How Grand!
Last week, college roomies Laura, Lisa, and I met up in Arizona. They had wanted to drive over and visit and wondered what we could do on this trip that we had not done last time they visited me in Phoenix. Though I didn't remember and had to be reminded of it, I suggested that we go to the Grand Canyon, as I'd been there once before, but I was young and it was snowing. I figured I should see it during the friendly summer, and during the time I actually live in Arizona.
Feels wrong to call the entirety of the canyon "It". The Grand Canyon is large in, yes, the way you think of God as big. And the Grand Canyon is more than just one canyon, but side canyons built on side canyons. Sorry, Earth. Water really beat you in this battle. I don't know what route my family took when we road-tripped over to the Grand Canyon back when I was a young teenager, but from Phoenix, it's a pretty straightforward drive of about 4 hours, no curvy roads to navigate. One goes through Flagstaff, takes the highway around the side of the San Francisco Peaks, and makes a straight shot across the planes and into Grand Canyon National Park.
After some discussion, we decided to camp on the rim of the Canyon, in the National Park. Laura had been there a couple months ago with her boyfriend and recommended it, so we met up there. It's been a couple years since I've been camping. I have a sleeping bag and a big blow up mattress (two, in fact) but that's about the extent of it. Laura had a tent but not a very big one to fit both them and me on my Princess Bed, so I went and purchased a cheap tent for myself (I was going to sleep under the stars, but rain was in the forecast). I love my little tent! Easy to set up and take down, stays dry in the rain, and is even orange yet doesn't smell like cheese! I feel inspired to get some more camping gear together so I can enjoy the outdoors more often (meaning: camp stove, dishes, pot, pan, camp chair). About half of the other campers in our loop of the campground (it's a sprawling campground with many loops) were in RVs, but thankfully we were in the non-generator section, so everything remained quiet.
Once we got the tent set up, we hopped on the shuttle bus to take us to the rim of the canyon so we could peek in. The shuttle busses are great and keep the roads in the park pretty much free of traffic. You can park at the campground or in some large parking lots and take the shuttle everywhere in the village that you want to go, and to many of the popular trail heads. There were lots of people out on the rim, but there was a good reason - it was NICE. The evening was clear, the colors were brilliant, and the atmosphere was almost festive. There was also a kaleidoscope of languages being spoken - more than I hear at Disneyland. The Grand Canyon really is an international destination, and for a good reason. It's spectacular. If you're going to do an American tour, especially a coast-to-coast one, you have to stop at Grand Canyon, at least for a couple hours! We spent some nice quality time taking pictures and taking pictures for other people and having them take pictures of us. "Will you please take my photo?" is pretty much the same gesture in any culture. I'm very glad that "OK" is a multi-language word. Everyone knows what that means, in question and in affirmative tones.
We then made spaghetti in the dark, easily accomplished, and went to bed. I slept so well in my little tent. The Princess air mattress made all the difference.
On Wednesday we got up nice and early to get to the rim, while not exactly at sunrise, early enough to take decent photographs. It was much less crowded at this earlier time and we had a great time walking along the rim trail with often no other people in sight.
(Laura, sitting quite close to the edge at our snack lookout point, taking photos).
After a wander along the rim trail and a shuttle ride back to the main visitor center, we stopped in to watch a movie about the Grand Canyon which, while lovely, was an odd experience when the canyon was right there outside the doors. However, it must be useful when the weather is bad...the visitor center doesn't have much in it (a couple models, a boat used to raft the canyon before inflatable boats became routine - this one was made of wood if you can imagine) so we headed over to the Geology Museum. This historical building right on the edge of the cliff had amazing panoramic windows, offering views of the canyon from several angles and binoculars for looking at features up close. From that vantage point, we could see Phantom Ranch on the narrow floor of the canyon where rim-to-rim hikers can spend the night. There's also a large bridge down there, which looks like a splinter from way up at the rim. Actually being able to see objects in the canyon gave a much grander scale to things.
We napped in the afternoon. I picked up an awesome book about hunting for water in the desert and the creatures that have developed amazing tactics for living in areas where water is scarce, and happily read for hours. That evening, we decided to watch the sunset at a hike-to-it viewing point that the ranger in the visitor center suggested as being uncrowded. He said it was a half-mile from parking lot to cliff. It was actually more like a mile, but didn't bother us as it was through quiet shady forest. We reached the edge and, although there were a few other people there, it was dead silent. I don't often get to be in places where everything is so quiet that I can hear an odd tone in my ears (probably my brain trying to fill the empty space with something), but the edge of the canyon was one of them. No voices, no movement, no wind, no birdsong. Just stillness.
And a spectacular sunset, followed by a rain storm which included lightning, so we beat a hasty retreat back to the car. The exposed rock was way too unsheltered for comfort.
