Meteor Crater in Northern Arizona

The Meteor Crater near Winslow, Arizona is a stop we always make when we are in the area. The weather for our visit a few weeks ago was cool/cold and cloudy. The crater is too large to fit in one photo. There are handy line of sight pipes at one of the overlooks to help orient the view. I’ve included one of a house size rock on the rim of the crater.

And a bill board of a 6’ tall astronaut and flag on the fence around the very center of the crater where some drilling was done and some of the old equipment is still in place.

The snow on the side of the crater that gets the least amount of sun helps for orientation too. The differences in light as the sunlight came and went between clouds influences the colors you see in the rocks.

The walls of the rim still show the trauma of the impact. I liked that the snow provided additional contrast to make the striations more visible.

Much of the rock is fractured from the impact and then rounded by erosion.

In my previous visits I took binoculars but this time I relied on the zoom capability of my camera and probably saw more on than my previous visits. It also helped that it was not blazing hot!