I'm breaking down the GC portion into multiple entries as of course it's photo intensive :)
Last installment, we had left the east watchtower and headed to GC village. It was quite a bit further than I anticipated (close to an hour). We got there and in my confusion of stressing (for no reason) and the very general email they sent out, I had JT drop me at the wrong lobby. I realized it as I was on deck for the receptionist. They were quite pleasant an pulled up my reservation (all the hotels are run by one group). She redirected me and in doing so, I had to walk past the daily train that runs up from Williams, AZ
Observation car.
Back of the train, about 9 cars or so. 2nd caris a vista dome caar
1950s era F series diesel. Saw a lot of these when I was a little kid. This was off on a siding, not sure if it's useable or not.
Modern motive power to pull the tourists. The cars I would guess are from late 40s to 50s with the aluminum sides. There is one train a day for passengers. The next morning we heard another around sunrise. We are guessing they bring a frieght and have another siding away from the tourists to bring food and other consumeables (proably a couple times per week). This is the only national park with a K-12 school in the park (up to 5K park employees live in the park).
After checking into the room, we took the 200 yard walk up to the rim. Pretty much right at the top of the Bright Angel Trail. 180 panorama shot. 25 years ago Lucy and I took the one day mule ride down into the canyon. Would have liked an overnight but it wasn't available, so we jumped on the only available one.. Later I will point our how far we got down to Plateau Point.
Late afternoon sun throwing cool shadows. I was excited to spend the nnight so I could watch the sun go down.
We decided to beat the dinner rush and ate a little early, then headed back to the room and grabbed some warmer clothes and headed toward Mather Point and the Visitor Center as after sunset there was an astronomy program. Here we are at the Visitor Center Parking lot. Yep we missed it by a few minutes due to anelk traffic jam.
Dying light looking west from Mather Point. Pics don't capture how you could see darkness strate sweeping over the canyoun. We had about an hour to kill until the program. We poked around looking for a sunrise option for the morning and then went to the talk. The resident astronmer was good, he talked about a lot of the general stuff for newbies, pointing out many of the well known features of the northern night time sky.
Because of the dark sky, he did go a bit deeper and we asked him a couple of questions that made him realize there were a few more well versed auidence members. Prior to going outside to look up (scattered clouds was a little bit of a damper) He asked if anyone would be in Flagstaff the next night and to come to talk to him.
He had passes to go to Lowell Obseritory the follwiing night. Of all the luck, we were in Flagstaff LAST night.and had reservations in Vegas the following night. Oh well.... He later pointed out a bunch of visible constellations and it was a good talk. We headed back to the room and set the alarm early for sunrise.
Hard to tell, but this is the first light from the east the following morning. The cloud deck was in full play so it wasni't a banner sunrise, but hey, I'm at the Grand Canyon watching the sun come up. Can't complatin too much!
Sun over the top of the lower cloud deck lighting up the cumulus far to the north.
The museum didn't open for another 90 min, so we headed back and checked out and had breakfast. There were a fair amount of the these Rocky Mountain Elk around. It was dating season so the bucks were friskiy!
Back at the hotel, JT went in the shower and I opened the blind and Mommy and baby were 10 feet from the window. I sat there with my coffee and muffin watching them eat grass for at least 15-20 min until they left.
View from the Geology museum. The flat plateau on the left with the point is, you guessed it, Plateau Point. Lucy and I rode out there on the mule ride we went on in 1998. From this pic it is (per the signage) 2 miles line of site to the point. It is 4000' lower than us and 1000' above the river. It took us 14 hours to go down and come back with all but about 40 minutes in the saddle.....yeah my butt hurt.
Actual rain in the GC. First time I have gone in Sept. Other trips were both in May. Apparently this is the we season. Other two trips were zero clouds, so this was neat
The geology museum was also well worth the stop. They had this really cool 3D map of the canyon and lots of other good info on the formation and history..
It was about a 4 hour drive to Hoover Dam and we had a dinner date inn Vegas, so by 9:30 we were back on he road heading west again.
Again, we were up and at them early this morning. Stopped the night before and got more food, etc. as we had some drivining but also were going to be far away from towns.
We had coffee and muffins in the room while we got ready as this hotel didn't have breakfast. We got on the road for the short jaunt of about 45 minutes to Meteor Crater.
The low rise on the left is actually the rim of the crater. This was from about 10 miles away, maybe 12. I didn't notice it last time I came 25 years ago until I got alot closer. It's several hundred feet high.
When you stand on the edge of the crater, there is no frame of reference and you think, oh. it's not that big. Then the tourguide points to a tiny rock on the rim and says it's the size of a two story house. It's close to a mile wide rim to rim. Lot's of cool history, it is privately owned Natural Landmark, so not part of the Park Service.. about 50,000 years ago, a 150 foot chunk of iron and nickel blasted the hole into the earth at 26,000 MPH. They have a chunk they found a dozen or so miles away in the museum.