(sunset, with red rain)
It rained and thundered a bit that night, but not enough to send us scurrying for the car. By morning, everything was crisp and clear and we were ready for a hike. We packed up some snacks and were on the trail close to sunrise. Here was our trail:
Lots and lots of down, followed by lots and lots of up! The weather, while cool in the morning, heated quickly so we didn't go as far down into the canyon as we probably could have. I found that if I walked slowly, much slower than I'd be usually comfortable going, I wouldn't have to stop to catch my breath while walking back up the switchbacks. We went down to "Ooh Aah Point" or "Oh My God Point" or "Holy Crap Point", take your pick. We sure did. Though the view was spectacular, looking down made me scared of heights, so I mostly took photos of picturesque dead trees.
When we were done climbing down and then back up again, we decided it was time for a drive. We headed East along the main road of the park and out to some visitor centers at the East end. We figured there wouldn't be too many people down there, but we were quite wrong - lots and lots of people were checking out the Watchtower. Fortunately, the area is big enough for everyone and we very much enjoyed the tower, the little visitor center (with photographs and that was about it), and a gift shop/cafe where I had probably the best veggie burger I've ever had...I'm pretty sure the surroundings had something to do with that.
Though we couldn't go to the very top of this tower, we could walk up the narrow curving staircases to the highest story and peek through the useful little windows along the way, which framed specific features of the canyon. Looking at everything all at once is a bit overwhelming, so it's nice to have little bite-sized views from time to time. The inside of the tower is painted very nicely with Native American motifs. I've been here once before, when my family did a Southwest road trip, but it was snowing and we were unprepared for it in our light sweatshirts. It was April and had been swimming weather down in Phoenix. We had sheltered a bit in this tower, though it was unheated. On this visit, the weather was in the 80s, so the atmosphere in the tower was much more comfortable. The tower, if I'm not mistaken, was built in the 1930s as part of a scenic overlook and rest stop, and built in somewhat the same style as Native Americans built their watchtowers in the area, or as close as anyone can guess.
For some real Native American structures, we headed back East to the Tuscayan pueblo (I probably have spelled that wrong, but at least I know it's not Tuscon). Here, there are some low walls and a nice circle that used to be a kiva, along with a tiny visitor center and a ranger who gave us a nice tour and talk about the Ancestral Puebloans who lived at the canyon rim thousands of years ago. In fact, it looks like people settled here just as soon as they got over the land bridge from Asia, as far as anyone can tell. While we waited for the tour (we were a half hour or so early), the ranger showed us some "split stick" figures - animal figurines made by splitting a willow twig and wrapping it around in a pleasing configuration to make a little sheep, or perhaps (but probably not) a llama. The ones found were thousands of years old and had been placed in caves which were pretty hard to get to, so it was unlikely people lived in them. What were they for? Were they good luck charms for a hunt? Did someone just get bored while taking shelter in a cave from a thunderstorm? Unlikely, as archaeologists have found thousands of them, from all different ages. The ranger gave us extra long twist ties and instructions for how to make our own, which kept us busy until tour time.
The tour is what you'd expect, with lots of background about the people of the area, the fact that we aren't really sure but can make pretty good guesses about what people's lives were like here, and that the Katsina spirits live in the San Francisco Peaks during the winter time, and the pueblo building was built in such a way that the main courtyard directly faced the mountains so everyone could have a nice view pretty much all the time they weren't inside. They used to farm beans, corn, and squash all growing among each other, which works very well and is something I'd like to try someday (though not in this apartment as I lack a key ingredient - full sun). The corn provides a trellis for the beans to climb, the beans add nitrogen to the soil, and the large squash leaves protect the young plants and cool the roots in the soil. And all can be stored for the winter - Ranger said it got to 20 degrees below zero last January. Brr! One thing I forgot to ask is what the archaeologists figure the community structure at the pueblo was like. It's estimated that about 10-15 people lived at this site, so was that one family, or more than that? Was the pueblo a meeting place for several families to come to, like a town hall, and we just haven't found evidence of their individual dwellings farther afield? If it was a family homestead, where did they go to meet with people who weren't relations? So many questions that the low stone walls, one burned-down kiva, and one replacement kiva can't quite answer.
And then it was back to the campsite for naps, food, and visiting some of our favorite sites again (the geology museum and the bookstore for postcards and this stuffed mountain lion I'd admired). We had a nice campfire that night and roasted marshmallows while lightning flashed in the distance - lovely!
The next day...well, we packed up and went home! We stopped by at Shrine of Ages as I heard there was a pioneer cemetery, which turned out to be a decidedly modern cemetery, and no indication of how you get to be buried inside the national park. Ancestral plots, perhaps? Still, kind of fun to go around and read the gravestones. We parted ways then, as Lisa and Laura headed back to LA and I descended to Phoenix, with one last look at the Grand Canyon, of course!
