Wildflowers in Parowan, Utah.
Yankee Meadows Lake,
Parowan, UT
Antique Tractor Show
Miss Iron County
and her attendants.
Ukele singers.
Over the top Las Vegas glam.
Fancy racing bikes at Interbike.
Mark Cavendish's winning ride.
Mark meets George Hincapie.
A big horn sheep in the Las Vegas suburbs.
Time passes more
slowly in Williams, AZ.
One tourist came to town in style.
Cruiser's Cafe 66 has live music in the afternoon.
Route 66 memorabilia is
everywhere.
A cheery gas station from yesteryear.
A mannequin greets patrons at the Red
Garter Inn.
American Flyer is a coffee shop for cyclists.
The road to Sycamore Canyon.
After 20 miles of dirt roads, we find Sycamore Canyon.
White Horse Lake
A dam holds the water back from Williams.
Williams, Arizona
September, 2011 - While exploring the hiking trails at Red Canyon our legs were still
itching to run, so we decided to put them to the test a little further south at Parowan, Utah's
Labor Day Iron County Fair 5K. We had done this race three years prior, and we toed the
start line alongside the local speedsters from the high
school track team, hoping to match our old times.
By some miracle we both bettered our times, and Mark
left his peers in the dust. But it was the 80-year-old
Paul Flanagan who completed the 6500' altitude race in
a brisk 25 minutes that really got our attention. Heck,
he was older than most of the tractors at the fair's
antique tractor show, and he was a whole lot faster.
The Labor Day parade
was much as we
remembered it, showing
off both the young beauty
queens and older ukelele
singers. The arts and
crafts show was filled with
blue ribbons for Best in
Show of everything from
quilts to apple pies to giant
backyard pumpkins. And
the ferris wheel was
loaded with people swinging their legs and
eating cotton candy while taking in the
mountain views.
We continued down I-15 on our way to Las
Vegas for the annual bicycle industry trade
show, Interbike. The glitz and glam of this
crazy, over-the-top city greeted us warmly,
and we were soon immersed in the world of
bikes and cycling. Vendors showed off the
latest in their lineup of snazzy looking racing
bikes, and crowds formed around Mark
Cavendish's multiple stage winning Tour de
France bike.
Cavendish wasn't on hand himself, but Lance
Armstrong's legendary lieutenant George
Hincapie showed up to add a little star power to
the crowd.
Las Vegas is an enormous spread of urban
sprawl that reaches out into a vast desert, but
sometimes there is a little blurring of the two
worlds at the edges. As we passed through
one of the Las Vegas suburbs on the interstate
we saw two big horn sheep standing at the
edge of the highway watching the cars go by.
The cars, of course, wanted to watch the
sheep just as much, and a huge traffic jam
soon formed as we stared at each other.
Our final destination for this all-too-brief season of
RVing was Williams, Arizona, about 50 miles south
of the Grand Canyon on I-40. It is one of the
showcase towns along the old historic Route 66, and
there are fanciful nods to mid-twentieth century car
travel on every corner.
There is a fun, quirky and festive air to this town,
and every afternoon you can hear live music playing
on the patio at Cruiser's Cafe 66 where the local
Grand Canyon Brewery beers are served.
An antique gas
station features a
vintage car sitting at
old fashioned gas
pumps. Inside there
are all kinds of Route
66 souvenirs and
memorabilia.
The Red Garter Inn
is adorned with a
woman hanging out
of an upstairs window luring
people to pay a visit.
The American Flyer coffee
shop is a bike-and-bean
bistro with creatively
designed coffee tables and
shelves, all made with
bicycle parts.
Williams sits on the edge of
Kaibab National Forest,
and it harbors a special
secret that I suspect many
tourists miss. Somewhere
in the fine print of a
Williams tourist brochure I
found a tantalizing
description of Sycamore
Canyon, Arizona's second
largest canyon (after the
Grand one). We had
never heard of it before
and definitely had to go check it out.
