Flagstaff, AZ to Grand Canyon, AZ about 80 miles
The weather service promised us a clear, crisp day up on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. We packed a picnic lunch, lots of water and set out. It was a pleasant drive passing through what Arizona seems to think is a forest (widely spaced, short scrubby pine trees. Come to Shenandoah National Park if you want to see forest.). It was pretty wide open space and we failed to understand why the speed limit was consistently 55 mph. None the less, we arrived at the Canyon in about an hour and a quarter.
Today’s schedule involved us tackling the eastern part of the south rim by driving & stopping at the various view points and attractions. Then, we would take the free park service shuttle to the western part of the south rim (they don’t allow cars there) culminating in watching the sunset at Hermits Rest.
As was the case at Monument Valley, I was again surprised at the volume of foreign tourists. This time the Pacific Rim was well represented. It could have been an AARP convention as well, since the grey heads also ran a plenty. There was a noticeable lack of children, probably since school is in session.
We headed out to the first major overlook, Mather Point and Don took my hand and asked me to close my eyes while he guided me to the fence. When I felt the fence in front of me he told me to go ahead and open my eyes. I have to say that it was an inspired, cool way to get your first glimpse of the magnificence of the Canyon in one totally engulfing visual experience. (Thank You, Shannon Cate)
After the appropriate amount of awe, we forged on and headed to the Rim Trail and walked to the South Kaibab trailhead and then hopped the shuttle to Yaki Point.
(Sitting out on Yaki Point)
From Yaki Point we jumped back in the car and visited Grand View. Then we stopped for a picnic at Buggein. Did you know Pinot Grigio comes in a 1/2 liter waterproof, vacuum sealed container that is perfectly portable and stays fresh even while soaking in melted ice water in a styrofoam cooler?? Me either!
Once satiated, we plodded on to Moran Point. Between Moran Point and Lipan Point is a very small site that houses the Tusayan Museum and Ruin. This small but really cool site houses an ancestral Puebloan ruins site that is dated to 1100 a.d.
(Don standing next to a ceremonial ring. Me pointing out that this ruin is in better shape than Darren’s room.)
Lipan Point, our next stop, affords you the first glimpse of the Colorado River. We decided to take a little jaunt down one of the trails for a better view and quickly realized that while descending was tricky it was nothing compared to trying to climb back out of the canyon. (All props to Jill & Mike Allen, intrepid adventurers) For now we will stick to the Rim Trail.
( The Mighty Colorado River)
Our eastern excursion ended at Navajo Point, which is the highest point in the Canyon. We then hopped back on Desert View Drive and headed for the main Visitor’s Center. Since arriving out West, it has been my desire to view the sunset over one of these canyons. It didn’t work out in Zion or at Monument Valley but today I am determined to see the sun set over the Grand Canyon. We decide to grab the shuttle and head out to the end of the shuttle line at Hermits Rest for what I hope will be a spectacular, less populated view point. The Senior Citizen Brigade that is occupying my shuttle seems to opt for the closer in viewing areas and by the time we get to Hermits Rest there remains only Don & I, one other geezer couple and a few wannabe National Geographic photographer types.
I scurry out and climb up some rocks to stake my claim to a vantage point by spreading my pashmina out on the ground and proceeding to stand on it. ( That’s why the have dry cleaners, right?) I am not disappointed.
Night fall comes quickly after sunset out here and almost coinciding with sundown comes wind. We apply jackets and jump on the shuttle back to the Visitor’s Center to head back to Flagstaff. A small but significant fact that the guidebooks fail to mention is that the parking lots are not illuminated at night. Of course, I am prepared with a flashlight which happens to be back in the car that we now cannot find. Heck, we can’t even find the parking lot! Don looks like one of those deep ocean lantern fish as he holds his cell phone up in a desperate attempt to keep us in the vicinity of what we believe is the parking lot our car resides in. Eventually, we find said lot but since we can’t see anything it becomes a little challenging to locate the vehicle. Don starts pointing the automatic key in various directions and pressing the button. When he hits a northeastern point the car begins to signal back to us, “over here, assholes!” Unfortunately, in the pitch blackness he has hit the panic button instead of the unlock and the car continues to bellow at us while we cross the football field length parking lot until Don stumbles upon the disable button.
OK, now back to Flagstaff. Remember me telling you that we were laughing at what these Arizona folks refer to as a National Forest and that we could not understand why the speed limit was only 55 mph? Well, it became apparent to us as we were trying to make time back to Flagstaff. It seems the local deer schedule their speed dating meets in the middle of the highway about every 2 miles or so. After our second “near miss” we gain a new respect for the “National Forest”. Eventually, we arrive back in Flagstaff safe & sound and hit the sushi bar, sauna, whirlpool & bed in that order.
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