Grand Canyon

I had never seen the Grand Canyon up close.  This has been one of  the places on our list so today we drove to the Canyon.  Why drive and not fly, well there are some places that you need a car to visit and we wanted to stay through sunset.  I was not going to be flying a single engine plane around the mountains in the dark and return to Sedona at night.  So the plan was to drive.

Another advantage of driving was that we could add other stops.  We left Sedona and headed to Flagstaff where we stopped at Walnut Canyon National Monument.  Yes we are taking advantage of our National parks.  I bought the annual pass and I was going to use it.  Also they often have some of the best sights around.

The site is primarily cave dwellings.  This was our third type of cave dwelling and it was interesting to see the various types.  Some difference were due to location and some seemed due to different time periods as people progressed, things got better.

By better, I mean terrible.  As I have said before life was really hard.  The park has a nice loop trail.  One mile but 185 of vertical drop and of course rise.  It is also at 7000 feet so it was a good workout. The website says "Strenuous, especially for those not acclimated to 7,000' elevation".

They said it would take an hour but I scoffed at that, 1 mile take an hour?  Well we did the loop in 30 minutes.  The thin air was a factor but that was a leisurely 2 mph stroll.  OK, the steps were harder going up than down but we had just climbed 140 feet of ladders a few days ago, we were ready for the challenge.

Leaving Flagstaff we took a little longer route across 180 because it had a reputation for better scenery.  It did not disappoint.  Forest, plains, wild flowers and rolling terrain.  Highway 180 meets 64 where you head North to the Canyon.  64 is the faster less scenic route so in the end everyone eventually goes 64.

 As we approached the highway intersection I saw some planes ahead to the left, Valle airport is located there.  One plane caught my eye and as I approached the stop sign I made a fateful decision.  I turned left away from the park and headed South.  You would think that this would be one of those super dramatic moments but in reality, I told CC, "want to get a better look at that plane" and she said OK.

The plane ahead looked like a Martin 404.  Not just any Martin 404, but a particular one.  Just over 20 years ago for his birthday, when my Dad turned 70, I went with him and we did a checkout in the 404.  Dad had briefly flown 404s for Eastern Airline long before I was born.

The particular 404 we flew had been turned into a flying museum.  After being checked out, I flew the plane as PIC (but with a real captain) from Camarillo California to Stockton for an airshow. We spent the weekend crewing the plane for the airshow and giving tours.  I had heard that it was no longer flying and had lost track of the old bird.

As we pulled up I confirmed the paint job and registration number, N636X, that was our old friend.  Sadly it looks like she is in worse shape and now a static display at a museum.  After a few minutes of looking and a few pictures, we were back on the highway to the canyon.

Faithful readers will know we had been warned about the crowds and even told that we might have an hour wait at the park entrance.  Approaching the gate we wondered, the other predictions of long waits had not panned out.  The gate came into site and we joined one of the lines.  We were the 5th car.   We have an annual pass and it looked like many other had them too so the line moved quickly.  We were in the park in less than 3 minutes.

The park was not empty but it was not full. Lots of bus tour tourists, many from other countries.  I always like saying Good Afternoon to the Japanese tourists in Japanese.  They are always surprised an American can speak their language.

We headed to the main visitor center and found a space easily.  A quick walk and we were at the Canyon Edge.  We had made it.  We walked the rim to several vantage points.  While the main ones were busy, the smaller stops were pretty empty and we often had the canyon almost to ourselves.

We also saw the infamous squirrels.  The park is home to many animals, some dangerous.  The most dangerous though is the squirrel, don't laugh.  They carry disease and they have no fear of people.  They can read the signs saying it is illegal to harm the animals.  Thus they are bold and will try and steal food and they bite.  What are you gonna do, can't touch them...

After the main visitor area we headed West along the rim to the Grand Canyon Village and decided to take a chance.  The big parking lots had many spaces but they were a walk from the rim.  We drove to the tiny lot by the canyon rim.  As we arrived we found some people leaving and scored their space right next to the visitor center.  We were less than 300 feet from the rim.  (Our car is the white one on the right)

We took another walk along the rim and came upon a Turkey Vulture preening itself.  Then we heard about a pair of Elk further down the path, so we sauntered down and found one lazy Elk.  We continued the walk for a while and enjoyed the views.

We decided to go back and explore the visitor center and the buildings by the rim.  The visitor center had a mini museum showing the growth of tourism at the Canyon.  There were also hotels, an art gallery and food.  We had bought snacks and water before entering the park but we had skipped lunch so of course we had to get ice cream.  Canyon Ice cream was pretty good.

I thought we would have too much time at the Canyon, how long can you stare at a ditch? After the Ice Cream I looked at my watch and and we were out of time.  We had thought about taking the red line shuttle bus for views further West but those views would have to wait until Thursday.  Leaving the lot we went by the bus stop and it was pretty crowded so skipping the bus seemed like a good plan.

