RV Trip Part 7 - Sedona

Leaving the G.C. we headed south through Flagstaff and on to Sedona. We stayed in a very pretty RV park dotted with mature trees. While we cooked dinner, the boys played the World Championship of Bucket Hacky-Sack (not sure who won) and whittled sticks with their new pocket-knives.

Next morning a Pink Jeep met us at the park and took us out to explore the red rocks for which Sedona is famous. Our driver was great - a Larry David type - funny and very knowledgable of the area. We spent two hours driving up the sides of the mountain at impossible angles and descending down precipitous ravines. I got a whole new appreciation for good tires, four-wheel drive and of course, the legendary Jeep. It is cat-like.





Afterwards when checking out at the RV park office, I asked the manager what would she suggest we do for the rest of our time in Sedona. She immediately starting rattling off State Parks where the rocks and views were spectacular. It was then I realized we had done nothing but look at rocks for six days and it was time to get back to civilization. So we headed for Jerome, an old mining town, but not before we stopped at the Chapel of the Holy Cross. This might be one of the most pictuturesque churches in the US. Built in 1956 by Marguerite Bruswig Staude, a student of Frank Llyod Wright, it is an impressive structure that sits on the rocks as if it had always been there (I know, more rocks).



Jerome, on the other had, was once known as "the wickedest town in the west" where miners cavorted in saloons with the ahem, "ladies". Built by the riches of the cooper mines starting in 1883, it once boasted a population of several thousand, it is now down to several hundred and one excellent joke shop.





After ice cream and a stroll up and down both sides of the town, it was time again to saddle up and hit the interstate as we began to turn east and head back towards home. One more stop: The Meteor Crater near Winslow (yes, that Winslow, as in "I was standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona...").

The crater might be one of the world's biggest - close to a mile wide - and most intact but in terms of admission fees, what a gyp. Veni, vidi, vici. We left grumpy and about $50 poorer. (Point being, it cost $25 to get into the Grand Canyon).

My pics were lousy, I borrowed this one from Wikipedia...



And so on to Gallup for the night. Our last full day with BB was complete.

RV Trip Part 6 - Grand Canyon National Park

Superlatives abound when it comes to the Grand Canyon. Over 270 miles long, 17 miles across at its widest point and over one mile deep, it almost defies description. Its origins are estimated to be around 17 million years old. A combination of the Colorado River and wind, rain and ice have carved out what is usually listed among the Seven Wonders of the Natural World. Hard to disagree. There are over 20 different layers of rock from top to bottom and while the Colorado Plateau continues to be pushed upwards, the river continues to grind downwards, so each year, the canyon gets a little bigger...

Driving in from the east, we climbed steadily from an altitude of about 4,000 feet at Cameron to over 7,000 feet at the South Rim. Our first sight of the Grand Canyon was at Desert View. Here we stopped for an hour or so and basically were stalled in awe by the grandeur of it all. The mighty river that carved the depths is just about visible as a ribbon over a mile below.





We made our way to the park's Trailer Village and after a quick dinner, hurried out to get some photo's of the sunset.



Next morning, I arose before sunup and got a couple more good pics from Mather Point.



Later in the day after a hearty breakfast, we used the park shuttle service and stopped at Hopi Point, Mohave Point and Hermits Rest. While waiting for the shuttle we met a man who began each sentence with "But last night..." (inside joke). At Bright Angel Trailhead we saw the mules that can be rented for a four legged ride to the bottom of the canyon. It is basically a two day trip, an overnight stay is required. We walked down into the canyon aways on the Bright Angel Trail, careful to avoid the by-product of mule. We did not venture down too far - maybe a half mile walk - but only a couple of hundred yards deep. It was a lot harder coming back up! Based on the warning signed, people frequently under-estimate the effort to hike down and back and have to be rescued. It is not recommended that you try the do the round trip the same day.





The Grand Canyon is magnificent and is up there with Niagara Falls in terms of stop-in-your -tracks take-your-breath-away stunning. Photo's do not do it justice and the sheer magnitude is hard to comprehend... next time we will make an effort to somehow get to the bottom - either by mule or by foot!

RV Trip Part 5 - Back to the Colorado

Leaving Zion we made our way south to Jacob Lake, which is situated on the best route to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. There is not much of town here, more of a community consisting of the RV park and an inn / gas station. Jacob Lake is at an altitude of 8,000 feet and the RV park was nestled in a forest of ponderosa pine. It was the most scenic park so far and gave us an opportunity to have a roaring campfire.


We remade our reservations to raft down part of the Colorado for 7.30am the next morning, so it was a 5am start on Weds. It was an unbelievable 28F when I unhooked the RV - the elevation makes all the difference. Later that day we would experience 90F in Page. So we trundled along in the dark and made it to Page in time to get coffee and board the bus which took us through a long tunnel down to the base of the Glen Canyon Dam. Here we boarded the giant rubber rafts and with about 15 other river runners began a fun trip down the Colorado.

DAMN!




It has to be pointed out that this is flat water rafting, people with pacemakers, vertigo, the French, etc. are all welcome and no life jackets required. It was a great experience, seeing the canyon walls from the perspective of the Colorado. The water was cold and clear and trout could be seen, darting back and forth. We kept and eye out for the California Condors (wingspan nine feet!) but only spotted a few turkey vultures.

See raft in distance for scale...



We stopped at one point and had an opportunity to get up close to some graffiti, I mean Indian rock art, a/k/a petroglyphs. Very cool stuff. Probably means "thanks for building the dam and flooding the canyon and chasing off the deer, pale-face".



And then there were the rocks that looked like a howling coyote:


We alighted four hours later and 15 miles downstream at Lees Ferry. This is the starting point for the white water rapids and downstream trips that can last as long as 15 days. But don't try to raft all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. The mighty Colorado drains seven states but its power is harnessed by over 20 dams and so much water is pulled out for irrigation that the river peters out miles before the ocean. Such is progress.


Despite having a rookie piloting the raft (her knowledge of the river, the ecology, local history etc. left a lot to be desired), we thoroughly enjoyed the trip - one that will not be forgotten soon. So by midafternoon our excursion on the Colorado was complete and it was time to leave Page and head south to the Grand Canyon and see the big ol' hole in the ground.