This open window looking out across the plain looked like a painting in real life. Its actually an opening in the wall. Kinda had a Wes Anderson feel to it. I liked it. It's a cool spot, worth the stop, but 2 hours maybe a tad more is plenty to see everything about the crater.
Here is a good overview video of the site and some of its history
We were back on the road before noon and I jumped off a few exits early to catch about 10 miles or so of the historic ride. There were practically no cars on it until we got into the built up area. Saw some folks posing with their convertible at another of these signs. We stopped for gas and another run into the grocery store as we had run out of a couple of items overnight.
Back north on US 89 to the reservation and then we made a left onto AZ 64.
Looking at the map above this is the first red arrow on the right. It is outside the park and I thought it was part of the Grand Canyon, but it is not. It is the Little Colorado River Gorge and it does feed into the park itself. I'm pretty sure this in on Navajo land as we passed several roadside vendors selling jewelry and art. I wanted some, but I had zero room in my bag for anything. All I bought were a couple of fridge magnets and a t-shirt.
Panaroma from the east watch tower and JT's first view of the canyon. This is the other arrow on the map. I was a little concerned with the rain the day before, but as you can see the visibility was outstanding.
On my previous two trips I drove up from the south from Williams. AZ. This is a great way to come into the park (or leave). My manager at work suggested that I take it and boy was he on the money.
Here we are waiting for our turn to go up in the watchtower. It's 70 feet high and there are a lot of paintings on the walls inside it that tell stories. We could have spent hours in it, but you get 20 minutes and then the next group comes through. This picture is looking to the north rim.
Phone reception was not very good in the park and I was concerned about our reservation (there was no problem, but recalling an experience from 1990 at the lodge in Yosemtie I had unfounded concerns but we were G2G). I also forgot that AZ does NOT do daylight savings time, so I thought it was an hour later than it really was.
Hard to believe 3 decades have passed since I became a father, but there you go. When I fould out he had the addit.ional days off, I was very excited to spend this day with him. Through a series of events, he totally dictated what we would do on this day. This was the only day, I had not made any hotel reservations, as the rest of the trip was on a timeline for various reasons. I left this day open as in Kanab we had a good central base to head off in several directions (Zion, Bryce, or the North Rim of the GC).
Kanab, UT at 7AM. We were up with the big tour bus at our hotel and beat it out of the parking lot. The hotel actually had a decent breakfast which we quickly scarfed down and hit the road.
We were so early back to the park the east gate was not manned so we drove right in. I have an annual pass we bought in Salt Lake last year and it was still good until October. It REALLY paid for itself this year! I have the NPS app on my phone and found out there is a ranger led bus ride that is free and FCFS. We directly headed there and got signed up for the 10AM one. We had time to kill, so we walked to the history museum about .75 miles away through this nice medow.
The tour was by bus and only about 20 people were on it. It did fill up and the standby ladies made the cut and were able to join. It made 5 stops working up the canyon toward where the Narrows start.
Here is our ranger talking about art. They have a resident artist program and she talked about the different pieces she liked that had been donated to the park and showed us the depicted scenes. Also, geology and history of the area.
If you squint real hard on the righthand peak there are people up there. It's and easy hike but you need a permit to it and there were none left for the day we were there. Have to go back!
Panorama of the same view. The road on either side was straight so this is about 180 degees of viewing.
Last stop of the tour and then the bus made a bee-line back to the visitor center. I unconciously framed the bus in this shot and only just noticed that a minute ago. I guess I have a bit of an eye for photos maybe....It was raining lightly at this point but a check of the radar showed it was pouring up at Bryce Canyon so we definitely made the right call the day before!
Upon leaving Zion and getting back on the road toward Kanab, we decided to stick with plan A and head to Flagstaff as JT really wanted to see Meteor Crater. I booked us a room easily and off we went. We had options for the drive but after talking to our ranger, we chose the northern route as it had more mountains vs. the pine forest. Pretty much US 89 south to Flagstaff.
I didn't realize it would take us past the Glen Canyon Dam. We of course had to stop for stamps in a our passports! Bonus round!.
Ouut front of the visitor center, real dinosaur footie prints. Therapods, forgot which type but thiey looked kinda like the nasty ones for Jurassic Park Movie.
Back side of the dam. They have had a wet winter, spring and summer and the water is up a bit from where it was but still waaaaaay down from where it was 20 years ago.
JT took over driving at the dam and we were just leaving Paige, AZ when I saw a sign and yelled, "Turn here!" He whipped the corner and I paid the city to park to see the famous Horshoe bend in the Colorado River at the top of the Grand Canyon. It was a 20 minute walk out but there was rain coming so we hoofed it in about 10.
