Grand Canyon-South and North

A quick note to say that we have been a long time without cell service.  But, now we are back!!

At first we thought we had chosen a bad time for the Canyon, because we arrived the Thursday of  Memorial Day weekend.  But, it turned out quite well.  We stayed in Flagstaff for the South Rim.

We enjoyed the drive up and back with beautiful views.



The first day we entered from the East entrance by Desert View.  This worked out well. We could stop at all the turnouts along the rim.  There was enough parking each time for Lady Blue.

Note that there are a lot of pictures in this issue. To see them all, click on "more" at the bottom. 

Also, remember you can click on each picture to enlarge.

Great view from the Desert View Tower.  Designed by Mary Colter( remember the Painted Desert Inn and Las Posada in Winslow?)  It was said that she personally designated each placement of rock in the tower.

One entrance to the Tower. 

         

Inside, the artwork was done again by Fred Kabotie.  You might remember that name from the Painted Desert Inn and La Posada Inn in Winslow.










 We thought some of you would enjoy his work on the leather and wood chairs.

The skins were still the same as well as the rawhide? fasteners.


The seat reminds us of our coffee table from Vermont.

That's the Colorado River way down there.


The white sections are rapids.

At some points, we could see the rafters and their camp way below.

The formations were fascinating.  All along the rim.

We had to keep reminding ourselves that it was 277 miles long and about 10 miles across, and one mile deep.

The South Rim views were a bit more breath taking because the drops were extreme.

We were lucky that the air quality was very good for our visits.


If you click to enlarge this picture, you can see the visitors on the outcrop.

Most of the viewing places had railings. 

However, many visitors did not hesitate to climb out on exposed ledges.  Sure made us nervous.

We weren't totally sure how these people got down to this ledge.

Just note that the drop in front of them is a mile straight down.

This character was in Tusayan, a part of the South Rim visitor's area.  Another area is the Grand Canyon Village. 

There are campgrounds here, but they are usually reserved a year ahead of time.

We did find that the National Forest had campgrounds and dispersed camping spots that might have worked for us.  We especially noted this on the North Rim.  Some very nice forest roads for boondocking.

We explored the South Rim on Thursday and Friday.

Saturday was household chores in Flagstaff.
Sunday was our trip to Sedona--see previous blog entry.

Monday, Memorial Day, was our move to the North Rim.

Eustis is happy!

This is a view out our window at Kaibab Camping Village.  That dirt road is a Forest Service Road.
We found some nice dispersed camping spots along these roads--maybe for next time.

Lots of pine trees.  The North Rim is about 1,000 feet higher than the South Rim.  That meant cooler temperatures and also fewer people.

While the North Rim walls were not straight -up and down--the views were still spectacular.

Jan absolutely loved all the views!



So did Bruce!

Sometimes it was the colors. 

Sometimes it was the light--constantly changing.

Sometimes--it just was !

We did miles of walking each day. 

The rim is to the left and ahead is the North Rim Lodge.

Thank heavens for the railings.










In case you were wondering where Bruce was

Good views from the Lodge porch.

Visitors and guest alike enjoyed the views from inside the Lodge.

 Jan enjoyed many views from along the rim.  Heading from the Lodge to the Camping Area.

Had to show the local variety of brew.  Thought that might inspire some of you to travel.

Bright Angel Point was a favorite of ours.  Went back a few times

And I know some would like to know that the huge fields were home to many deer.  We counted about 100
deer feeding on our way home.

Some walkways were narrow