Getting to it requires a long
drive on dirt roads through the
woods. The directions said to
allow 3.5 hours for the trip but I
figured that was only for
slowpokes. Four hours later,
as we emerged from our
adventure, I realized that being
a slowpoke is the only way to
get through these woods.
The road
wound up and
down and
around, finally
bringing us to a
plateau where
we drove right
out to the edge
of a huge cliff.
The canyon is
rimmed by
gnarly old trees, and it's basin is
lined with a light smattering of
greenery and bushes that soften
its sharp, jagged edges.
Wandering back along the dirt roads through the woods we came
across White Horse Lake and then returned to Williams past a dam
that protects the town from deluge.
Despite the proximity of the interstate I-40 and the town of Williams, the woods in
this part of Kaibab National Forest feel very remote. One night we heard loud
animal noises, and in our sleepy state we thought we were hearing coyotes. The
next night the sound was right outside the trailer and we opened the windows to
listen carefully. It was a nearby elk bugling. He couldn't have been more than a
few hundred feet from the trailer, but in the moonless pitch dark we couldn't see
him. Sometimes in the distance we could hear another elk answering. The next
morning a small elk harem ran past our campsite. Six females charged by us
followed by a solitary male
in the rear.
It was really hard to say
goodbye to the magic of
summertime in the
ponderosa pine woods, but
the temperatures were
dropping fast and Groovy
was waiting patiently in San
Carlos, Mexico. We had some chaotic logistics ahead of us to put the
trailer to bed and re-awaken the boat, but we wanted to catch the warm
water in the Sea of Cortez before winter's chilly fingers took it in its grasp.
Wupatki Nat’l Monument – Ancient Indian Ruins & Great Camping in AZ!
Flagstaff's San Francisco peaks seen across the meadow outside Bonito Campground.
Coconino Forest's ponderosa pine woods.
Wildflowers at Bonito.
San Francisco peaks.
Bonito Campground.
The meadow that used to be filled with
sunflowers is now parched and cracked.
Some sunflowers line the road.
Sunset Crater just before a downpour.
Looking down at Nalakihu from Citadel Pueblo.
Nalakihu Pueblo.
Lomaki Box Canyon dwellings.
View from inside Wupatki Pueblo.
Lomaki Box Canyon dwellings.
Lomaki Pueblo.
Lomaki Pueblo.
Looking out at the high desert plains from Citadel Pueblo.
Wupatki Pueblo and its round Kiva (gathering place).
Wupatki Pueblo, home for about 100 people.
Mark plays with the blow hole's breezes.
Our picnic is cut short by looming black skies.
Lightning!
Bonito Campground & Wupatki Nat'l Monument, Flagstaff, AZ
August, 2011 - We crossed the Sea of Cortez from just north of Bahía Concepción on the Baja side of Mexico to San Carlos on
the mainland side in late June, a 75 mile jaunt. It was the very best sailing day in our entire seven months spent cruising the
Mexican coast: bright sunny skies, flat seas, and a sprightly wind drawing us along on a close reach. Our arrival in San Carlos was
the first step of our re-entry into civilization and the US, and each stage of re-entry was a shock.
Perhaps the most jarring
moment in this process was our
first trip to a Super Frys
supermarket in Phoenix. What a
staggering abundance of
gorgeous produce, so beautifully
presented and in such perfect
condition! Mark and I stood and
stared in amazement, mouths
open in awe. "Where's my
camera?" I cried. Our friends
thought we were nuts.
Getting to Phoenix from San
Carlos required an 11 hour bus ride,
and we then returned to San Carlos by
truck (a mere eight hour drive) to deliver
some things to the boat and relieve the
boat of other things
we didn't need any
more (winter
clothing!).
Then over the next
six weeks we
skidded from being
merely bone tired to
being utterly
exhausted as we ticked off the endless items on our "to do" list of
chores. We lived as perennial house guests, bouncing between
generous friends' homes.
