Yavapai Lodge West Hotel Grand Canyon Grand Canyon National Park

Day 20 Well, E had a pretty rough night of sleep again, but he feels much better and was really hungry again for the first time in a few days. So, we decided to pack it up and hit the road. After cleaning the dishes and getting everything back in the van we started making our way towards the Grand Canyon. Time to get back on Route 66. After you get out of Albuquerque there is not too much to see except desert for a good long while. The first stop was Petrified Forest. We didn't have a lot of ...

After a complimentary hotel breakfast, we drove north from Flagstaff on 89. The loop through Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and Wupatki National Monument occupied most of our day. We got to Sunset Crater just in time for the ranger-led tour. We watched the storm clouds gathering as they told us about the geologic and anthropological history of the place, but fortunately it held off long enough for them to finish before it broke in force. Refusing to be daunted by the downpour, we don...

We woke up early to prepare for our big hiking day. Breakfast at Maswick Lodge cafeteria was a change of scene, and then we all congregated outside to adjust packs and water supplies while we waited for Elaine. Going down Bright Angel trail is deceptively easy, and we were aided further by a cool morning thanks to the overnight rain. We stopped fairly frequently to let mule teams pass and to hear about our surroundings. A mile and a half (and a thousand feet in elevation) into the canyon, we ...

Scott

Might write something a bit later!

Paul

Today we finally made it to the meteor crater after yesterdays epic journey to Winslow. It cost $15 to gain access to the crater and I had read that a lot of people felt that it was over-priced for what is essentially just a (big) hole in the ground. Turns out the place was great, with the crater itself spectacular in size and appearance. We went on a an hour long hike along the crater guided by an extremely enthusiastic g...

15th July 2009

After another lie in for the three of us until 9am, and up at 5.30am for
the golfers again. We sat down for breakfast before leaving at 11am,
and drove for 4 hours to the Grand Canyon, one of the Earth's most
powerful, inspiring landscapes. Its rugged landscape hosts a
fascinating variety of plant and animal communities, from the desert
next to the Colorado River deep in the canyon to montane forests atop
its North Rim.

We stopped inside the par...

Arrived into the park just in time to watch sunset, then checked into our accom - Yavapai Lodge. Saw a few large elk beside the road on the way. Next day did part of the rim walk, heading East in the direction of Hermit's Rest. Laurs' first day of activity since being ill so a bit of a struggle. Altitude of 1500m didn't help either. Quite a warm day and worked up a sweat - beautiful views, and some hairy moments when the path goes quite close the the edge. Got up at 4.10 the next day to catch...

We sadly had to leave Sedona this morning. It is undoubtedly one of the prettiest places on earth. No matter which direction you turn you see something that makes you stop and stare. Even though the rocks stay the same they always look different in the various lights and clouds. I have always enjoyed watching the ocean early in the morning. Before last week I never would have thought I would enjoy looking at rocks as much as I do the ocean, but I do. The good news is we headed for one of the ...

We checked into our hotel last night. We knew there was not air conditioning in the room. Most of the rooms (that we can afford) do not have air conditioning. That is ok because at night it gets down to the low 50's with most day time highs on the rim of mid 80's. Unfortunately the maids do not leave any windows open, so it took several hours for the room to cool off. What is worse, we have the room that is 5 feet from the world's noisiest ice machine. There are no other rooms available on th...

I'd never been to the Grand Canyon. Here's what I imagined: Desert as far as the eye can see. Light brown, sandy soil, small rocks, small cacti, shrubby things. Utterly boring. You approach the canyon's edge on a two lane road. In front of it is a large cement circle with a big sign in the middle with information about the canyon. You get out of your car (I didn't go so far as to imagine the parking lot) and walk to the edge where there is a big, long, hole in the ground like the photographs ...

The first thing you see on the road into the Grand Canyon (or the reverse Ayres rock as its called these days) is this giant re-creation of Bedrock from the Flintstones. A giant Fred Flinstone can be seen from the road encouraging you to camp at the Bedrock camp grounds. Here you can see the entire Flintstones theme in all its glory. Their car, Wilma, the drive-in, this place has it all. Not long after this you see a giant golden arches and the most expensive McDonalds in America ($7.99 for a...