GRAND CANYON TRIP, June 14th to June 21st 2006: A.K.A. "Draggin' Our Sorry Asses to Hell and Back" A.K.A. "Have Lounge Chair Will Travel".
This was a grand adventure on a grand scale, with it's share of excitement and uncertainties. We journeyed to the southwestern US with our good friends and most capable tour guides Arthur and Sharon. Arthur had just turned 59 on Tuesday and wouldn't you know it, his driver's license expired, so he got some "special treatment" at airport security. On the trip we saw many absolutely amazing and wonderful sites ... some of which we never would have even thought of (much less attempted), if left to our own devices. Flying into and out of Phoenix, we rented a Nissan Armada and started out with the only stop Janet and I contributed to the itinerary. This was Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West in Scottsdale, AZ, his western home, studio and school started in 1937. Not bad for a $10,000 investment. This was our easy day.
If you take a look at the pictures throughout this trip, you will notice a lot of sunshine and blue sky ... something we are not overly familiar with in Indiana. But the down side of this happens to be that the Southwest is currently experiencing the worst drought conditions of the last 500 years. So while we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the sun, we know the rains can't come soon enough for the area and it's residents. We hope and pray the rainy season, due in August, brings some much much needed relief.
Taliesin West Photos
Taliesin West Photos
Each day usually started with the standard routine of lathering on the sunscreen and piling into the Armada. Early on Thursday morning, we set off in earnest northbound on I-17 out of Phoenix. We made a stop in Flagstaff to pick up some supplies and perishables including cheap chaise lounge chairs and a small plastic cooler (not foam -- or polystyrene as Arthur would say). The foam coolers end up breaking on some of the dirt roads we would be taking. Arthur learned this valuable lesson the hard way on previous visits, mostly when he was driving on the dirt roads. We then bought groceries, lunch items, beer, wine, scotch (hey, you have to have your priorities) and ice before continuing on to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Words cannot express the true wonder of this place. Make sure you take a look at the pictures of the idiots (I mean people) standing on the edge of cliffs with no railings. 2000 to 3000 feet straight down! I got nervous just watching them, but then again I tend to appreciate living.
Grand Canyon - South Rim Photos
Grand Canyon - South Rim Photos
Grand Canyon - South Rim Photos
Grand Canyon - South Rim Photos
Still having a long day of travel in front of us, we left the park after lunch and started heading east north east on SR 64 over to SR 89 then right onto SR160 through the painted desert. I'd swear we took a wrong turn somewhere and landed on the moon. Eerie landscape. We turned left onto SR 163 in order to drive through Monument Valley to end the day at the small town of Mexican Hat. But first, per Arthur's strict instructions, we pulled over and got out the lounge chairs to watch the sunset at the exact spot where Forrest Gump finally stopped running in Monument Valley. Watch the movie to see if you don't agree. In Mexican Hat , we had a late dinner of Navaho stew and fry bread .... yummmm.
Grand Canyon - South Rim & Driving East Photos
Driving East Photos and Monument Valley
Monument Valley Photos
Friday was a short travel day, but huge on the awe factor. At Monument Valley, we had crossed over into Utah the night before and were an hour later (Mountain Time) than in Arizona. Just so you get your bearings, we were in an area very close to the Four Corners. That being the point where Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico all converge. We headed north on SR 163 with our first stop of the day being the namesake feature of Mexican Hat. Pretty obvious once you see it. Again the scale of most of the features we saw was part of their special attraction. They were huge! Then we took a slight detour onto SR 316 to see the Goosenecks along the San Juan River at Goosenecks State Park. We spotted a couple of rafts far below as they meandered back and forth along the twisting canyon. Looked like fun and fairly relaxing. Back on SR 163, we headed east and north again. We stopped for a cup of great coffee at Suzie's, which took at least a half hour to forty-five minutes for her to make four cups of coffee and have a chat with Arthur. Honking the horn did no good to speed up the stop. SR 163 turned into SR 191 through Bluff, Blanding and Monticello. We circled around the east side of the Abajo (or was it the Henry?) mountains and turned at North Creek road which intersected with SR 211. Our northern most destination for the day was Newspaper Rock. Here we saw a collage of Native American petroglyphs, hence the name.
