Belated Grand Canyon post
Jun. 16th, 2009 02:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drscottLooking back on my LJ entries, it seems I forgot to finish the Southwest trip series.; photos were posted here.
So: we left Las Vegas and drove to the Grand Canyon, stopping to check in and clean up at our hotel in Williams, AZ (the I-40 gateway to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.) I had done some research and discovered all closer places were booked or unpleasant. We arrived in the park around 4 PM Friday; it was cool and had rained earlier. We stopped at the first overlook and spent some time admiring the vastness of it, its subtle colors and the tiny bit of the river you could see below. Then we dropped into the visitor center and checked out which trail we might take for a very short hike. Which led us to the Bright Angel trailhead, and another view. We went down the trail about a mile, encountering two hot young men who had gone all the way down and were almost back to the top (an all-day effort starting at 6 AM.) This was ironically at the sign warning the young and stupid not to try doing the whole trail unless properly equipped and aware of the timing. We also ran into a healthy-looking 40ish blond woman who had started the morning at the lodge on the North Rim, gone down, crossed the river at the Phantom Ranch, and was almost to the top of South Rim. She was trying to make herself wait for her straggling companions. We also spotted a mountain goat and her child just above the trail. Turning back, we made it back to the car and left the park about 7 PM, which got us back to Williams around 8 for dinner at a very noisy Mexican restaurant in an historic brothel-saloon building across the street from the Grand Canyon Railway station, where tourists board to ride to the South Rim.
Saturday we drove all the way home. It took about 11 hours.
So: we left Las Vegas and drove to the Grand Canyon, stopping to check in and clean up at our hotel in Williams, AZ (the I-40 gateway to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.) I had done some research and discovered all closer places were booked or unpleasant. We arrived in the park around 4 PM Friday; it was cool and had rained earlier. We stopped at the first overlook and spent some time admiring the vastness of it, its subtle colors and the tiny bit of the river you could see below. Then we dropped into the visitor center and checked out which trail we might take for a very short hike. Which led us to the Bright Angel trailhead, and another view. We went down the trail about a mile, encountering two hot young men who had gone all the way down and were almost back to the top (an all-day effort starting at 6 AM.) This was ironically at the sign warning the young and stupid not to try doing the whole trail unless properly equipped and aware of the timing. We also ran into a healthy-looking 40ish blond woman who had started the morning at the lodge on the North Rim, gone down, crossed the river at the Phantom Ranch, and was almost to the top of South Rim. She was trying to make herself wait for her straggling companions. We also spotted a mountain goat and her child just above the trail. Turning back, we made it back to the car and left the park about 7 PM, which got us back to Williams around 8 for dinner at a very noisy Mexican restaurant in an historic brothel-saloon building across the street from the Grand Canyon Railway station, where tourists board to ride to the South Rim.
Saturday we drove all the way home. It took about 11 hours.
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Date: 2009-06-16 09:58 pm (UTC)I have only seen the Grand Canyon to this day from around 30,000 feet on flights to CA.
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Date: 2009-06-16 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-17 03:37 am (UTC)I was sort of awe struck with Flagstaff though - we were driving in mid-May and it was snowing there when we passed through...gorgeous.
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Date: 2009-06-17 06:38 am (UTC)http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=11438926@N00&q=flagstaff&m=text
(Includes a few shots from Grand Junction, CO - another cool small city.)