The sun was descending and we had a plan for sunset.  We drove East to the Dessert View Watchtower.  This overlook is near the Eastern edge of the park and known for nice sunsets.  Over half the lot was empty so parking was not an issue.

On the drive to the watchtower we had come across a less lazy Elk eating.  We pulled off the road a respectful distance to watch.  Soon the Elk crossed the road demonstrating to the chicken how to do it.  This meant the Elk was closer than we liked so we entered the relative safety of our car and headed on as we had a date with the sunset and the sun waits for no man or beast..

We arrived just in time to climb the watchtower before it closed for the evening.  You can walk to the top but it is all enclosed and has windows so it makes getting clear pictures hard.  It was still a fun diversion.

We had about 20 minutes until the sun set and we alternated watching the sun set and the light fade on the canyon walls.  Yes we avoided looking directly at the sun.  Once the walls went dim, we turned and watch the sun dip below the horizon.  It was pretty clear and we could see that exact instant when the sun set.

The drive home was a bit of a challenge.  We had about 40 minutes of twilight and then it was really dark.  There are no lights on the highway.  The roads to Flagstaff are very good but the last 25 miles is down 89A which is not great.  It has about 3 miles of 15 mph hairpin curves with steep grades as you descend from Flagstaff.  After that it is just a dark, narrow road.

There was also road work this evening so about 12 miles out we had to stop as it went to one lane.  After waiting our turn we got stuck behind a jeep that was going well below speed limit and would slow down randomly.  I think he just liked to annoy the 100 cars behind him, think 20 in a 35 zone with no possibility to pass.  I stayed cool though and we eventually returned to our Sedona hotel.

Red Sneakers

We decided to take it easy our last day in Sedona.  The tourist advice lady had warned us of the crowds.   We wanted to go to Cathedral Rock which is very popular.  She told us be there by 8 AM or you won't get a parking space.  We balanced sleeping in and a space and decided to risk it.

We arrived at Cathedral rock about 10 AM a tad after 8AM.  Given the time change you could argue that it took us till 1PM to get our butts in gear but we are on vacation.  The primary lot is small and we just missed getting a space but the secondary lot 100 feet away had a space waiting for us.  So much for expert tourist advice.

Cathedral rock is initially an easy hike.  It turns into a moderate one and then a real scramble.  The end is basic rock climbing.  We decided we didn't want to fall off the rock and stopped short of the summit. The view from where we were was good and we did not die.

We worked our way down which was actually harder than up and relocated to a nearby scenic overlook.  We did the Bell Rock trail.  Again getting most of the way up afforded us great butte views without undue risk of death.

Our next challenge was the Fay canyon trail.  This is a less popular easy trail to see a hook shaped rock.  It was just 11 minutes from our hotel.  Arriving at the trail head we saw 4 rescue vehicles.  There were no lights or activity so we were a bit confused why they were there.

The trail is a mostly flat walk through the canyon which crisscrosses a dry stream bed.  There is supposed to be a waterfall and water but not this time of year.  It is about 1 mile each way so pretty easy.  It is also about 50% shaded.  We arrived at the trail end and saw some gear strewn on the ground.  While looking at the cool rocks we met a nice Australian couple.  We learned that a person had hurt their ankle rock climbing the cool looking rocks.

The rescue team was trying to get them down.   We stayed a bit and enjoyed the view and then headed back with the Aussies.  They were on a seven week USA adventure.  They were also from Perth area which we had vacationed in at the end of 2015.

Our next challenge was two miles down the road, Doe mountain.  It was a pretty vertical hike up the side of a big hill.  At the top you were supposed to have great Sedona views.   We made it about 85% of the way to the top and once again hit a stretch of trail which was more rock climbing than hiking.

Since the rescue team was already busy, we decided to avoid falling off the mountain and were satisfied with some excellent butte views.  As we left the trail head we drove back by Fay canyon.  The rescue team was packing up and there was an ambulance there.  We assumed that they either completed the rescue or were leaving the tourist in place as a warning to others.  Either way we were pretty hungry.

Sedona has lots of art galleries but a dearth of fast food.  We searched for a local taco stand figuring we were in the Southwest.  No luck, the closest was a Taco Bell 20 minutes away.  Searching some more we found Senor Bob's.  Bob sells dogs and burger.  It is a pretty limited menu.

We went with dogs and a side of fries.  He makes really good fries.  Thin and crispy.  I have no pictures because we were hungry and ate rather than take pictures.  The Dogs come plain but but they have a great topping bar.  I did spicy mustard, red onions, kraut and chili.  It was really smothered by the time I was done.  Messy but tasty.