Mexican Hat and the Goose Necks State Park along the San Juan River Photos
Newspaper Rock Photos
We traced our way back down 191/163, but this time made a stop in Bluff to check out the quaint stone homes and real estate. From there it was just a short trip to our turn off for the Valley of the Gods. This was a 17 mile dirt road winding through the huge stone structures, walls and temples. What a wonderful and awe inspiring place! Once again we had to break out the lounge chairs and enjoy a late afternoon stopover of beer and snacks in the midst of these wonders. Arthur noted this was also one of his favorite camping places and for good reason. Our final desitination of the day was the Valley of the Gods Bed and Breakfast. This is the only deeded property and development in the area and truly is an amazing place. Our hosts were Gary, Claire and Athena. The view from the front porch of this home is unequaled and spectacular. Other that the dirt road out front, there is not one single hint of anything manmade clear to the horizon. They are totally off the grid, which means they are totally independent of all utilities. Somehow they get phone service through some kind of antenna system. Electricity is generated by active solar panels and a small wind generator. Gary recently installed additional solar panels and an 800 gallon insulated buried tank for additional space heating and hot water needs. Heavy stone walls in several of the rooms also act as passive solar heating. They utilize propane and wood for backup heating. They do have a couple of wells, but potable water still has to be trucked in. Remember there can be up to ten people using water and taking showers so this a quite an experiment in renewable energy and energy conservation. Gary filters and burns used fry bread oil in his diesel truck, so I imagine their out of pocket energy costs are extremely low. More power (literally) to you, Gary and Claire!
Bluff and 17 Mile Drive through Valley of the Gods Photos
Valley of the Gods Photos
Valley of the Gods Photos
Valley of the Gods Bed and Breakfast Photos
On Saturday, I decided I could sleep some other time (which I paid for later in the day) so I got up around 3:30 am to watch the stars and see the sun come up. Magnificent. The breakfast was superb and soon we had to say goodbye to our hosts. The first adventure of the day was driving up SR 261 on the Moki Dugway which is a series of switch backs climbing up the 1100 foot high cliff that had been to our backs during our stay in the Valley of the Gods. We stopped several times just to take in the spectacular views. I had told Arthur that I had wanted to see some Anasazi ruins on this trip, so he decided to turn this into an adventure as well. We took a five mile dirt road turnoff to the right past mile marker 27 to a place called Owl Creek Canyon. From there we set off on a "short" hike with a few "Technicals." Yeah, right! We learned that is an English euphemism meaning "Difficult, dangerous and damn hard." We had to climb down a steep canyon gorge to see the ruins and then climb back out. No ADA access here! But the ruins turned out to be definitely worth the treacherous hike. Here we could get right up close and personal to the ruins and really take in the feel of the place. Hard to imagine these were the homes of people living here 2,000 years ago!
We turned left at the Abajo (or is it the Henry?) mountains and got on SR 276 to the Charles Hall ferry at Lake Powell. Because of the drought, and the fact the water lever in the reservoir is down at least 50 feet, they had to move and rebuild the landing point, which really surprised Arthur. The ferry ride took about 45 minutes and soon we were traveling on to the north. We took a left turn and got on the Burr Trail upon entering Capital Reef National Park. No ranger station, no ticket booth, no nothing ... just a dirt road and very strange landscape. Gave Arthur the creeps. The road turned back to asphalt at the top of another series of switchbacks with a breathtaking view. We stopped for a beer break and Arthur demostrated how the canyon walls bounced noises around. He hiked off a ways about 500 feet and turned around and started talking to us is a normal voice and we could hear him just fine. We had to pass on the Upper Muley Twist Canyon which Arthur said was a fun area for 4 wheel driving low and spectacular views, but I and the others just weren't up to it. Another time perhaps. We followed the Burr Trail through Long (red rock) canyon to Boulder, Utah (our final destination for the next two nights) where I crashed for the evening and took a much needed sleep.
Valley of the Gods Bed and Breakfast Photos
Valley of the Gods Bed and Breakfast Photos
Moki Dugway and Owl Creek Canyon Photos
Anasazi Ruins and Owl Creek Canyon Photos
Lake Powell and Capital Reef National Park Photos
The Burr Trail Photos
It was great not having to pile all our junk back into the Armada. Sharon made some coffee on Arthur's portable stove and we all ate from our stash of fruit and nuts that we had been accumulating. Poe's place was right across the street from the Anasazi State Museum and Arthur started getting worried that our hazadous journey down Owl Creek the day before might have been for naught. We went back to Long Canyon to view a large slot in the morning light. Janet had her own name for this feature that you'll have to ask her about yourselves. Once again, we set up the lounge chairs in order to wait for the sun to get to the perfect angle. Wouldn't you know it, that happened to be just about noon. We picnicked at the Anasazi Museum before seeing what it had to offer. It was big on the history but the site behind was not much to see, so Arthur was relieved. It was Janet's turn to take some time off, so she stayed behind while Arthur, Sharon and I drove to Hell's Backbone Bridge. This was the furthest north we were to go on this whole trip, hence the name I've coined for this overall adventure. It was a pretty neat bridge that spaned between two mountain tops, but when Arthur had last seen it, it had be made of wood and had looked very unstable. Maybe that's why since then a new concrete span has been erected that looks very sturdy. You could see the old timbers far below. That evening we dined, and I do mean dined, at the Hell's Backbone Grill back in Boulder. This place was a real gem complete with it's own garden. The food was superb. They even had a liquor license ... very rare for Utah. The two Owners and the restaurant had even been written up in the New York Times and Oprah's magazine. Both Janet and Sharon bought copies of a beautiful recipe book that the Owner's had published a couple of years ago. I'm expecting or at least hoping to experience more of that place via their cookbook.
