Grand Canyon

South Rim Tues 5 June

Got up early. Lovely morning. Walked the old town of Flagstaff admiring the fine old buildings including the Weatherford Hotel where Zane Gray & Wyatt Earp are meant to have hung out. Some of the buildings, including our B&B, are built out of moencopi sandstone which is quarried locally. We had a great coffee at a local cafe, Macy's. Flagstaff is a university town & benefits somewhat from that I think. It's got a bit of something going on including great cycling facilities: bike lanes on the roads everywhere; in fact, this week is Ride to Work & we saw dozens of people cycling this morning.

We got back to our B&B & had a very nice breakfast then set off for Grand Canyon via Safeway & the gas station. The supermarkets here are great with lots of options & especially good are the salads you can choose & buy by the carton making for great lunches.

As it turned out, we had little for lunch today. Too hot to eat outside anywhere - 94 deg F (34 deg C) was the highest today but the temperature fluctuated a lot as there was a very strong wind.

We drove to Grand Canyon via Wupatki & Sunset Crater Volcano where we did a very interesting lava flow walk & visited some fascinating "pueblos" which are ruins of dwellings used by indigenous Navajo families. Lots of nice plants: saltbush, apache, ponderosa pines, juniper.

As we entered the Grand Canyon NP about 3 p.m., traffic & crowds of course started to increase but we had been told by our hosts at our B&B in Flagstaff about a "secret" place to go to enjoy the Canyon in peace & quiet. We walked 20 mins from an unmarked spot & had the place exclusively. Very peaceful.

But to be honest, by the time we reached our lodge in the Grand Canyon Village about 5.30 p.m., the crowds were not anything like I had expected & we enjoyed wandering around the rim of the canyon, walking down the Bright Angel Trail a little way down into the Canyon itself, then back up again to walk more of the rim as the sun was gong down.

We sat on the stone fence eating pistachios (bought on the drive across from Yosemite to Monterey last Saturday - wow, does that seem like a long time ago!) & having a bourbon & coke - our Mr Page from our wine tasting in Yountville in the Napa Valley told us he drinks only Maker's Mark so we bought some at the supermarket. (As an aside, it's interesting here: in Safeway, if you don't have a "card" then you won't get the discount on "specials"; as we went through the check-out in the supermarket in Flagstaff this morning, the lady behind us put our groceries through on her card which was very nice of her, so we got the specials - & she got the discount on her petrol on her card! A good deal all the way round...).

As I was saying, we had bourbon & coke and nuts while watching the sun go down over the Grand Canyon. Very nice. And My Friend kept observing the Transit of Venus with his special $2 glasses from the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. He was very chuffed.

But he wants dinner now, so I'd better finish this blog for the day!

North Rim 6 June

Total walked today 13.5 kms

Started the morning 5.30 a.m. Looked out the window - we are right on the Rim - & saw nice morning sunrise light on the Canyon; when I stepped outside - some others out there were still in their PJs (mind you, when I raced back in to tell My Friend about the elk, HE emerged in his PJs too!; & my hair - when I checked later - was definitely "bed hair"!) & there were BIG elk with BIG antlers. Honestly, you would have thought they'd been rolled out just to entertain the early-morning insomniac tourists.

We set off about 6 a.m. & using the shuttle buses, did our first walk of the day starting from the Kaibab Trailhead back along the Rim Trail. Then we took another shuttle bus (all free) along Hermit's Rest Road & stopped off at Hopi Pt to walk to Mohave Pt. We had the place almost totally to ourselves. Just lovely.

The plan today is to travel from the South Rim to the North Rim.

Now of course, you can't just drive across the Canyon. It would be only about 12 kms to do so! Instead, you have to drive around the Canyon: first east back out the way we came in yesterday to the Cameron Trading Post (about 83 kms) then turn north for 93 kms along Hwy 89, then turn back west along Hwy 89A for about 88 kms before turning south again on the Grand Canyon (north) NP road to reach North Rim. A total of about 340 kms.

Along the way the scenery was absolutely magnificent well & truly justifying the trip to the North Rim. Along Hwy 89 were the most amazing serrated edge ridges (one little town is called Vermillion Cliffs so I guess that is a good place to start colour-wise) - the colours were pink, rose & cream & against the blue sky it was just so beautiful.

We stopped at Lees Ferry on the 89A near Marble Canyon. There used to be ferry to cross the Colorado River here (manned by Mr Lee) but then a bridge across was built in the 1930s - a huge span which was BIG news at the time; another one was built later & the first de-commissioned to vehicular traffic.

On one of the spans perched 2 condors. Below, the Colorado was wide & the most beautiful emerald green.

We arrived at the North Rim about 3.30 p.m. The Grand Canyon Lodge is in a sensational position right on the Rim & the views are incredible. We love our cabin.

This place is really another world. North Rim is about 300 m higher than South Rim so you get a wonderful perspective. Even the drive in was so different from South Rim with its dry, desolate, painted deserts. Here, there are huge grassy alpine meadows & forest of conifers - so green. Altitude here is over 2400 m (higher than Mt Kosciuscko). Got to 92 deg F (33 deg C) today but that was before we climbed up to North Rim - it is much cooler here.

Late in the afternoon we drive around to a remote area of the Rim stopping at Roosevelt Point & a little way on we walked the Cliff Springs Trail down a forested ravine & under a large overhang to the spring. Back at the car there was a viewpoint where we could clearly see the Colorado River way down below winding its way through the Canyon. Of course by now the colours are terrific as we drive on to Cape Royal for the sunset. Another viewpoint here, called Angels Window, offers breath-taking views.

Back at the Lodge, we had a drink in the Saloon Bar to which we were drawn by the sound of The House of the Rising Sun playing & found a couple of country & western singers entertaining the small crowd there.

We had dinner in the massive dining room with its soaring ceilings & views across to South Rim.

As My Friend put it: "this place rocks".