Feels wrong to call the entirety of the canyon "It". The Grand Canyon is large in, yes, the way you think of God as big. And the Grand Canyon is more than just one canyon, but side canyons built on side canyons. Sorry, Earth. Water really beat you in this battle. I don't know what route my family took when we road-tripped over to the Grand Canyon back when I was a young teenager, but from Phoenix, it's a pretty straightforward drive of about 4 hours, no curvy roads to navigate. One goes through Flagstaff, takes the highway around the side of the San Francisco Peaks, and makes a straight shot across the planes and into Grand Canyon National Park.
After some discussion, we decided to camp on the rim of the Canyon, in the National Park. Laura had been there a couple months ago with her boyfriend and recommended it, so we met up there. It's been a couple years since I've been camping. I have a sleeping bag and a big blow up mattress (two, in fact) but that's about the extent of it. Laura had a tent but not a very big one to fit both them and me on my Princess Bed, so I went and purchased a cheap tent for myself (I was going to sleep under the stars, but rain was in the forecast). I love my little tent! Easy to set up and take down, stays dry in the rain, and is even orange yet doesn't smell like cheese! I feel inspired to get some more camping gear together so I can enjoy the outdoors more often (meaning: camp stove, dishes, pot, pan, camp chair). About half of the other campers in our loop of the campground (it's a sprawling campground with many loops) were in RVs, but thankfully we were in the non-generator section, so everything remained quiet.
Once we got the tent set up, we hopped on the shuttle bus to take us to the rim of the canyon so we could peek in. The shuttle busses are great and keep the roads in the park pretty much free of traffic. You can park at the campground or in some large parking lots and take the shuttle everywhere in the village that you want to go, and to many of the popular trail heads. There were lots of people out on the rim, but there was a good reason - it was NICE. The evening was clear, the colors were brilliant, and the atmosphere was almost festive. There was also a kaleidoscope of languages being spoken - more than I hear at Disneyland. The Grand Canyon really is an international destination, and for a good reason. It's spectacular. If you're going to do an American tour, especially a coast-to-coast one, you have to stop at Grand Canyon, at least for a couple hours! We spent some nice quality time taking pictures and taking pictures for other people and having them take pictures of us. "Will you please take my photo?" is pretty much the same gesture in any culture. I'm very glad that "OK" is a multi-language word. Everyone knows what that means, in question and in affirmative tones.
We then made spaghetti in the dark, easily accomplished, and went to bed. I slept so well in my little tent. The Princess air mattress made all the difference.
On Wednesday we got up nice and early to get to the rim, while not exactly at sunrise, early enough to take decent photographs. It was much less crowded at this earlier time and we had a great time walking along the rim trail with often no other people in sight.
(Laura, sitting quite close to the edge at our snack lookout point, taking photos).
After a wander along the rim trail and a shuttle ride back to the main visitor center, we stopped in to watch a movie about the Grand Canyon which, while lovely, was an odd experience when the canyon was right there outside the doors. However, it must be useful when the weather is bad...the visitor center doesn't have much in it (a couple models, a boat used to raft the canyon before inflatable boats became routine - this one was made of wood if you can imagine) so we headed over to the Geology Museum. This historical building right on the edge of the cliff had amazing panoramic windows, offering views of the canyon from several angles and binoculars for looking at features up close. From that vantage point, we could see Phantom Ranch on the narrow floor of the canyon where rim-to-rim hikers can spend the night. There's also a large bridge down there, which looks like a splinter from way up at the rim. Actually being able to see objects in the canyon gave a much grander scale to things.
We napped in the afternoon. I picked up an awesome book about hunting for water in the desert and the creatures that have developed amazing tactics for living in areas where water is scarce, and happily read for hours. That evening, we decided to watch the sunset at a hike-to-it viewing point that the ranger in the visitor center suggested as being uncrowded. He said it was a half-mile from parking lot to cliff. It was actually more like a mile, but didn't bother us as it was through quiet shady forest. We reached the edge and, although there were a few other people there, it was dead silent. I don't often get to be in places where everything is so quiet that I can hear an odd tone in my ears (probably my brain trying to fill the empty space with something), but the edge of the canyon was one of them. No voices, no movement, no wind, no birdsong. Just stillness.
And a spectacular sunset, followed by a rain storm which included lightning, so we beat a hasty retreat back to the car. The exposed rock was way too unsheltered for comfort.
