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ANTELOPE CANYON & THE GRAND CANYON
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| A Breakfast Triumph | Again an early-ish start. Rang the girls at 8am - throw some clothes on to beat the rush for "Continental" breakfast. We did. This time we were armed with the requisite jams, butters, cream cheeses for our bagels, we had our teabags ready and asked for hot water. KT even got a smile and the lady pointed to where all the jams, butters etc were kept - just before KT dumped them on her tray! Smug-mode as we sat eating our repast as everyone else came down at 8:45am to have to queue for food, find somewhere to sit, go back for hot water for tea - push through the queue to get coffee from the inconveniently placed machine etc.
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| Leisurely Departure | After that, back to rooms for leisurely packing. Aim to leave 10ish and visit the Upper Antelope Canyon to see the Corkscrew Slot Canyon. Drove there after checking out. Extremely hot again this morning but very clear.
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| Antelope Canyon | So the nice Navajo boy and girl at the booth agreed with us that this indeed was the canyon we wanted, and yes, the Lower Antelope Canyon was the one with the long walk/rope ladders etc. Yes this was the "Corkscrew Slot Canyon". $5 each for a day pass to the Navajo Land. OK - handed over the $20. "Thanks - go over to the shelter to pay for your trip" - what? $12.50 each to get transported to the site - another $50 - Ho Hum.
Run by one family - girl taking the money, Mom and Pop driving the wagons. Had to wait 'cos Mom wanted a rest - well it is hot. Then we, for some reason, didn't go on the next truck anyway - had to wait in the heat and sun for another 30 minutes. Then we were loaded onto the NEXT truck - 12 in the back (6 each side) and "several" in the front depending on how many kids (sorry "very young adults") were involved.
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| A Troublesome Trip | Very bumpy couple of miles ride in the truck following the dry river bed - all sand. Couple opposite, lady was having trouble. Thought she felt sick, turns out she is pregnant and is VERY worried about "things happening". 20mins or so saw us reach a sandstone outcrop - this is it. Dropped off - be back here in an hour - and left to our own devices to explore.
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| Corkscrews Galore | What a wonderful canyon - perhaps 100m long. Lots of twists and convolutions - all at different heights, giving the impression of a series of vertical corkscrews all joined by a horizontal one. Took loads of photos as various aspects got hit by sunlight, so lots of different hues of sandstone - and some remarkable shapes.
As our hour wore on, other people arrived on organised tours - ie had a guide. So we had a chance to listen to some of the explanations. Flash floods caused by rain up to 30miles away. Biggest 14 years ago account for some of the tree trunks stuck about 12-15ft up the walls. Obviously levels of canyon floor also change depending on how much sand gets deposited. On our way back to main entrance, took some more photos 'cos the light had changed. Right near the entrance heard a guide tell one of her group to photograph without flash as there are a lot of crystalline deposits which reflect flash - and also not to get any sky in because the walls will look too dark. SO - if a keen photographer has taken loads of photos, with sky in and with flash - one wonders about the outcome of that particular film doesn't one? OOPS.
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| Return Is Worse | Anyway, our hour is up and we climb back onboard Mom's truck. Pregnant lady gets another good bouncing around and actually ends up in tears (well gentle sobbing into partner's arm) by the end, as much in fear of what might happen as in actual pain.
Back to the car - smack on aircon full tilt and away we head - south towards the Grand Canyon - well Tusayan and our hotel actually.
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| Danger - Adverts | Drove for what seemed an age upwards from Lake Powell to 7000ft marker, then down the other side to about 5000ft. Hereon in it was flat and arid. We wondered how the Navajo could make a living out of this land - given to them by the government - maybe minerals?
Just before our right turn towards the Grand Canyon we passed by big signs saying "Friendly Indians Here" then "Chief Yellow Horse Loves You". Then, after we had gone passed, big signs saying "Friendly Indians Behind You" and "Turn Back Now" and (my favourite) "Chief yellow Horse [heart] You" - all for the promotion of some "Genuine Indian Jewellery".
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| Rising Ground | Drove upwards again, very hot, but always upwards - 50miles to start of canyon. With 20miles to go, stopped at a viewpoint and walked down to the canyon edge for a look at the Little Colorado River - 500ft drop but scale we could appreciate. Here was a family with 2 dogs - one a little fat PUG. It was really gasping due to the heat (plus the fact that it had had to walk 200 yards from the car - it looked like the sort that was carried everywhere - YUK). Mary (bless her) thought it was me panting due to the combination of heat/altitude/exertion - thanks!
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| The Grand Canyon | Not too long after this I noticed we were getting a bit low on fuel so switched off the aircon. Within 2mins all the windows were open! Eventually arrived at the NP boundary and flashed our card at the booth. Funny, no Tusayan and no Red Feather Lodge. When we stopped to refuel about ˝ mile ahead (and to switch back on the aircon!) we looked a little harder at our maps and realised there were two 89A's into the park (well 89A loops from where we joined it West and North to the rim, then South out of the park towards Flagstaff, passing thru Tusayan). OK now we know, lets explore.
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| First Impressions | Stopped in a "pullout" (lay by), got out of the car and there, spread out before us was the biggest single geographical . . . THING . . . I have ever seen. The scale is so immense that the mind doesn't really sort it all out. This remained the theme for all the viewpoints. Where you could see the Colorado it looked like a small river - but it must be huge 'cos it's a mile down to it and the Canyon is 8miles across in some places. Had a look round, found Market Plaza with a few shops, a bank, Post Office etc.
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| Tusayan | Then drove down the "other" 89A, out of the park to Tusayan and found our hotel the Red Feather Lodge - very pleasant, very clean, very well organised. Rooms big - again 2 queen-sized beds in each room 2124 and 2126. Rested, freshened up and went back into the park.
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| GC Again | Found Yavapi Point and had a look, took some photos, read some of the facts and figures, then moved on to Mather Point, parked by the side of the road (it being a particularly popular spot) and walked to the Visitor Centre. Had look round there - there is NO WAY we are going to attempt any of the walks into the Canyon! Found the relative peace and tranquillity of the "Books and More" store - Mary bought some Native American music CDs. Then we went to Mather Point itself and looked over the edge. More photos. It must be said that the light was not that good - being late (ish) afternoon the sky was full of thunderclouds and there was a lot of "bad air haze". Lets see what the photos show when they are developed.
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| Feeding Time | As we were hungry, hot and tired we decided to leave and find somewhere to eat. Cars were streaming into the park to catch sunset somewhere - we thought they were wasting their time. Found "We Cook Pizza and Pasta" for our meal - only Mary finished hers. We beat a hasty retreat as I was fearful of my reputation as a "big eater".
As we left we saw that the thunder and rain had passed over and there was a splendid purple/orange sunset all along the horizon - damn.
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| Chill Out | Back to our rooms to chill out. No diary tonight - watched Wesley Snipes in some sort of spy movie instead. In bed by 10 - asleep by about 9:50 !!
Had arranged with the girls to check out of hotel about 8am to ensure we were at Papillon Helicopters by 8:30ish. Papillon being in the North Entrance to Tusayan Airport (about 5mins away from our hotel according to the chap I booked with back in Las Vegas). So - early start tomorrow.
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Words and pictures © Steve Andrews 2001 - 2012