Up into the mountains, it should be cooler there. This exit to Bumble Bee and Crown King is about an hour north of us and is one of the nearby areas we’ve never explored.

The drive to Crown King is about 28 miles of dirt road that leads into the Bradshaw Mountains. Along the way, I pass abandoned buildings and mining equipment.

After a lot of dust and a few switchbacks, I arrive on this sky island up at about 5,700 feet of elevation. It’s certainly cooler up here, but there’s nothing to do. Don’t need anything from the general store, not going to the saloon, who needs a gift, and I don’t have a quad to go exploring the local forest. While Crown King is certainly beautiful, I think this will be my first and last visit.

Hmmm, maybe our car dying was a part of the apocalypse because it seems the locusts are starting to take over. Then again, I am prone to looking for drama.

While I first visited Montezuma Castle back in the early 1980’s I’ve never been to Montezuma Well. The Sinagua that took this as their home grabbed some prime real estate here on the cliffside, as right below them is a small lake.

Actually, this “small lake” is a natural spring that is fed by a 1,500,000-gallon underground supply.

And butterflies, too. Alright, I’ve seen enough to know I have to bring Caroline back to Montezuma Well. The day trip is over; time to head back to Phoenix.