Monday, June 18 (Pat)
We were up by 6am to get ready for our Grand Canyon tour today. At 7:30 we walked over to the office and met our other five members of the group from Utah, a brother, sister, and mother, plus spouses. A small bus/van pulled up with big side windows – our tour guide for the day was Dave. With only seven of us we could all sit on the scenic left side to start out. A quick stop at ‘Starbucks with a view’ and up Oak Creek Canyon. Dave enlightened us on history tidbits about the area while driving up the scenic, narrow canyon. In an hour we were in Flagstaff. Heading past the tallest peaks in Arizona (San Francisco Peaks), an old volcano on Interstate 80, we drove through ponderosa forests on the Colorado plateau to more sage, juniper, and pinion pine forests the closer we got to the National Park. The first stop was the IMAX theater outside the park. A close up, spectacular view of the canyon, the Indian history, and explorer history. Rafting the river rapids with Powell was amazing to watch. You expected to get wet. Got to see a lot of smaller canyons and other areas in the movie that you wouldn’t see otherwise. In the van we also watched a movie about the mules in Grand Canyon – everything tat is in to bottom was hauled in by a mule. Some great shots of what it must be like riding the mules down the Bright Angel Trail.
Next stop was lunch at the Village Cafeteria. You could pick your entrée, soup or salad, a drink, and dessert. It was a good feed. Dave joined us and we headed over to the El Tovar Lodge/Hopi House stop. It was blue sky, good visibility, and comfortable warm to enjoy the awe-inspiring views. The canyon is ten miles wide – rim to rim. From this vantage point you can’t see the river – just the gorge where it runs. You can look down on the lower plateau and Indian Gardens where the main trail down is. Then it is just appreciating the various striated rock masses, caused by time, layered between the rims. All shades of rust to cream. Overhead ravens and turkey vultures cruise the updrafts. Ron and I walk north along the rim, viewing and taking photos, then turn around and walk south past our starting point and continue on the rim trail. Near the Bright Angel lodge is a view point out on the white rock point. Below this was another white, flat, rocky outcrop. This is where some of the released California Condors were hanging out. Several times we got to see them fly around with their huge wing-span and red heads – pretty cool. Unfortunately it was time to head back to the van so we said good-by to the condors and joined the others.
We went a little further south along the rim to the Yavapai outlook/museum. More awesome views. Now you could see the green water of the Colorado River and Phantom Ranch. More photos, checking out the museum exhibits, and back to the van to head to Desert View on the east side of the loop. Here they have constructed a 70 foot tower with a viewing platform outside and then you can climb to the top to look out the enclosed upper level. Along the walls were replica cave/rock paintings to give an idea what they would be like as seen in the canyon. This view also looked onto the Painted Desert to the east – all shades of pink, mauve, and red. We could also see more of the river at the bottom as well.
We said good-by to the canyon views and headed east to Cameron on Hiway 64. The Little Colorado River/Canyon runs along here through the Navajo reservation. We leave the pine and juniper and pretty much just have sage and cactus at the lower level. At Cameron is a huge trading post. Lots of stuff/people. A woman was weaving a rug inside to watch. We got our souvenir turtle then homeward bound – snacks and water, and watched The Princess Bride on the DVD on the way back. We were dropped off right in front of our cottage.
A long and very enjoyable day. We had cereal and yogurt for dinner, downloaded our photos onto the laptop, and went to bed early to be ready for our next Sedona adventure!
We were up by 6am to get ready for our Grand Canyon tour today. At 7:30 we walked over to the office and met our other five members of the group from Utah, a brother, sister, and mother, plus spouses. A small bus/van pulled up with big side windows – our tour guide for the day was Dave. With only seven of us we could all sit on the scenic left side to start out. A quick stop at ‘Starbucks with a view’ and up Oak Creek Canyon. Dave enlightened us on history tidbits about the area while driving up the scenic, narrow canyon. In an hour we were in Flagstaff. Heading past the tallest peaks in Arizona (San Francisco Peaks), an old volcano on Interstate 80, we drove through ponderosa forests on the Colorado plateau to more sage, juniper, and pinion pine forests the closer we got to the National Park. The first stop was the IMAX theater outside the park. A close up, spectacular view of the canyon, the Indian history, and explorer history. Rafting the river rapids with Powell was amazing to watch. You expected to get wet. Got to see a lot of smaller canyons and other areas in the movie that you wouldn’t see otherwise. In the van we also watched a movie about the mules in Grand Canyon – everything tat is in to bottom was hauled in by a mule. Some great shots of what it must be like riding the mules down the Bright Angel Trail.
Next stop was lunch at the Village Cafeteria. You could pick your entrée, soup or salad, a drink, and dessert. It was a good feed. Dave joined us and we headed over to the El Tovar Lodge/Hopi House stop. It was blue sky, good visibility, and comfortable warm to enjoy the awe-inspiring views. The canyon is ten miles wide – rim to rim. From this vantage point you can’t see the river – just the gorge where it runs. You can look down on the lower plateau and Indian Gardens where the main trail down is. Then it is just appreciating the various striated rock masses, caused by time, layered between the rims. All shades of rust to cream. Overhead ravens and turkey vultures cruise the updrafts. Ron and I walk north along the rim, viewing and taking photos, then turn around and walk south past our starting point and continue on the rim trail. Near the Bright Angel lodge is a view point out on the white rock point. Below this was another white, flat, rocky outcrop. This is where some of the released California Condors were hanging out. Several times we got to see them fly around with their huge wing-span and red heads – pretty cool. Unfortunately it was time to head back to the van so we said good-by to the condors and joined the others.
We went a little further south along the rim to the Yavapai outlook/museum. More awesome views. Now you could see the green water of the Colorado River and Phantom Ranch. More photos, checking out the museum exhibits, and back to the van to head to Desert View on the east side of the loop. Here they have constructed a 70 foot tower with a viewing platform outside and then you can climb to the top to look out the enclosed upper level. Along the walls were replica cave/rock paintings to give an idea what they would be like as seen in the canyon. This view also looked onto the Painted Desert to the east – all shades of pink, mauve, and red. We could also see more of the river at the bottom as well.
We said good-by to the canyon views and headed east to Cameron on Hiway 64. The Little Colorado River/Canyon runs along here through the Navajo reservation. We leave the pine and juniper and pretty much just have sage and cactus at the lower level. At Cameron is a huge trading post. Lots of stuff/people. A woman was weaving a rug inside to watch. We got our souvenir turtle then homeward bound – snacks and water, and watched The Princess Bride on the DVD on the way back. We were dropped off right in front of our cottage.
A long and very enjoyable day. We had cereal and yogurt for dinner, downloaded our photos onto the laptop, and went to bed early to be ready for our next Sedona adventure!
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