Arizona and the Grand Canyon

Leaving New Mexico, we headed just across the Arizona border to the Canyon de Chelly area.  We were able to stay right in the National Monument at a lovely little campground near the river with lots of trees but not much in the way of hookups for our utilities.  We spent several days there sightseeing in the canyon, which is dramatic but also very approachable and easier to get around in than the more enormous canyons that we intended to visit further on.  We explored the rim and took a lot of photographs down into the canyon. 

This canyon is jointly managed between the Navajo Nation and the Park Service, and some of the Navajo still use parts of the canyon for agricultural and tribal purposes, as well as living there during the summer.  The Navajo have most of the concessions in the park, including the jeep tours, and they are in the process of taking over the campground itself and managing that as well.  Navajo vendors are all over the park areas, selling various handmade items as well.  We took one of the jeep tours, driven by Sally, a Navajo grandmother of 44, great grandmother of 12, and we enjoyed it thoroughly.  She was a mine of tribal stories and history, and gave us some real insights while we drove around the canyon. 

From Canyon de Chelly, we moved on to the Big Kahuna, the Grand Canyon National Park.  This had been Ivy's number one goal on our trip, and it did not disappoint.  We were able to get a campsite inside the park, at one of the RV parks maintained by the Park Service.  That was very helpful, as it put us close to the South Rim and able to run back and forth as needed to take our hikes and our shuttle tours.  We were even able to bike to the visitor center.  The weather was not perfect - we even had snow one evening and part of the next day, and the wind varied from peaceful to gale force.  But the sights lived up to their reputation.

Ivy and I are past the age when we could undertake the 15 mile hikes to the canyon floor and back in 100 degree heat. But we admired the hardy hikers from a distance and took some pictures of them and the burro trains that went up and down those death-defying trails.   For the most part, we stopped at scenic overlooks or hiked along the rim on the trails that they have laid out there.  And Ivy spent quite a bit of time on sunset and sunrise pictures, trying out different sites and looking for that perfect Grand Canyon sunset.  There are so many overlooks along the rim that it's hard to get to them all. And each one has a unique view to offer.

And of course, we did a bit of shopping and ate in a restaurant or two.  There are some fine lodges located right in the park and their restaurants are very respectable.  And the trinkets are appealing, if a bit overpriced.  The geology of the area is endlessly fascinating.  I bought a copy of the most popular book there, available in every gift shop.  It's called "Over the Edge:  Death in the Grand Canyon", and it is quite well written by two authors who have worked in the Grand Canyon for many years.  You couldn't ask for a more comprehensive compendium of human frailty, hubris, carelessness, poor judgment, and bad luck.  No wonder it's so popular. Hopefully, people learn from it and do better in the future.  But we saw plenty of folks playing on the edge while we were there, and I think that sort of behavior is just programmed in.

From the South Rim, we headed down to Flagstaff, Arizona for a short stay.  I got some bike repairs done, and we worked on a problem with the house batteries in the RV.  We did a bit of sightseeing and visited the Museum of Northern Arizona, a well known and regarded museum with a great collection of Arizona artifacts and stories.  They had a great church with pink marble, too. 



But a lot of our attention was focused on a side trip to Sedona, Arizona.  The town is famous as a tourist Mecca, and it is very beautiful, with a dramatic setting.  The drive down there is through a scenic canyon with wonderful views, and there are massive mesas and formations all around the town.  And there are a lot of tourist facilities, back country pink jeep tours, restaurants, ice cream palaces, etc.  One of our favorite sights was the chapel built into the side of the mountain just outside town.  It takes full advantage of its fabulous location and attracts numerous tourists.  One of those was a watercolor painter that we met, who, it turns out, is from the Seattle area and involved with a watercolor group in the northwest.  So Ivy and he had a long discussion and we picked up some information for Ivy when we return. Ivy also found a great little shopping area, built in an old Spanish village setup, with lots of tile and very charming buildings. 

Our next stop was Page, Arizona, located right on Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam.  The area is quite pretty, and we spent some time looking around and taking short hikes.  We even got our feet wet in Lake Powell.  But the big attraction was the rafting trip down the Glen Canyon, just below the dam.  This is a smooth water rafting trip, befitting our advanced ages and peaceful natures, but it is very dramatic and fun.  The guide was a fountain of great stories and knew the route well, having lived in Page her entire life.  The water in the river was freezing cold and splashed on us occasionally, but with the heat and the dryness, recovery was almost instantaneous.

We  spent several hours on the river in this raft, and pulled out again at Lee's Ferry, which is the last spot you can get serious vehicle access to the Colorado River for some 300 miles.  After Lee's Ferry, the rapids and the Grand Canyon begin and it is a very long way before the river becomes accessible again.   I was surprised to learn that almost half a million people have taken that rafting run over the time that trips have been available, given the challenging nature of the trip and the dangers involved.  But it seems that river guides have almost entirely mastered the art of rafting the Colorado.  And tourists love the trip.  On the way back to Page, we crossed the Navajo Bridge, the last crossing of the Colorado River for hundreds of miles.  From that vantage, we got a look at the intrepid souls who were heading down the river. 

Following Page, we launched ourselves up the mountain again to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  We stayed outside the park this time, in a very lovely RV park in the little crossroads town of Jacob Lake.  It was close to the park and allowed us to explore some of the local area as well as travel the North Rim.  The weather turned cold again, and we had at least an inch or two of snow one night.  But the days warmed up and we were able to drive around and sightsee without much trouble.  Though the altitude made hiking more strenuous than it usually is.

Our favorite part of the visit  was a drive along the road that borders the eastern part of the park.  This road affords views not only of the Grand Canyon itself, but some dramatic vistas of the approaches to the park and the formations that lead from the Glen Canyon Dam down the Colorado through Marble Canyon.  The view points are among the highest in the Park and the most dramatic.

I am continually impressed by the geology of the western United States.  The scale of these geologic events is so enormous and dramatic that it takes your breath away.  And it extends for hundreds of miles, changing its form and color as it moves but always overwhelming and impressive.  From here we take in some more dramatic sights in southern Utah.  We will be heading to Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Capitol Reef National Parks.  Then it's off to California and then home.  We're almost at the end.  It's hard to believe.