The madness culminated with finding new tenants for our
townhouse. Sleeping on an air mattress in our empty
townhouse during a frantic week of repainting the interior, we
realized we had come full circle. Four years of traveling, with
only the briefest visits to Phoenix, and here we were back in
our townhouse again, surrounded by the same smells, the
same noises, the same sensations that had been the essence
of our old home. What had the last four years meant? Had we
grown or just taken a big detour through life? There was no
time to think about that; there were chores to do!
Once our
responsibilities were
behind us, we grabbed
the trailer out of
storage and dashed up
to Flagstaff as fast as
we could go. We made
a beeline for Bonito
Campground, our all-
time favorite
campground. Despite
being die-hard
boondockers, we splurged on a weeklong stay there while we re-familiarized
ourselves with the RV lifestyle and restocked the trailer with everything we had
pillaged from it for the boat.
Here at 7000' elevation we finally began to take stock and get some perspective on all
that we'd been through. When we left Phoenix in 2007, real estate was peaking at
astronomical prices. Now, on our return, there was a sea of homes in various stages
of financial distress and foreclosure. Few real estate signs were visible, however. The
panic was largely on paper and online, and too often was manifested in midnight
moves. Some of our once-wealthy friends were now scrambling to pick up the pieces
of their lives, while other less well-heeled friends were suddenly able to afford
gorgeous homes.
The city's everpresent, massive
expansion into the outlying pristine
desert was temporarily on hold while it adjusted to the new economy. Our
memories of Phoenix as it once was were overlaid onto Phoenix as it is today,
and there were areas where the images meshed, and areas where they were
like two different places.
Some of the changes were within ourselves as well. Our souls were the same,
but all this traveling had expanded our knowledge of the lands around us, and
we had come to know ourselves better too. These thoughts swirled around us
as we rested and strolled about Bonito's pretty grounds. Life aboard Groovy in
Mexico felt like a far distant dream.
The land surrounding Bonito Campground has changed too. Last year this part
of Coconino National Forest was devastated by the Schultz wildfire which wiped out some
15,000 acres, mostly on the area's mountain slopes. Campers at Bonito were evacuated
twice, first to escape the fire and later to avoid the erosion-caused floods. As a ranger
explained to us, the floods altered the landscape forever and
even moved floodplains. Many nearby homes were damaged
or lost, a young girl drowned, and the water rose to about 8' in
the campground's amphitheater, leaving the place buried in
sludge.
Knowing some of this before we arrived, it was with trepidation
that we approached the campground. The meadow that is
usually teeming with bright yellow sunflowers at this time of
year was devoid of blooms and parched and cracked in
places. But what a thrill it was to see and smell our beloved
ponderosa pine woods. Bonito's soul is the same, just singed
a bit here and there. The wildflowers still line the edges of the
roads and promise to return to the meadows. The
hummingbirds still buzz the campers looking for easy
meals in feeders. Some ponderosas have blackened
trunks, but the tops are green.
However, the Schultz fire was
nothing compared to the volcano
that erupted at next-door Sunset
Crater around 1050 AD. Spewing
marble-to-football sized chunks of
rock into the air for a few months
(or possibly several years), the
evacuation of the local farmers
lasted for generations. The
volcano layered the land for many
miles around in a thick blanket of
cinder. In its last moments it spat
out a final burst of cinder that was oxidized to a rust color. This gives the mountain a distinctive
orange-red top to this day, and the sun and shadows spend their days playing with the color.
We took a drive through the
nearby Indian ruins at Wupatki
National Monument. These
were built 50-100 years after
the eruption by the so-called
Sinagua people who returned
to the area to find that the
blanket of volcanic ash now
helped keep rare moisture in
the soil. They somehow eked out a farm life, living essentially
"sin agua" or "without water."
The ruins are like tiny dots on vast open plains, each located
several miles apart. The San Francisco mountains line the
horizon, but there are few trees or other protection between the open lands and the sky.
We opted to start at the far end of the drive, visiting the more remote
ruins first. These were built above small box canyons that are
essentially ditches in the ground bounded on two or three sides by 100'
rock cliffs. The cliffs provide the only weather protection in the area.