If you look at the pictures you will see a theme, red dirt.  I had started with clean white sneakers at the beginning of the trip.  They now have a permanent red tinge even though I have washed them.

Red Rocks and More

Sedona is a town built around the view.  Pretty much stunning from wherever you are.  It is populated by chic restaurants, tour operators, art stores and other boutiques.  We spent some time walking around town yesterday but you really don't come for Sedona the city, you come for what surrounds it.  Today we headed out to explore.

Our first stop about 30 minutes West was Tuzigoot.  This is a pretty cool dig where they have unearthed the ruins of a Southern Sinagua village.  In the 20's it was a dirt covered hill but a bit of digging exposed its rich history.  It encompasses about 90 rooms.  Interestingly most did not have doors, you climbed a ladder to the roof and then descended another into the room.  I don't think it would be considered ADA compliant housing these days but it likely kept out predators.

We arrived early as we were still on Eastern time.  Other than the rangers and staff, we had the place to ourselves.  It was rather nice and peaceful and so much for the crowds prediction.  This park is an easy hike, the trail is less than a mile and flat.

CC and I poked around a bit and enjoyed the scenery before heading to our next destination, Jerome AZ.  Jerome is a mining town built around copper.  It once had a population of over 15,000 but during the 1950 dipped as low as 50 people.  It is making a comeback as a tourist destination and it appears they have started some mining again.

It was about a 20 minute drive from Tuzigoot to Jerome.  You ascend most of the way.  The town was built on the side of a hill near the mine. Apparently it is not the most stable land and when you combine that with the blasting from the mine you get the great sliding.  Over time many of the original building just slid down the hill.

The downtown is not big, three blocks wide by one deep.  Our first stop was the famous sliding jail.  This structure had slid over its life but unlike many others that were ruined by sliding, they just kept using it.  Eventually it was pulled further down to its current location where it has seen better days.

We walked the whole town, bought some fudge and candy and took in some history.  They have a historical museum that captures artifacts and pictures from the town's boom through bust and rebirth.  It was a very nice collection and well worth the $2 entry fee.  The displays focused on different aspects of life or time periods and has a personal touch. For example one area had letters written home from soldiers fighting WWII, another area was devoted to  mining and there was even a history of the oldest profession complete with court records of women charged with prostitution.

Finishing the museum we headed to the Jerome State Park about a half mile down the road.  It is built around an early 1916 Douglas Mansion. They were a family of mining  entrepreneurs.   The museum covered more history and focused on the mining.

At the entrance to the park is the Audrey Headframe.  Headframes are the structure that sits above a mine shaft to support the movement of things in and out of the mine.  This one is above an abandoned 1900 foot shaft.  They have thick glass above the shaft now so you can stand above it and look way down.  We had a good bit of fun standing on the glass and looking way down.

We stopped by the town again for lunch and then headed South for our next stop.  One thing we learned for sure is that the old West may look romantic but times were tough and living was hard.  These days the fudge is sweet and tasty.

Montezuma Castle National Monument is another cliff dwelling site.  We figured the crowds would catch up to us since Jerome had started to get busy.  When we arrived there was plenty of parking and while it had a steady stream of visitors, it was not crowded.

We came to see native housing but as we walked in I saw a man holding a rattle snake.  We stopped to inquire.  The snake had crawled onto the people path and was captured to be relocated about a half mile away.  The ranger had caught it and called in the snake expert.

He had chipped it, banded it and then contained it in the snake bucket so he could transport it safely.  A snake bucket is a 5 gallon bucket with a locking lid.   We got some close and personal views and learned a bit about the snakes.  The snake was a bit ornery in the bucket and let us know with his rattle.  Look closely below.

The paths all have signs saying to stay on them with a snake picture.  This drove the point home.

The real reason we came was to see the cliff dwellings.  These were more impressive than the one's we had seen before. but no ladders to visit in person.

Next stop was down the road to Montezuma's Well National Monument.  This was a cool water source, technically a sinkhole.  It is fed by underground rivers and even in droughts has water, as it gets about 1,500,000 gallons a day of inflow.  It all comes from below so it looks static but a lot is happening down there.  It is teaming with life unique to this spot including leeches.  We decided that we would not take a dip.

 We did the hike and saw some 1800s grafitti.  Funny it is now a historical artifact.

On the way back we stopped at a highway scenic view and then dropped by the plane as I had forgotten to jot down the landing tach time.

Also we dropped off more used clothe.  As we travel, we tend to leave the dirty clothe in the plane, this means that we have less luggage and weight to take to the hotel.  Packing was sort of tough this trip as the temperatures were both hot and cold and the mix was not clear when we were packing.

On the way we stopped again at the airport scenic view and did part of the airport loop trail.  Great views but there were some narrow spots with sheer drop offs.  We were careful and avoided going over the edge.  We ended the day sitting on the observation deck watching the sunset.