Finally! The Grand Canyon's Southern Rim.

Roy and I made two trips to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, once by accident, the second time purposely after visiting Flagstaff. Now when it comes to the photos I'll be posting, you will notice that the weather has an effect on the outlook of the scenery. Some of the photos are from March 2010, a beautifully sunny day; air crisp and clean; winter's snow still on the ground, but finally beginning to melt. The other photos are from July 2011, a miserably stormy day; yet the cloud cover that had descended upon the Grand Canyon and down into its deepest crevices gave the scenery an air of mystery.   There will be a lot of photos, 34 and only 4 are of a map and informational boards; that's 34 out of almost 300!  Alright then, a map, and to Route 64 (East Rim Drive) from the Route 89 junction; while you can find many maps online, the brochure you receive at the entrance gate has the best one by far.

So, after passing Cameron on Route 89, make a right turn onto Route 64; it's a paved road, but not highly maintained.  You'll pass many a roadside pull-in filled with vendors selling Native American crafted wares.  At one point you will see a viewpoint area, park and walk to the very edge over sandstone rocks; there is fencing, but not all around the edges, so be careful of your footing.  Besides the amazing rock formations down below, the Little Colorado River can be seen winding its way through.

After paying your fee at the East entrance gate, you'll notice that most of the roadway goes through a well forested area; campsites here and there, but then you'll see the sign that really gets your attention, "Mountain Lion Crossing". As grand as the Grand Canyon is, you're in wilderness and that means wild animals. Anyway, the first viewing area will be the Desert View and the Watchtower is the focal point of this small area of shops. When we were there in March 2010, it was going through a facelift, so my photo reflects that. It's the view beyond the Watchtower that will take your breath away; after this, just keep following the map and enjoy the adventure!

Desert View

Cedar Mountain

Navajo Point



Cardenas Butte
 

Lipan Point

Moran Point

Getting nearer to Grandview Point, you'll spy Sinking Ship; it's in the upper right section of the photo.






Grandview Point

Grandview Point is just that, the ultimate grand view of the Grand Canyon's South Rim.  Horseshoe Mesa is dominant in the forefront of the scenery; while the Colorado River can be seen in the background still carving the canyon ever deeper and wider.

Horseshoe Mesa

Colorado River

Local residents are quite happy to answer any questions you have about the area; that is if you can speak "raven". 












Yaki Point

Forefront is O'Neill Butte and Cedar Ridge

Westward view is Cheops Pyramid, Isis Temple, Shiva Temple

Mather Point - Just before you get to Mather Point, you have the option of making a left turn onto Route 64 to exit the park; otherwise stay on Desert View Drive which will turn into a loop.  The Grand Canyon Visitors Center is just past Mather Point.

Yavapai Point - Continuing on the loop road will eventually bring you to Grand Canyon Village which has a supermarket, restaurants, gifts shops, hotel and much more.  The end of the loop will bring you once again to Route 64 where you can exit to go towards Flagstaff, or return to Desert View Drive for another look at the South Rim all the way to the East Rim Drive and back to Route 89.

Now I'm going to post photos simply for the effects the weather has on the landscaping.

The next adventure to the Grand Canyon will be to the North Rim; probably when the weather begins to warm up again, so not until spring or summer of 2014.

Mary Cokenour

Finding the Grand Canyon by Accident.

Agathla Peak

The Owl

After residing in the Four Corners area for a year, it came to mind that I had not been to Arizona yet. Stepping on the Arizona side of the "Four Corners Monument" didn't count in my book; I wanted to be in the actual state and see something of it. So, I'm going to begin this travel post on the Arizona side of the Utah-Arizona border in Monument Valley.  "What!?!", you're yelling, "You're not going to write about and post photos of Monument Valley!?!"...patience grasshopper; all in good time.  I will however, post two photos of monuments you will pass by on Route 163; Agathla Peak (aka El Capitan) and The Owl.   Agathla Peak is sacred to the Navajo and the name is taken from a word in the language which means "much wool"; the monument is approximately 1500 feet in height and is a eroded volcanic plug.  This monument fascinates me because of its similarity to the "Black Fortress" in the movie "Krull"; The Owl is so named for its similarity to the bird.