The Sinagua people understood real estate: location location location.
It was early
morning and utterly
silent. The
crunching of my
feet on the gravel paths made the cottontail
bunnies run, and lizards of all shapes and
sizes scurried for cover under rocks along
the trail. We were the only visitors at each
ruin, lending a sense of magic to each
place.
At the biggest ruin, Wupatki Pueblo,
Mark played with the natural
"blow hole" air vent. The
National Park Service has built
a structure around it, but the
blow-hole itself is the real deal,
blowing air out or sucking it in
depending on ambient
temperatures and air pressures.
As we returned to the
campground the sky turned
black, thunder rolled and
lightning streaked the sky. For
seven months on the boat in
Mexico we hadn't seen a single
drop of rain. The deluge that came now was fantastic.
We drove through it
laughing, barely able to
see the road ahead, and
we jumped back in the
trailer, glad to have real
shelter. It was so great to
be back in our RV lifestyle
again. The rain pummeled
our roof all afternoon, and
we fell asleep to the plink
plink plink of raindrops
overhead. Little did we
know the downpours
would continue for several days. The sun finally returned in full blaze
as we took off to head north to Dixie National Forest in Utah.
Other great RV camping areas:
- Lost Dutchman State Park: GORGEOUS scenery & RV campground!
- Windy Hill Campground + Tonto National Monument
- Lynx Lake, Arizona – Great RV Camping Near Prescott!
- Dead Horse Ranch State Park + Tuzigoot and Clarkdale
- Catalina State Park & Roosevelt Lake: RV Camping in AZ
- Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, New Mexico – A Dog’s Eye View!
- Lost Dutchman State Park Campground – Arizona Gold in the Superstitions
- Lake Pleasant & Canyon Lake – Waterfront Camping in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert
- Sand Hollow State Park, Utah – An Oasis in the Desert!
- RV Camping with the Rock Art Petroglyphs in Gila Bend, AZ
- City of Rocks State Park, NM – RV Camping in the Hoodoos!
- Boondocking at Big Bend National Park – Cheap & Scenic RV Camping
- Roosevelt Lake – Lakeside Camping in AZ
- Wupatki Nat’l Monument – Ancient Indian Ruins & Great Camping in AZ!
- Valley of Fire, NV – A Cauldron Cooled
- Zion NP, Kodachrome Basin & Snow Canyon, UT – Great Red Rocks!
- Goblin Valley, UT – Where the Ghosts Are
Our most recent posts:
- Buckskin Mountain State Park – Fun on the Colorado River! 01/31/26
- How to Install Starlink Gen 3 in an RV? Use the Speedmount! 08/07/25
- Escape to Paradise – Rocky Mountain Magic! 08/01/25
- Is Forest River a Good RV? Well Built? Here’s Our Experience 06/20/25
- Sunset Crater Nat’l Monument – Lava & Camels at Bonito CG! 06/06/25
More of our Latest Posts are in the MENU.
New to this site? Visit RVers Start Here to find where we keep all the good stuff!!
Grand Canyon’s North Rim – Its Better Half?
The road to the North Rim winds through meadows.
Monsoon season was just starting.
A little piece of heaven camping in the Kaibab
National Forest.
Western Tanager
Vista Encantada
Angel's Window
Cape Royal
Cliff Rose
Cape Royal
Cape Royal
Walhalla Lookout
The North Rim Lodge has
exceptional views.
Sofa Room at the Lodge
Lodge Dining Room
Sun Porch at the Lodge
Bright Angel Point trail
Bright Angel Point
Bright Angel Point
Hiking in the Kaibab forest
We came across a clearing overflowing with lupines.
The aspens cluster together.
Point imperial Lookout
Imperial Point
Ken Patrick Trail from Point Imperial
Grand Canyon - North Rim
June 24 - July 13, 2008 - We left Flagstaff in search of cooler weather,
and we found that and much more at the North Rim of the Grand
Canyon. The road from Jacob Lake to the North Rim is 44 miles of
graceful beauty.
