We left Durango around 9 a.m. and headed west on Navajo Trail/US-160 on Monday May 3rd. Four Corners was closed due to construction on the monument but we stopped anyway and took some pictures.
We continued on to some very flat and dry areas of Arizona, not really too scenic until we turned on the road that would take us to the East Entrance of the Grand Canyon. There was still snow on the ground.
After about six hours of driving we finally arrived! We stopped at one overlook and I was in awe...you could see the painted desert off to the east but the Canyon was stunning. Of course I did not realize this was nothing compared to what was to come...
We continued on another 25 miles to the Mathers Campground where we had reservations for three nights...no hookups but you could run your generator from 8-10 am in the morning and 6-8 pm at night. These were not exactly the best times since we were usually out and about at those times. We had a great pull through spot though, lots of space.
We had a lot of bird visitors and the Elk would come in the campsite every morning as long as we were not outside. They would rest in the shade of the pine trees very close by.
We saw lots of them in Yellowstone NP a few years back but I don't remember it being this close! Monday we set up camp and Wanda came over for dinner. Bill knew her from the Coast Guard back in Elizabeth City and she is now a Ranger at the Grand Canyon working in the backcountry office. She did the backcountry hikes for several years until her knees starting getting the best of her. We talked about doing the Bright Angel Trail, the whole 9 mile round trip and she made a face like we were crazy and said our lungs are probably not prepared for that. It made me think twice, but Bill still wanted to attempt it. The next day we did 2.2 miles of the south rim trail which round trip was 4.4 miles.
We took Ty with us and he loved it of course. He kept getting so close to the edge looking over for lizards or squirrels, we got worried that he would not think twice about jumping!
There were three rest stops where you could decide to continue on or turn back. The first one was 1.5 miles down 1,131 feet, the 2nd was 3 miles 2,112 feet and the third was 4.7 miles at 3,060 ft. It was after 10 a.m. before we got on the trail and by noon it was quite hot in the canyon.
When we were at the first rest stop I decided I could probably go to the 2nd rest stop but no further than that. Bill tried to talk me into going back at that point for my own safety but I stubbornly said no and continued on for approximately another 1/4 mile. I then realized I was being unreasonable and we turned back. I am glad we did because I was exhausted and had to rest quite a bit on the way back up. When we first started going down, we came across two hikers that had started at 5:30 am and went all the way down to the Colorado River and made it back by 10:30 am. They were older than we were but since they started early, they did not suffer from the heat of the day. Anyway, it was still worth the 3.50 miles that we did do as the Canyon was awesome. We saw several of the California Condors flying over our heads, hummingbirds buzzing by us and bluebirds galore.
The next morning we got up at 5 a.m. to see the sunrise for our last hours in the Grand Canyon. It was still windy and cold, Ty was shivering but we hid from the wind as much as we could until it came over the mountains. 
We went back to the RV and I went back to sleep for a few hours before we left for Flagstaff.
It took a little over an hour to get to Flagstaff, going through the San Francisco Peaks.
We stayed at Fort Tuthill Recreation Area south of downtown Flagstaff. We put out the bird feeders and in no time the hummingbirds were coming around. There were little bird houses all over the trees at the campground and right outside our RV there was a male white-chested nuthatch flying to the box, back and forth all day bringing food and nesting supplies to the female. 
We hiked a trail nearby and after doing our laundry the recreation center was having free hamburgers and hot dogs so we went over there for dinner. They were also having a campfire and s'mores later on but we decided to opt out and watched the movie Crazy Heart instead.
Today, Saturday May 8th, we decided to take a drive through the scenic route of Oak Creek Canyon towards Sedona. It was a lot prettier then we expected with the red rock formations and the creek running through it. Our camera does not do these Red Rocks justice as they were a lot brighter than you see here.
We visited the Chapel of the Holy Cross that was built back in 1956 with a great view of the valley. 
We stopped at a Tlaquepaque, Sedona's Arts & Crafts Village which also had the Oak Creek Brewery where we of course had to stop in for a beer. There was a really neat wind art store and lots of native indian jewelry and clothes stores as well. 
Sedona had a really good chamber of commerce with all the information you needed for everything in the area. Bill had driven through here in 1985 and of course it had changed quite a bit. 
We started back through the canyon and stopped to do a little hike which did not turn out to be much of one because we couldn't find the trailhead. We stopped to talk to Roy, a photographer waiting for a couple that he had an appointment with to take pictures by Oak Creek and he ended up taking our picture and said he would email it to us. We continued up the pass and came to a scenic view which turned out to be a nice park. It was windy but the view was really nice down the canyon and of course Ty had to live dangerously on the edge.
We left the campsite the next day, driving through downtown Flagstaff…everyone was out and about as it was a perfect day for dining outside and sightseeing.
1 comment:
Jim and I are really enjoying your pics and updates! You've gotten some fab shots! Travel safely and enjoy! Bari
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