Day 14

Gran Canyon Nat’l Park

Today was going to be a long day. We were going to see the Grand Canyon, then it was on to our friend Fitz’s in Scottsdale.

North Rim

We drove south from Jacob Lake on AZ 67—it was about 45 miles to the North Rim. They were doing construction on this road and had narrowed the road to one lane for many miles. We stopped at the Grand Canyon Lodge and ran into the two girls who borrowed our hammer in Bryce Canyon days ago, that was really strange. They had taken the flight over the canyon, not something I was going to do. We walked out to Bright Angel Point which overlooks Bright Angel Canyon that was formed by (any guesses?) Bright Angel Creek, which drains into the Colorado. It was a hazy day and the views were not that great.

We took the side road to Cape Royal on the Walhalla Plateau. This road is 23 miles in one direction and goes through some beautiful forest. We walked out of the trail and onto a large rock wall jutting out into the canyon. People can walk out on top of this wall and gaze at the canyon but underneath their feet is the Angel’s Window, a huge hole through this large rock wall. We took our pictures and left; it was not a good picture taking day. We were leaving the North Rim by 11 a.m. and, after passing through the backed up traffic due to construction (there were a lot more people in the park by now), we were on our way to the South Rim.

The drive to the South Rim

We had to drive all the way up to Jacob Lake then take US 89 ALT east, driving by the Vermilion Cliffs and up to Marble Canyon where we cross the Colorado River and enter the Navajo Indian Reservation again.

Actually, we were just south of Page, Arizona, where we were a few days ago. They are building a new bridge here over the Colorado called the Navajo Bridge. Once over the river, the road veers south and joins with US 89 into the Painted Desert. At Cameron, we turned west toward the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. On these roads it seemed that there was a Navajo jewelry stand every couple miles and houses out in the middle of nowhere. The land was flat except for the cliffs or buttes that rise out of the ground. Beautiful countryside.

South Rim

We eventually arrived at Desert View and the South Rim of the canyon, about three hours and 190 miles later. Basically we had made a 190-mile semicircle and we’re now about 10 miles below where we were this morning.

We stopped at Moran Point, Grandview Point, and Yaki Point. The South Rim is much more popular than the North Rim and there are many more people here. The light has greatly improved for taking pictures since this morning. I did not find the canyon to be as awe inspiring as people have told me. Compared to all the other canyons in Utah, the Grand Canyon, although large, is hard to get up close and personal with unless you have a day or two to go down inside it. To me it seems distant and remote.

Off to Phoenix

It was about 4 o’clock by the time we found our way out of the park. We headed south on US 180 and were in and out of the Kaibab National Forest. We passed through the San Francisco Mountains and drove by the highest peak in Arizona, Humphreys Peak, which is 12,663 feet high. US 180 took us right into Flagstaff where we got on I-17 south to Phoenix. Sunset was not far away now, and it looked like rain was on the way. I-17 passed through the Coconino National Forest and the ride went up and down with all the mountains and valleys. Eventually, it did start to rain and it was difficult to see the road.

It’s 138 miles between Flagstaff and Phoenix. Soon we were out of the mountains and settled into a valley on our way into the city. We got off at Bell Road and made our way to Scottsdale. It was still raining and many of the streets in town were flooded but it was difficult to see the water and it was a very dangerous driving situation. We called Fitz’s from the Thunderbird Shopping Center around 9:30 p.m. We basically had to drive to the other end of town to get to Fitz’s but we did make it.

For dinner we went to a place called Two Pesos for some good, cheap Mexican food. Went back and played some trivial pursuit, and a few “May I” games when Rick noticed that it was light out and we all were surprised that the night had gone by so quickly. We all went to bed around 5:30 in the morning.