Grand Canyon

From Wikipedia – The Grand Canyon, carved by the mighty Colorado River, is 277 miles long, up to 1 mile deep, and up to 15 miles wide. Millions of years of erosion have exposed the multicolored layers of the Colorado Plateau in mesas and canyon walls, visible from both the north and south rims, or from a number of trails that descend into the canyon itself.

• Established: 02/26/1919
• Annual Visitors: 6,380,495
• Size: 1,201,647 acres

Grand Canyon National Park, Day 1, June 13, 2022

Gary – I have been to the Canyon 20+ times since we moved to Arizona 25 years ago. Pretty much every spring the past 12 years I have hiked to the Colorado River and back with friends which is almost 17 miles with 5,000 feet elevation gain. We always do a loop, going down South Kaibab Trail and return to the top via Bright Angel Trail. Twice I have hiked the 23.5 miles from the North Rim to the South Rim. Below are some photos I took from the past few years while on these hikes. In 2013 Elizabeth and I rafted the Colorado from Lee’s Ferry to where the Bright Angel Trail begins to head up the 8 miles from the river. Since Rangeley is with us on this “official” visit, we cannot take him below the rim. Dogs are allowed pretty much anywhere above the rim though, making the Grand Canyon known as one of the more dog friendly national parks, especially considering it is the 4^th most visited park with 4.5 million visitors in 2021.

Elizabeth:

Today is our youngest son’s 32nd Birthday! Happy B Day Tucker❣

Gary was admiring our United States map on our living room wall.  All of the park pins for the lower 48 states are in place… except the Grand Canyon. It bothered Gary seeing the one park, in our home state of Arizona, empty, glaring at him.  We decided to do an official park visit to get our pin, post card, take Rangeley, capture some great nature and scenery pictures and snap our traditional picture with all three of us at the entrance sign of Grand Canyon National Park!

The drive from our home on the south east corner of Phoenix to the South Rim of the canyon is roughly 250 miles. You drive past good-ole western names like Bloody Basin and Big Bug Creek. There is cactus all around us in the Sonoran Desert where we live. The iconic Saguaro (pronounced saw- war- oh in Spanish and by everyone locally here) are present until you reach 4,000 feet in elevation where it becomes too cold for them to survive. Phoenix is at just under 1,100 ft. Not only does the weather get cooler heading north, the scenery and topography changes from the city, low desert and lots of cactus to the sprawling countryside full of low pines, prong horn (goat and antelope like hooved mammal) and cattle grazing in the plains of the high desert. The average rain fall in Phoenix is about 6-7 inches a year but we have only had less than ¾ of an inch since January! The South Rim of the Grand Canyon receives 17 inches of rain a year on average. You will notice the drought stricken, dry grass fields in the photos.

This trip will be the 3rd time we’ve done only one park. Rocky Mountain and Cuyahoga are the other two. Most of our trips have been many weeks on the road and we cover 14-20 parks in several couple month’s trips. Also, this is one of the few times we are visiting a park during a high tourist season. Schools are out and the weather is lovely this time of year. The South Rim of the Canyon is at 7,000 feet. If Phoenix is 110 degrees, the South Rim will be high of mid 80’s. Phoenix’s low will be 80 and the Canyon 38! Woo hoo, cool sleeping weather!

June 14th, tomorrow, is Flag Day. The town of Meyer, AZ had a huge flag sailing on a tall pole beside the road with no other building around it. Every day should be “honor the flag” day in my opinion.  I love those that respect and appreciate the history and meaning of the American flag each and every day!

Our eldest son, Cooper (34) and his wife, Chelsea (32) live 45 minutes northwest of Prescott, AZ running a high end, off the grid, foodie farm called Terra Farm and Manor. https://www.terrafarmandmanor.com

The side trip will only take us about an hour out of our way to check in with the kids, our grand puppy and the farm located 9 miles up a dirt Forest Service Road in the Prescott National Forest. We always bring food and this lunch stop is no exception. The cooler is packed with sandwich fixins’ of 9 grain bread, various sliced meats, cheeses, dill pickles and a cheese tortellini and veggie with pesto cold salad. Sounds healthy doesn’t it!? If you know us all, you will not be surprised to know we made scrumptious brownies for dessert! The visit was fabulous and productive as usual. In the short 5 hour stop-over Gary and Cooper took out and replaced a water heater and fixed an electrical outlet in the barn while Rangeley visited the turkey, hens, cows, goats, sheep, pigs and more. He loves the farm and is learned to be very respectful of the all the animals. Chelsea and I weeded the main lodge courtyard lavender plants, picked an abundance of spearmint, peppermint and raspberry leaves for her to make tea. She and I also visited the three large greenhouses on the property to check on her many flowers. Sofie, the pup, loves “helping” by chasing the lizards amongst the posies! After lunch and a great conversation, we sadly hopped into the car to head to one of the Seven Wonders of the World!