(sunset, with red rain)
It rained and thundered a bit that night, but not enough to send us scurrying for the car. By morning, everything was crisp and clear and we were ready for a hike. We packed up some snacks and were on the trail close to sunrise. Here was our trail:
Lots and lots of down, followed by lots and lots of up! The weather, while cool in the morning, heated quickly so we didn't go as far down into the canyon as we probably could have. I found that if I walked slowly, much slower than I'd be usually comfortable going, I wouldn't have to stop to catch my breath while walking back up the switchbacks. We went down to "Ooh Aah Point" or "Oh My God Point" or "Holy Crap Point", take your pick. We sure did. Though the view was spectacular, looking down made me scared of heights, so I mostly took photos of picturesque dead trees.
When we were done climbing down and then back up again, we decided it was time for a drive. We headed East along the main road of the park and out to some visitor centers at the East end. We figured there wouldn't be too many people down there, but we were quite wrong - lots and lots of people were checking out the Watchtower. Fortunately, the area is big enough for everyone and we very much enjoyed the tower, the little visitor center (with photographs and that was about it), and a gift shop/cafe where I had probably the best veggie burger I've ever had...I'm pretty sure the surroundings had something to do with that.
Though we couldn't go to the very top of this tower, we could walk up the narrow curving staircases to the highest story and peek through the useful little windows along the way, which framed specific features of the canyon. Looking at everything all at once is a bit overwhelming, so it's nice to have little bite-sized views from time to time. The inside of the tower is painted very nicely with Native American motifs. I've been here once before, when my family did a Southwest road trip, but it was snowing and we were unprepared for it in our light sweatshirts. It was April and had been swimming weather down in Phoenix. We had sheltered a bit in this tower, though it was unheated. On this visit, the weather was in the 80s, so the atmosphere in the tower was much more comfortable. The tower, if I'm not mistaken, was built in the 1930s as part of a scenic overlook and rest stop, and built in somewhat the same style as Native Americans built their watchtowers in the area, or as close as anyone can guess.
For some real Native American structures, we headed back East to the Tuscayan pueblo (I probably have spelled that wrong, but at least I know it's not Tuscon). Here, there are some low walls and a nice circle that used to be a kiva, along with a tiny visitor center and a ranger who gave us a nice tour and talk about the Ancestral Puebloans who lived at the canyon rim thousands of years ago. In fact, it looks like people settled here just as soon as they got over the land bridge from Asia, as far as anyone can tell. While we waited for the tour (we were a half hour or so early), the ranger showed us some "split stick" figures - animal figurines made by splitting a willow twig and wrapping it around in a pleasing configuration to make a little sheep, or perhaps (but probably not) a llama. The ones found were thousands of years old and had been placed in caves which were pretty hard to get to, so it was unlikely people lived in them. What were they for? Were they good luck charms for a hunt? Did someone just get bored while taking shelter in a cave from a thunderstorm? Unlikely, as archaeologists have found thousands of them, from all different ages. The ranger gave us extra long twist ties and instructions for how to make our own, which kept us busy until tour time.
The tour is what you'd expect, with lots of background about the people of the area, the fact that we aren't really sure but can make pretty good guesses about what people's lives were like here, and that the Katsina spirits live in the San Francisco Peaks during the winter time, and the pueblo building was built in such a way that the main courtyard directly faced the mountains so everyone could have a nice view pretty much all the time they weren't inside. They used to farm beans, corn, and squash all growing among each other, which works very well and is something I'd like to try someday (though not in this apartment as I lack a key ingredient - full sun). The corn provides a trellis for the beans to climb, the beans add nitrogen to the soil, and the large squash leaves protect the young plants and cool the roots in the soil. And all can be stored for the winter - Ranger said it got to 20 degrees below zero last January. Brr! One thing I forgot to ask is what the archaeologists figure the community structure at the pueblo was like. It's estimated that about 10-15 people lived at this site, so was that one family, or more than that? Was the pueblo a meeting place for several families to come to, like a town hall, and we just haven't found evidence of their individual dwellings farther afield? If it was a family homestead, where did they go to meet with people who weren't relations? So many questions that the low stone walls, one burned-down kiva, and one replacement kiva can't quite answer.
And then it was back to the campsite for naps, food, and visiting some of our favorite sites again (the geology museum and the bookstore for postcards and this stuffed mountain lion I'd admired). We had a nice campfire that night and roasted marshmallows while lightning flashed in the distance - lovely!
The next day...well, we packed up and went home! We stopped by at Shrine of Ages as I heard there was a pioneer cemetery, which turned out to be a decidedly modern cemetery, and no indication of how you get to be buried inside the national park. Ancestral plots, perhaps? Still, kind of fun to go around and read the gravestones. We parted ways then, as Lisa and Laura headed back to LA and I descended to Phoenix, with one last look at the Grand Canyon, of course!