After descending through dense woods, some of which were badly
burned in a wildfire in 2005, the road shakes out its curves, the tall
pines step back, and you fly along through lush meadows. These
meadows were green when we arrived in June, but by the time we left
in July there were wildflowers of all colors scattered about. The
elevation in this part of the world hovers between 8,500 and 9,000
feet, making the warm summer season very short. When we first arrived the sun was abundant and the air was warm.
By the time we left the summer monsoons were in full swing, bringing
thick, black storm clouds every afternoon. You could almost set your
clock by the 2:00 thunderstorms. We camped in a little forest glade
that was pure heaven. Our only neighbors were a jackrabbit and a
deer, both of which made several appearances, and a gorgeous male
western tanager who appeared near the end of our stay. Our little
clearing was lined with aspen that quivered whenever the wind blew.
Our first evening in our little paradise we watched the sun set while
listening to John Denver sing about nature. The warblers chimed in and
the aspen seemed to laugh and
dance in the orange glow of the
setting sun. It was magic.
Our first trip to the Rim itself took us
on the farthest reaching road,
passing Vista Encantada and taking
us down to Angel's Window and
Cape Royal. Vista Encantada was
bursting with wildflowers. Yellows,
oranges and even the bright pink of a prickly pear cactus flower
enhanced the rust reds of the canyon. The North Rim is not heavily
visited, and we were the only people at this lookout, gazing at the jaw-
dropping vistas while clicking away on the cameras.
Cape Royal, a massive lookout area, lies at the end of this road.
There is a charming paved walking trail through the scrub brush and
woods that leads out to Angel's Window as well as Cape Royal. We
couldn't believe that we were the only ones on the trail. Angel's
Window gives you a glimpse of the Colorado River if you peak
through, but once you climb onto the top of this arch formation you
get an unobstructed view.
As we walked we were overcome with the sweetest fragrance. A
trailside plaque told us that the Cliff Rose was responsible for this
heady aroma. We breathed deeply and walked slowly. We were
here at the perfect time of
year.
Returning towards the
buggy, we stopped at some
of the viewpoints we had
skipped on our way out.
Walhalla Lookout is the
gathering place for a daily
ranger talk about the
ancients who lived in this
region, growing crops on a plateau 5,000 feet below at the Colorado River in the winter and moving up to the Rim in the summer.
There were some Indian ruins from 800 years ago, including a granary where they stored seeds for future planting. From where
we stood we could easily see Mt. Humphreys in the San Francisco Peaks back in Flagstaff. A 200 mile drive by car, the mountain
was just 50 miles away as the condor flies. I watched the clouds gathering over Mt. Humphreys as the afternoon monsoons began
to build, and suddenly I understood why the Indians have always viewed the mountain as sacred. From that hot, dry plateau way
down on the Colorado River, it would be only natural to believe that the mountain held a mystical power to create clouds and rain.
Those clouds and their life-giving moisture drifted over the canyon
and a light rain began to fall.
Another morning we walked the Transept Trail from the campground
to the North Rim Lodge. This dirt path hugs the rim and occasionally
peaks out at a view that grows broader and broader as you approach
the Lodge.
The Lodge was built in 1928 and reflects the
elegance and simplicity of that earlier time. It is a
stone and timber structure with enormous windows
overlooking the stunning view. In the early days
visitors were greeted by singing staff members, and
the first view they got of the canyon was through
the immense windows that drew them across the
wide lobby floor. Those windows are equally
alluring today, and comfy leather sofas fill the
room.
A beautiful dining room also
has towering windows that
look out at Canyon views,
and it is impossible not to
feel a tie to the past when
seated beneath these
chandeliers.
The Lodge also has a
sunporch with open-air
seating in front of the
spectacular view. What a
place to enjoy a latte, soak in
the view, and maybe even
read the paper.