Map time!



 

Traveling south on Route 163, the landscape is typically desert; sparse vegetation, sand, sandstone, an interesting formation here and there.  Even though the type of stone may change from area to area, it will keep its desolate atmosphere.  The first town you will reach is Kayenta, at the crossroads of Route 163 and Route 160; make sure your gas tank is filled, and you have plenty of bottled water; if you're hungry, fast food is basically the only thing you'll find.  Hint, McDonald's is a NO!; the Burger King and Sonic, while over priced, are still better choices for service, food quality and cleanliness.   At the crossroads, go west onto Route 160 and you'll be traveling on this roadway until you reach its ending at the junction of Route 89.  Keep a lookout for interesting sites not indicated on any maps, such as Native American ruins in the cliff (north side) near mile marker 394.  I found these by accident too; I was playing around with a new zoom lens my hubby bought me, just because, and spied these ruins.  The shoulders of Route 160 going through Arizona are very tight, so we had to park a little ways down, and I carefully walked back to get some shots of these ruins.



Elephant Feet

Driving along, we're around Tonalea and see these really tall and strange looking gray formations; I glance at a map and see the name "Elephant Feet".  These sandstone pillars (5502 feet above sea level) are grayish white instead of sandstone's typical brownish red; giving the illusion of an elephant's feet and lower legs. I'm posting two photos of them; my hubby, Roy, is in one and this will give you a good idea of how massive these pillars truly are.



By the way, remember I just said I "glanced" at a map; that's how we found the Grand Canyon by accident...not reading a map, just glancing at it.  You'll understand as this story progresses along.

As I stated before, the landscape is desolate; gray adobe hills breakup the monotony and you can see trails left by ATV adventurers upon them.  Perhaps a lonely horse is strolling around hoping to find some type of greenery to munch on.

We stop in Tuba City to gas up and decide that we will follow Route 160 until it ends at Route 89; then turn around and make our way back home again. That was the plan..."was" being the key word. Now as we ride along, I begin seeing on the sides of the roadway these little canyons and I remark to Roy on how they look like "mini-Grand Canyons".  At the end of Route 160, the junction of Route 89, is a large green sign that says, "Grand Canyon, South Rim, North Rim" with arrows pointing to the appropriate direction. We both look at one another with "what the heck?" looks, pull over and read the map this time, not just glance at it. Holy Moly!!! We're practically at the Grand Canyon!!! That's right folks, we had no clue, no idea at all that the routes we were traveling were leading us to one of the meccas of National Parks...The Grand Canyon. Talk about a "Duh!" moment.

 

Did we turn around and go back home?  Hell no!  We flipped a coin and made the left turn to the South Rim; and that is how we found "The Painted Desert".  The Painted Desert extends from Cameron-Tuba City southeast to the Petrified Forest, roughly 120 miles long by 60 miles wide (about 7500 square miles). The hills are composed of stratified layers of easily erodible siltstone, mudstone, and shale of the Triassic Chinle Formation; the colors come from abundant iron and manganese compounds. They're simply fascinating to look at!

 

Before making the turn onto Route 64 towards the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, make a stop at the Cameron Trading Post.  Besides the main building, there are smaller shops within the adobe buildings featuring artists.  There is also a hotel connected to the Trading Post, so you can always stay there if getting into the Grand Canyon's hotel was impossible. 
















So, just by wanting to step into Arizona and see a little bit of it, we found a cliff dwelling, elephant feet, a painted desert and the largest canyon in the United States. If you think about it, this little road trip ended up being one giant, happy accident...and off to the Grand Canyon, but that story is for another day.

Mary Cokenour