We continued through the 1.25-million-acre Prescott National Forest. We then drove into the 1.6-million-acre Kaibab National Forest. Grand Canyon National Park is located between the south and north portions of Kaibab National Forest.

On our way north we drove through Williams, Arizona where, when our kids were in grade school, Gary’s mom Earline, Gary and I took the family on a passenger train from the historical town of Williams to the Grand Canyon. We boarded the 1923 train car for the roughly two-hour ride which has been running since 1901. The two-hour journey stopped on the South Rim and then returned, via the rails, to Williams on our day trip back in the late 1990’s. During the ride, back then, there were cowboys on horseback that “robbed” the train. The looters rode along side the train, boarded and with “guns” waving reenacted what a train robbery would have been like in the late 1800’s. Honestly, I thought it was very cool! Okay, back to 2022… : )

After checking into our hotel in Tusayan, Arizona, roughly 5 miles south of the entrance to the canyon we headed into the park for a night time visit. We decided on parking at the Yavapai Geological Museum to watch the 7:49pm sunset over the Grand Canyon. The experience was tremendous, as almost all unsets are, but sadly the forest fires in Flagstaff effected the air clearness and the Grand Canyon was very hazy : (  We still got some great shots.

Twelve years ago, on June 26^th 2010, Gary and Cooper walked to the river and back under a full moon reaching the Colorado River at 4:45AM. Here is a YouTube video that Cooper did of that hike.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_4129iWJ30

We enjoyed a dinner at Yavapai Tavern inside the park. It was 8:30pm, we were on a dog friendly patio and the food was good. Our 80+ degree day dropped into the 60’s. I added leggings under my skort, we both donned sweatshirts and Rangeley laid beside the table exhausted from a long, stimulating and fun day! But wait, there’s more!

We continued on to Mather Point for some 9:30PM nighttime pictures as our last stop. Enjoy! They seem to be the best shots of the trip! The camera on Gary’s phone seemed to eliminate some of the smoky fog. All the canyon pictures were in complete darkness, under the full moon, using a three second exposure. Gary, used the 33 mm camera to capture a couple great shots of the moon as well!!

Day 2, June 14, 2022

Elizabeth:

There are few places to stay in or near the Grand Canyon when you are traveling with a dog.  Interesting, as the Grand Canyon is fairly dog friendly. There were no dog friendly rooms left inside the park at the only lodging that even allows pets, Yavapai West.  We stayed in Tusayan, AZ, at the Grand Canyon Plaza Hotel, 5 mi from the south entrance.

We got to the south entrance about 6:30AM to beat the heat…and the crowds. A good call because we drove right through the gate with no one in front of us. We left the park at 11:30AM and there were two lanes of RV’s, commercial vehicles and passenger cars 1/2-mile-long waiting to enter the park!

We parked in Grand Canyon Village. Another reason to get there early…no parking challenges! We found a perfect spot close to the rim.

Rangeley, Gary and I walked on The Rim Trail following The Trail of Time, a geologically marked paved path identifying the history of the rocks, cliffs and canyons 3+ billion years ago.

Rangeley is allowed anywhere at the top of the South Rim. Dogs are not permitted on dirt hiking trails and cannot go down into the Canyon. But we got a nice walk in on The Rim Trail. He was also happy at the Geological Museum last night and anywhere, outside, in Grand Canyon Village.

We spoke with some college students from universities around the US doing studies of people who take the bus shuttles. Where they go inside the park, where they’re from, etc. They’d been there three weeks. Previous studies have been done on who goes into the canyon as well. Two students were from Missoula, MT, University of Montana, where our nephew lived for a while. Missoula is also just south of Glacier National Park where we just were a couple weeks ago! Seemed like a great travel experience for them and they were very interested in our national park trips, especially our previous adventure, dog sledding into Gates of the Arctic National Park in AK!

