Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Today we left Flagstaff at 8am for the Grand Canyon, which is about an hour and a half away. The drive through the Coconino National Forest was pretty cool. The San Francisco Peaks still had snow.
I cannot begin to tell you how excited we were for today. We knew it was going to be incredible, just really couldn’t comprehend how much until we share it in person.
The plan was to leave Chance at a kennel since it was the low was in the low 30s and the high upper 50s. Once we went to the Visitor Center and had a better lay of the land on the South Rim, we altered our plans a bit, which I am extremely thankful we did.
First we drove east down Desert View Drive. We drove all the way to the eastern outlook, past at least 8 outlooks with sneak peaks into the Grand Canyon. I don’t know how we held in our excitement until then. I was literally jumping up and down in my seat.
Our first stop was the Desert View Watchtower, still my favorite stop of the day. I am in love with this tower. It was modeled after towers found near Four Corners (Arizona, New Mexico, Utah & Colorado intersection). But first let me tell as best as I can about the views of the Grand Canyon. It’s incredible to think about how long it took to form. It’s an average of 10 miles wide and a mile deep. The different striations of colors show the amazing varying sediments formed over millions of years. The Colorado River was visibly moving rapidly, which is saying a lot from that height.
Okay, back to the tower by architect Mary Colter. The punched windows in the stone masonry tower seem sporadic and random, but were strategically placed for views and visitors of varying heights. The ancient Indian aspects to the building were not lost. It is absolutely beautiful and fits in perfectly with its surroundings.
At Lipan Point, we ate leftover pizza and fruit while overlooking the massive canyon. I don’t think we could have had a better backdrop. It was great that Chance got to explore the point with us. For the most part she was a good girl and listened when momma freaked that she ran too close to the canyon edge.
On the eastern side we also stopped at Moran Point and Grandview Point.
Back at the Visitor Center we walked the paved paths to Mather Point.
As we drove over to the Grand Canyon Village, we past a group of female elk grazing on the roadside.
Chance loved the eastern route, Desert View Drive of the South Rim, since we could drive to the stops and she could join us. The western route, Hermit’s Road, was accessible by 7 mile hike of the shuttle bus between multiple points.
In the Grand Canyon Village we watched a line of mule be escorted from their enclosure to most likely be modes of transportation for some fortunate few down to Phantom Ranch, the camp at the base of Canyon on the Colorado River.
After that Chance’s journey ended as we picked up the shuttlebus to Maricopa Point. From here we could see remnants of an orphan uranium mine. We walked .5mi to Powell Point, then .3mi to Hopi Point.
We then picked up the shuttle again to Mohave Point.
Our final pit stop was at Hermits Rest, which has a gift shop by Mary Colter. After that we made our way back to check on Chance in the car.
We looked at many more of Mary Colter’s buildings at the Grand Canyon Village: Lookout Studio, Bright Angel Lodge, Hobi House, El Tovar Hotel, and Verkamps. By this point we were getting tired and ready for dinner.
Around 5pm we made our way back to Flagstaff. We had dinner at Brandy’s Restaurant and Bakery, which also has been featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. This was our best meal yet. Half off a bottle of wine, flat iron steak on a sweet potato cake, Mediterranean style mahi-mahi with artichokes and an expresso chocolate bar for dessert made a great conclusion to a great day.
It’s a good thing we have a lighter day to Bakersfield tomorrow. I have a feeling all the fresh air today was worn us out!
