigoot or Palatki, maybe because this one was better preserved or seemingly larger, but it was a sight to behold! Access was by multiple ladders each taking you up one level (well in those days, they certainly weren't going to allow me to climb a ladder and be nosy!).  

 The castle boasts 19 rooms and would have housed about 35 to 50 people.

To the left of the castle was the remains  of Castle "A". This dwelling was quite  a bit larger with 45 rooms housing about  100 people. Unfortunately, a fire was determined to have broken out when it was occupied, destroying most of the dwelling. These large rooms had sycamore support beams and those, no doubt,  would have helped the fire spread quickly. Some new inhabitants have moved in, I saw hundreds of nests of cliff swallows in the area!

 Here's the base of the large and colorful

 Arizona Sycamore tree. Reaching heights

of about 80 feet, with a large canopy,

they are a VERY sturdy tree and

continue to grow and thrive about 200

years! I'm not sure how old this one

was, but I was indeed impressed!

Seed pod of the sycamore tree! It looked spiny and I really, really wanted to touch it...but unfortunately, it hung quite a bit over my head.