Last night’s low temperature was in the upper 30’s. Today’s top of the rim temp is going to be high of 83. The temperature at the bottom of the canyon, at the Colorado River today: 106. With the 5000 vertical feet you need to hike in each direction and the fact you walk down first and return nine miles walking up, many people underestimate the possible fast dehydration through low humidity, heat and a hiker’s exhaustion from the higher altitude of 7 thousand feet at the top. I personally have only hiked up Bright Angel Trail, several years ago, in June of 2013. I took a 4-day Colorado River rafting trip with Gary and friends. We slept on cots (no tents) in the day time highs of 90 degrees on the banks of the 40-degree Colorado River. (Nights did drop to about 60) The guided tour provided the boats, food and cots. We all hiked out from the river, the 9 miles up 5000 feet to the South Rim. After reviewing the pictures, I would love to do that again!

We were happy to hear international languages again. German, French, Mandurian and more. The tourism in the US is now more freely accessible since COVID restrictions have been more flexible. Masks are no longer required on planes and as of this week, the US just lifted the previous requirement of a negative test to enter America.  

What is now a national park began in 1891 when a minor and politician here in Arizona, Ralph Cameron, improved a Native American trail (now called Bright Angel Trail) down to what is now Indian Garden Campground. He started charging $1 for those that wished to ride or walk down.

While walking along the rim by the El Tovar Hotel I spotted, what I thought was a deceased deer, about 100 yards down, on a ledge. I was so sad, surmising it had possibly fallen from above the night before. We walked on to visit a couple of gift shops for our traditional pin, postcard and ink stamp in our passport book trying not to feel so sad.

On the way back, my “deer” had shifted from an awkward curled up position to laying on its belly, its head was up! I was so glad, but still was unsure if it might have been hurt. Hummm, there are now horns visible on his head. My “deer” is a goat! We sat there a while and as I looked through my camera lens, it got up, walked to some green leafed trees and began eating breakfast. All was well and I was relieved and enjoyed that the several hour occurrence could now be remembered in a positive light! : )

It’s now about 10AM. Gary and I realized our single chocolate croissant, milk and my coffee at 5:30 this morning was not holding us anymore. We drove back over to Yavapai Tavern, the only restaurant that allows dogs on their patio. The tavern was not opening until noon but we bought breakfast at the lodge’s other buffet restaurant and carried it outside. After breakfast we went to the main visitor center which is close to the Park Store and the General Store where I bought a Grand Canyon tee shirt for Gary. I often go into the stores during these trips with Rangeley. The “guys” stay in the car or walk around. I take pictures of the Tee shirts I like and Gary picks one out for me to buy. Team work!

We have never taken the mules down into the canyon but the daily trips have been occurring since the 1890’s. I did not know that a mule is the product from breeding a male burro with a female horse. They can carry more weight and have a smoother ride. The day trips take about 8 hours from the South Rim to the river and back. They also do single overnight trips to Phantom Ranch Campground on the north side of the river. The mules not only carry tourists but food, supplies and equipment to the bottom for tourist lodging provisions and those park employees that live down there seasonally.

Next stop, Flagstaff, AZ about 1 hour south of the canyon. We will stay overnight and return home to Phoenix tomorrow, June 15th.

Happy Flag Day today!!

Flagstaff: Sadly, the Arizona Snowbowl Ski Area where we were going to hike was completely closed due to the fires. We headed into Flagstaff, about 6 miles away, but stopped to take some pictures of the helicopter pilots fighting the fires with hanging buckets of water retrieved from Flagstaff’s reservoir north of the city.

I had read about the murals that artists have painted around the downtown area and enjoyed the huge creative works of art. The picture of the one that has a piano, owl, eagle and more, is the largest mural in Arizona.

We returned to Basecamp at Snowbowl at the base of the access road to the ski area where we had booked a room. We enjoyed drinks on the patio, dinner later that night and walks in the cool wooded areas surrounding the lodging. The winds shifted and smoke became quite thick in the morning. As Gary smiled and said we should head to cleaner air and 110-degree weather back home in Phoenix. We hope the fires are contained soon and that all remain safe in Flagstaff. We would like to get some of that rain that is causing Yellowstone and Voyageurs National Parks to close and we will send them our drought!

We have now visited and placed a pin in all the national parks in the lower 48!

Since we have also visited the Hawaiian national parks, American Samoa and Virgin Islands we need to plan another trip to Alaska to get the remaining 5 of the 63 current national parks.

The parks remaining – Glacier Bay, Wrangell – St Elias, Lake Clark, Katmai and Kobuk Valley.