It was definitely worth the stop! Score another bonus round (no stamps though). We hung out for a few minutes taking it all in with one eye on the impending rain.
I really liked this rock with the different layers. I walked toward it get a photo and that girl jumped up on it. With the rain coming, I didn't want to wait and took it anyway. Shot came out alright.
More layers out the car window heading south, We had just driven down off the top the plateau.
Birthday boy cruising down US 89. On this stretched he talked to his Mom, and my Aunt (JT and her share the birthday).
If you are a Tony Hillerman fan (author of fiction about Navajos) you'll understand. I had considered staying in a hotel in Tuba City, but found out I wouldn't find an open resturant on a Sunday.
Sunset Crater on the left and Mt. Humphreys on the right with a lenticular cloud hanging out for good measure. Flagstaff was just on the other side of these volcanos
I found out this rare bit of trivia about the Eagles Song 'Take it Easy'. Apparently the Winslow girl in the flatbed ford was a girl in Flagstaff in a Toyota pulling out of this particular hot dog stand....A bit less romantic, lol.
JT getting his kicks on Route 66! Off to bed early again, another full day tomorrow! .
Being on Eastern time we woke up fairly early despite being up kinda late. We packed out of the motel and hit the road a little after 8. Made a stop at the grocery store as we had procured a cooler for the southern portion of the trip. We got on I-15 and headed toward Zion NP. I was unaware that I-15 clipped the corner of Arizona, so we hit three states on the drive up there.
Random shot somewhere around the AZ border... We arrived in Springdale, UT just outside the park around 11:00 and it was a zoo! Tons of people and we drove up to the gate at Zion and had to wait at least 30 min to drive in.
We get in the park aand can't find any parking at the visitor's center. We have stamps to get in our NP passports!! We do two laps around the lot and head out. I figure we can drive around and come back later. It still being summer season, the canyon floor road is closed except to shuttles. We continue up the only available route and stop off to snap some photos.
It is an impressive canyon with tons of cool features.
We jump back in the car after noting just how crowded it was and head up the mountain road some more. A couple of hundred yards later there is a traffic stop. There is a tunnel built by the CCC during the 1930s (dug by hand mostly) and it is narrow, so any RVs have to drive down the middle, so it becomes a one lane road for a few minutes. I strike up a conversation with the ranger and glean some good intel: from the east gate (direction we are headed), it's 30 minuttes to our hotel town (was closer to 45 but we were sightseeing too). I relay this info to JT and he suggests we just leave this park and go to Bryce Canyon right now (about 90 miles). and come back to Zion bright and early the following day. Great idea and off we go!
The ride up there is uneventful and we drive with beautiful weather up US 89 and through Red Canyon on UT 12. It is also extremely beautiful and worth the stop, but we get a few snaps on the way out during the Golden Hour (see below).
Bryce is far less crowded and we go through the visitor's center, get our stamps and head off on the shuttle around the rim.
Our first view of Bryce Canyon from the parking lot at Bryce's Point
Bryce's point looking back at the rim. We walked a fair bit of the rim that is behind our heads.
Tremendous views, of course these don't do it justice. The clouds were throwing shadows and we were surprised how green everywhere was. It is their rainiy season, but it has been especially wet this year. A ranger told me it was extra lush the past few weeks.
We both wished we had time to hike down into the Hoodoos (rock formations) and wander around them, however, we got there after 2PM and there just wasn't enough time to do it.
These formations are alot bigger than they look here and were really neat. It is definitely on my list of places to go back to. The air was also 10 degrees cooler than at Zion (also higher elevation)
We went back to the visitor's center and learned about the Grand Staircase and realized we were doing it right to start at Bryce. Essentially, the bottom rocks in Bryce are the highest rocks in Zion and the bottom of Zion is the same layer as the top of the Grand Canyon!
Red Canyon on the way out. Not quite the Golden hour but it was after 5PM as the visitor center was closed. We had a couple hours drive to the hotel, so we didn't mill about as deer come out at dusk more often and I didn't need to wreck the rental car.
More Red Canyon. Really red when the sun was on it.
Heading south on US 89, this is looking east at Bryce.. The park is alot bigger than just the Hoodoo area and this is the highest point up top there over 9000'. We didn't have time to make the drive up there as it would have been another couple of hours. THese would be the grey cliffs in the video I posted above.
A bit further south on US 89, not sure where, but the colors were amazing! Vermillion cliffs.
Looking NNE from our hotel parking lot in Kanab. We drove in from the left side of this photo and this mountain was in front of us with a flat top. JT exclaimed, "You brought me to Radiator Springs!" Not a minute later we drove by a rusty brown tow truck that had eyes in the windshielf ha ha ha..