From the Lodge we wandered out on the paved Bright Angel Point
trail. This is a pretty walk that takes you to the very end of the
peninsula that the North Rim Village is built on.
We clambered up onto the towering rocks to check out the many
views. At the end you can see the widest part of the Canyon laid out
before you, stretching 21 miles to the South Rim. We were able to
make out the tower at Desert View but couldn't see the other buildings
on the South Rim. The immensity, colors and shapes were a feast for
the eyes.
We felt very blessed
to be able to stay in
the area for three
weeks. After each
visit to the Rim we
would spend a day or
two back at the trailer
looking at our photos,
absorbing the
experience. There is
a lot to see in the
Kaibab National
Forest as well, and
we did a lot of cycling
and hiking, checking out
the maze of dirt roads in
the area.
As we stayed more and
more flowers began to bloom
and on one hike we found
ourselves in a lush bed of
lupines. There was a variety
of shapes and hues, and we
came back to this area
several times to enjoy the
rich colors. A little further
down this road we found bunches of
yellow flowers that grew in clumps, like
nature's perfect little bouquets.
Mark noticed these little black butterflies
zipping around us periodically, and one
finally stopped long enough for him to
get its picture.
We drove out to Point Imperial
and hiked a portion of the Ken
Patrick trail to the south. From
that viewpoint you can see the
Little Colorado River in the
distance. It is a sheer canyon
that looks like a crack in the flat
landscape. It almost looks like a
child took a stick and dragged it
across the sand in jagged motions,
leaving a deep trench in its wake.
Point Imperial is not hard to miss.
As we walked along the trail we saw
it shrinking in the distance behind
us. There were many wonderful old
trees and tiny yellow and red
flowers along the route. We felt so
grateful to be alive to be able
to experience these wonders.
It was hard to leave our little paradise in the
woods at the Grand Canyon, but the monsoons
turned nasty and we found ourselves in
sweatshirts and long pants for several days in a
row. We even got hailed on twice -- pea-sized
hail that piled up on the ground for an hour
before melting. We hadn't seen everything at the
North Rim, but we always leave a few discoveries
for future visits. We wanted to head a little
further north towards Kanab and Bryce Canyon
in Utah.
Sunset Crater, AZ – Looks Like it Exploded Yesterday!
Getting weighed
Campsite at Bonito in Flagstaff.
Boondocking in the Cinder Hills OHV Area
Solar panel installation
Sunset Crater erupted 800 years ago
Smooth cinder hills alongside the road
Cinder hills and lava flow
San Francisco Peaks
Cinders are black gravel and red gravel
San Francisco Peaks
View from the top of the Lava Flow Trail hike
Vermillion Cliffs near Lees Ferry
Neat spot for a house!
Vermillion Cliffs - many colors in the rocks
Start of the climb out of the desert up to the Kaibab Plateau
Sunset Crater National Monument, Arizona
June 4-24, 2008 - We drove from Chanute, Kansas to Flagstaff, Arizona (1,200
miles) in just 3 days. We stopped long enough to weigh the truck and trailer at a
Flying J truck scale and found we were right at the limit. Even though we had filled
only 1/3 of the cabinet space, our weight (with water and propane) was 13,850 lbs --
and the GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) is 13,995 lbs. No wonder the truck
noticed the load!! This wasn't the little Lynx any longer! We had met a lot of fifth
wheel owners whose cabinets and closets were stuffed to overflowing. They must
run about 2,000 lbs or more over their GVWR.
As we traveled across
country the air got dryer
and the terrain got craggier. On I-40 in Texas, 10 miles west of the
New Mexico border, there was a very distinct transition from open
plains to a desert landscape. We had left tornado alley in the middle
of tornado season and we were glad to leave the severe storm
warnings and tornado watches behind. However we drove straight
into a vicious headwind all the way across the country, and in New
Mexico and Arizona the winds were staggering. We were paying far
more for gas than we ever had -- and we were getting 8.2 miles per
gallon!!
