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IMAGES
From
Nostalgiaville |
NOTE: A Click of your Mouse on most of the pictures will enlarge them for better viewing
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GRAND CANYON, ARIZONA |
| We are nineteen miles from the Grand Canyon. There are Smoky the Bear signs along the road and other signs stating the fire hazard degree for the day. There is little moisture here now. Chapstick is a necessity. I don't know what hair products the women use here, but two days after washing your hair it looks and feels like a haystack. |
| Paul has picked the park at the Grand
Canyon to stay for three days. He has been here before and also has been
white water boating down in the Colorado River in the canyon.
Well... and that is a very deep subject... "The GRAND CANYON" is being put on my must see list. There are no words to give an adequate description of this experience. I stand here gazing at the canyon and my mind can't process the vision I am taking in. It seems to me that I am looking at a backdrop on a stage. It is unbelievable. |
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Maybe a few statistics would help. It is nearly 10 miles by trail to the bottom and about 20 miles across from rim to rim. From the rim, the Canyon is one mile deep. If you get in your car and drive that far then you will have an idea of the size |
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We take a short hike down the Bright Angel Trail that goes to the bottom of the Canyon where the Colorado River runs through. The trail is almost ten miles long and drops one mile... 5280 feet in its descent. Sir Knight has run down the trail once and hiked up it twice. |
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| There is an I-Max Theater here that features the Grand Canyon. We go to see the movie. It is fabulous. If you have never been to an I-Max Theater…go! The movie takes us down the canyon on the Colorado river, and flies us through the canyon like a soaring eagle. |
| We drive back to the canyon and look again. Boy... it has really turned cold... Later we return to the RV and watch the video Michael. |
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| It is cloudy, cold, and very windy this morning. We decide to go back to the little village where we saw the movie yesterday. Paul buys a movie about the Grand Canyon, and then we take a short ride to another view point of the canyon. It is too cold at the canyon rim to stay out very long. We decide to go back to the camp site and embark on a rock hunt and nature tour. |
| On our tour, we discover the wondrous beauty of the forest and life on the Canyon's rim... such as... PLANT LIFE |
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| And... TREES |
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| And...
ROCKS We find some very old rocks. They are not as pretty as other ones we have found but they are interesting to have, and after all the canyon is quite old. |
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ANIMALS We encounter the friends of the forest. We walk up on some baby elk and are able to get very close. We leave them and continue on our nature walk. |
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On our way back to the RV Sir Knight tells me to look quickly. I turn to my right and there they were... both momma elks and their babies. We would like to announce that we are officially members of the elks club. |
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| I show Sir Knight signs of animals being present; hoof prints and "other things". We have a debate on the kind of animal that leaves these signs. I tell him that the signs are similar to rabbit but much bigger. They are also too big for deer. He wants to hold further debate on the subject but I KNOW my signs. I am an expert on these types of signs. |
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But, alas... we are both wrong.
Down the path, we discover that the droppings came from... you would never
guess... a camel
Okay…so sometimes I'm wrong. |
| When we get back to the RV we do a show and tell on the rocks that we have collected. Afterwards we go sit on a rock at the Canyon's rim to people watch and take pictures of the sunset. |
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There are two guys standing under a lamp post, looking over the canyon, one with a brown cigarette in his hand. I wonder why they are there and what they are thinking. Now this is the truth... four other friends come up and they all break out in a song together. They are singing in German but the melody was "Michael Rowed the Boat Ashore". And then they walk away. I have never seen this in real life... only in the movies. |
| We finish taking pictures of the sun set, then walk rapidly to the Tracker and back to the RV to get out of the wind-borne cold. Paul goes out for a run this morning while I just relax and do some painting. |
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I take an 11 mile run along the canyon rim west from the village. About half of the run is through peaceful woods from the campground to the trail head. Once I get to the beginning of the trail, it decides to turn sharply up hill. The climb is hard, but the magnificent scenery makes it feel easy, and I fly along the trail like an eagle soaring over the Canyon. |
| I run to Hopi Point and make it my turn-around point. |
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| On the way I pass what looks like an old chair lift that must have carried people down into the Canyon's depths in earlier days. |
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It is exhilarating to stare into the depths of the Grand Canyon |
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I catch glimpses of the "mighty" Colorado River at the bottom of the Canyon. |
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| I also spot Lava Falls, the most feared and dreaded rapid on the river |
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The return trip is much easier... down-hill is wonderful. At the end of the run, I do a little "I'm pooped" act on the picnic table next to the RV. |
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| We eat dinner at a steak house in the little town outside the park... B-I-G Mistake! I guess that any place with an old Volkswagen with horns, painted to look like a cow out front should have tipped us off as to food quality. |
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As we get ready to leave the Canyon, a pair of elk pay us a good bye visit next to the RV. |
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We catch some scenes on the way to our next stop that we can't resist taking pictures of. Several of our stops are accompanied by some rock hoarding adventures. |
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| Life is hard in the desert, but many people choose it and establish their own little fortress against the elements. We catch a glimpse of the Colorado River. |
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