Long Canyon Photos
Long Canyon Photos
Long Canyon Photos
Anasazi State Park & Hell's Backbone Bridge Photos
Hell's Backbone Bridge and Grill Photos
We departed Boulder after eating breakfast and ording a picnic lunch from the Hell's Backbone Grill. I guess you might say we couldn't get enough of that place. The drive to Bryce Canyon was via scenic SR 12. At one spot the road followed the ridge of a mountain and was literally width of the pavement on both sides while curving back and forth. Hard to look at the scenery while trying not to go off a cliff. We arrived at Bryce around 10 am. Now it was Sharon's turn to hold back (she wanted to do some office work while we had a cell connection) while Janet, Arthur and I took a little .8 mile hike in and around the fantastic features at Bryce. We discovered that .8 mile hike stopped at the bottom of the cliff (who would have thought) and to continue on to the otherside of the canyon top was another 1.4 miles. Janet almost didn't make that one because she had forgotten her hat and we only each had our little bottles of water. But she managed to make it back to the top after Arthur doused her head with water. We enjoyed our Hell's Backbone Grill picnic lunch and drove around the rest of Bryce Canyon. Once out of the park we turned south and headed down a dirt road that Arthur said was a short cut to Jacob's Lake. We were on that dirt road for about 80 miles and Arthur spotted smoke way off in this distance and said that looked like Jacobs Lake. We all said sure ... right. We drove by the trailhead to get to the "Wave" but without a permit and 95 degrees outside we thought we would save that adventure for another day. As it turned out, Arthur was right and there was indeed a wildfire a couple of miles from where we were staying for the night. Luckily, we were upwind from the fire and were told that it was "mostly contained." Arthur and Sharon's cabin was really primo. You couldn't even open the door all the way because it hit the end of the bed. And the man on the other side of the thin wall separating the rooms snored all night.
Scenic SR 12 Photos
Bryce Canyon National Park Photos
Bryce Canyon National Park Photos
Bryce Canyon National Park Photos
Bryce Canyon National Park Photos
Bryce Canyon National Park Photos
Dirt Road Drive to Jacob Lake Photos
Dirt Road Drive to Jacob Lake and Wildfire Photos
In the early morning, we all smelled smoke which kind of woke everyone up except Arthur. I think the winds had died down overnight and the smoke from the wildfires had settled down to ground level and spread out. Irregardless we decided to push on to the north rim asap, so Sharon made Arthur get his sorry ass moving. This turned out to be a really good move because we made the 45 miles down to the lodge through the fire line in plenty of time to enjoy a wonderful and leisurely breakfast right next to a huge picture window overlooking the canyon. Wow! Everyone agreed that this ranked right up there as one of the all-time best breakfasts and views ever.
All too soon, we had to say good-bye to the Grand Canyon north rim and high-tail it back up SR 67 past Jacobs Lake Inn to SR 89 and head back around the east side of the canyon. We crossed over the Colorado River at Lees Ferry and the Navaho Bridge then headed south back through the desert. We stopped in Cameron for our last taste of Navaho Stew and Fry Bread. Our last night was booked in Sedona and discovered they were experiencing worse wildfires that Jacob Lake. South of Flagstaff, SR 89 was closed through Oak Creek Canyon due to the fire on Brins mesa so we took a detour on Schnebly Hill Rd. This was a dirt and rocky road that gave us quite a view of the fire as viewed from the south.
Grand Canyon National Park North Rim Photos
Grand Canyon National Park North Rim Photos
Grand Canyon National Park North Rim Photos
Colorado River Navaho Bridge and Drive to Sedona Photos
Sedona Photos
Sedona was Arthur's way of easing us back into civilization. We had the morning to take in the sites so Arthur and I set off for a short hike up Cathedral Rock (Arthur said it was an energy vortex where many people come to get re-energized) and look back at the beautiful views of Sedona, while the ladies waited for the shops to open. Of course the wildfire was overshadowing most of the news. We watched the helicopters and skycranes carry water and retardant from their base of operations at the airport in the valley to the fire high up on the mesa. We heard there were over 600 firefighters battling the blaze and trying to protect and save the million dollar homes in Oak Creek Canyon. We left Sedona at 11:30 am in order to make our flight out of Phoenix. We turned in the Armada and left the lounge chairs and cooler (with a few beers still in it) with the gal attendent who was very appreciative. Simply put, I think we all enjoyed a great time in a beautiful part of the country.