We both really liked this town and agreed it was a living version of Radiator Springs, but they did have a regular traffic light not just a blinking one. We hit a grocery for more sandwiches and muffins for breakfast and then had a nice dinner.
It's been a busy summer this year with alot of travel. None of it in the coach though. Annual trek to Raleigh in May, a staycation in June, and 2 weeks in Vietnam in July. I may get back to VN as it was a road trip (over 1300 miles). This month I took a trip with JT to Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. It started out as just a trip to Reno, NV for the last ever air races in Reno to celebrate his 30th birtday. When I was a kid in the 70s I used to see it on Wide World of Sports. Always was interested, found out this was the last year, so now or never.
Found this clip from the '80s that was shot from the hillside in the flight path. Yeah this was what they showed on TV.
Some great footage in there but getting ahead of ourselves here. As it was JT's 30th birthday and he is very into planes, I asked, he was all in!. I booked our rooms, got tickets way back in April an he put in for the time at work well in advance. All systems go!
Toward the end of June he calls and says 'about the trip' and my heart sinks as I fear the worst. Well it's good news as his work schedule came out and he finishes work in the afternoon 4.5 days earlier than hoped, so he actually has 9.5 days off! We start talking about other options as I hadn't booked any flights yet.
We come up with a ridiculous plan of flying to Vegas, driving to Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest NP, Grand Canyon NP, Vegas, then driving to Reno via Death Valley NP. Mind you this would be in 5 days!!
So that mileage (over 1600) is about that same as driving from Miami to Maine or so... I actually tossed the North Rim of the GC in there as well, but it got quickly lost. We both knew this was a ridiculous plan so we started to whittle it down for the trip within the trip.
Once I started looking at airfares, the Vegas - Reno portion fell off very quickly. A one way flight at $35 per person vs. 8+ hours in the car and additional cost of the car (more than the flight for two) for the extra day and gas. As it turned out the first ever tropical storm to hit the area flooded Death Valley and it was still closed indefinitiely when we were out there, so it all worked out.
Additionally, the Petrified Forest fell off the radar as did Bryce (but less so). As I was looking for lodging, I settled on Saturday night in Kanab, UT which actually shows up on the above map as a dot on the line on the AZ/UT border to the west of Paige, AZ.
So by the time we set off, it was fly into Vegas on Friday, get up Saturday drive to Zion (3.5 hours), send afternoon, drive to Kanab (30 miles away). Sunday (JT's birthday) No set plan, no hotel booked in case we really liked Zion, or wanted to go to Bryce or the North Rim (equal distant from Kanab). Monday early shot out to Meteor crater, then return back and stay at Grand Canyon Village (room booked). Tuesday meander to Hoover Dam and back to Vegas. Wed chill day in Vegas and fly to Reno.
As you will follow along, we mostly stayed to the plan and many things went our way through luck or good planning.
My travel day started late morning with a tri-rail ride to FLL. Not a fan of Spirit but non-stop to Vegas was hard to pass up, so off I went. Flight was issue free and we arrived early, with me getting a great view of the GC out the window on the way in.
As with all grand nature photos, they don't do it justice, so we will leave it there. I had contacted Lucy's 2nd cousin Victoria who lives in Vegas to meet up with. Was hoping to see her Dad and we had a great time in Vietnam together as wel, but he was out of town along with Paul, her husband.
We agreed to meet at one of the two famous tiki bars in Vegas, The Golden Tiki as that was the one with a kitchen. I made a 7PM reservation as I was told to do so, especially on a Friday night. I was glad I did, it was busy. I figured I'd have a ton of time from a 4:30 arrival, but it took me over 2 hours to get our of the airport! Budget was stupid busy and understaffed, at least 1:45 to get my car, while the other car rental places weren't as busy (but more $$$, as I checked while in line).
I got the car and had enough time to drive to the bar with one quick stop at a grocery to get some snacks and such as we were road tripping. We met up, had a lovely time and the bar was fun with good drinks and decent food (limited tapas menu).
We finished and I went to the hotel to check in and a short time later it was time to collect JT at the airport. His flight was early too. We drove directly to the other tiki bar, Frankie's Tiki Room for a nightcap.
Both bars were great, but the overall vibe at Frankie's won the day for me. It was the total package. The decor was outstanding at both, but Frankie's felt less overdone. The music was better as were the videos on the TV. Some are put off that it's a smoking bar, but it was maybe 20-25% capacity while we were there and only one or two people smoking so it wasn't an issue. Our clothes didn't even smell when we left. It was a much more relaxed experience, but then again I was more relaxed as I wasn't travel stressed anymore once JT was collected and the room set up...
Had a couple and called it a night as we were both on east coast time and it was already after midnight and we had a drive in the AM.....