At an Arizona
visitors center
we heard
another fifth wheel driver discussing routes to Wasington with the host,
trying to find a way to get out of the horrible winds. Not possible! When
we arrived in Flagstaff it felt good to be among the tall pines under clear
blue skies again. The winds eventually subsided, and we relaxed at our
favorite campground northeast of Flagstaff, Bonito Campground. We
retired the truck for a while, sticking to our bikes as much as possible.
Flagstaff has a fantastic store for solar power related items (Northern
Arizona Wind and Sun), and just like the previous year, we used our
time in town to purchase a complete solar setup. We upgraded to
490 watts of power (from 130) and a permanently installed pure sine
wave inverter. We boondocked in the Cinder Hills OHV Area and
Mark took his time installing the new panels on the roof and the
charge controller and inverter in the basement. After three days it
was done, and the system has been phenomenal ever since.
Wherever we are, it is always as if we have full electrical hookups.
The hummingbirds loved our feeder, and we
enjoyed watching them zip around. One
morning a pair of warblers came to the feeder
for a visit. Their beaks weren't shaped quite
right for the feeder, so they didn't stick around,
but I was thrilled to get their picture through
the window.
We took some leisurely bike rides through
Sunset Crater National Monument. This is a beautiful area for cycling, as there is no traffic and the road is smooth and scenic.
Sunset Crater blew its top 800 years ago, filling the skies and covering the ground with cinder ash. The cinder ash (black gravel) is
so thick that little can grow in it. This makes the area seem as though the volcano erupted just a few years back. The cinder hills
seem smooth from a distance, and there are places where the gravel is actually black sand. In other spots the black gives way to
shades of red and brown, again making it seem as though this mountain were engulfed in volcanic flames sometime within my own
lifetime. There is a region where the lava flowed, and today it is an impenetrable strip of sharp black rock. If you look closely you
can almost see the ripples and waves as this thick angry goo washed down from the mountain.
In the distance the San Francisco peaks were still snow capped.
Standing over 12,000 feet high, the tallest of the peaks is easily visible
from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon some one hundred miles
away as the condor flies. The Navajo and other native peoples have
long felt that the San Francisco peaks were sacred. I had never really
understood exactly why until a few weeks later when we were camped
on the North Rim and were looking back at these peaks across the
canyon. Every afternoon, like clockwork, the clouds would begin to
form over Mt. Humphreys. There was no doubt that those mountains
attracted -- or were even the source -- of rain. Looking down at the
barren plateau on the Colorado River at the bottom of the Canyon I
could understand why the ancients revered that distant mountain. It
brought them much needed water for their crops.
We took a hike with friends up the Lava Flow Trail and
found some spectacular views of the San Francisco
peaks and the valleys surrounding the mountains. It
was a steep but short climb up the hill and well worth
the view at the top.
When we first arrived in Flagstaff the overnight
temperatures were in the 30's and daytime highs were
in the high 60's. After a few weeks the highs were
getting into the 90's. Even boondocked in total shade
(we found it was a miracle that the solar panels still
fully charged the batteries everyday despite being in
full shade!), we were too hot. It was time to move on
to somewhere cooler.
We headed to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It
is a significant drive to get there. Even though
condors and intrepid hikers
can cross the chasm in just 21
miles, it is a 200 mile trip by
car, because you have to go
way to the east, then a bunch
north, way to the west, and
then drop south to get there.
The drive takes you through
some beautiful desert
areas. The Vemillion
Cliffs are stunning, jutting
up out of the desert floor
in vibrant shades of
orange, red, and even
turquoise. There is little
in the way of towns on
this drive, just occasional
hamlets with perhaps a
store and cluster of
trailers. We drove with
our eyes glued to the
beautiful scenery.
After taking the big left turn near Lees Ferry to head west, the red desert
suddenly gives way to greenery and you begin a steep and winding climb
up onto the Kaibab Plateau. The desert floor is at about 4,000 feet
elevation and the top of the Kaibab Plateau is at about 9,000 feet. North
Rim here we come!!