The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon, the climax of climaxes took us unawares! After a two hour drive from Page, with a stop off at the Little Colorado Overlook where we bought Navajo jewellery and a lovely pot at the market, we arrived at Desert View Overlook which is at the east end of the South Rim Drive. It all seemed so prosaic....park the car, dodge the hoards making for the shop, walk to the Overlook and there it is! It was almost an anticlimax with the paraphernalia of modern tourism all around! We completed the South Rim Drive with clouds gathering and booked in at the Rodeway Inn Redfeather Lodge at Tusayan for our 2 night stay. Nearby the Imax Cinema showed us a superb film about John Henry Powell's exploration of the Canyon. With evening approaching we drove to the South Rim near Bright Angel Lodge just to get a fix! Almost immediately the thunder began and there was a spectacular storm in the Canyon. Boy, did it rain that night!

 It was still pouring when we got up and spirits sank to our boots. Undeterred we went off in our waterproofs and parked by the railway near the Bright Angel Lodge (recommended as slightly away from the main car parks and less busy) and went to view the Canyon.....which we couldn't see at all as it was full of cloud! A friendly Ranger made encouraging noises that he thought the weather might improve...he hadn't known rain like this for years and the Bright Angel Trail had been closed due to a part of it being washed away. Buoyed up with these optimistic comments we caught the shuttle bus to the visitor centre in pouring rain for an interesting interlude and then caught another bus to the South Kaibab Trailhead. Down the zigzag trail we went to Ooh Aah Point (yes, that is its name)...we were in the Canyon...even if we couldn't see it. But, Yes!! the clouds began to clear...MAGIC, a MIRACLE...Ooh and Aah!!! It was worth the wait. In the afternoon we completed the South Rim bus ride hopping on and off to marvel at the overlooks. We walked from the last stop along the South Rim trail back to the car in the gathering dark to a starry sky.

Next morning was one that you dream of...crystal clear! So, it was back to the Canyon where we walked along the South Rim in the area of the historic buildings, spotting the sign about the closed Bright Angel Trail. We finished with visits to the famous viewpoints at Yavapai and Yaki and hit the road at 12.30 for the final drive to Las Vegas. How glad we were that we had planned to have the 2 nights. We saw the Canyon on three consecutive days....most people, we gather, spend 2 hours there.

From the Grand Canyon, via Flagstaff (Arizona) we had an interesting and eventful drive which took in a section of Route 66 (....don't forget Sedona...). We wished we had researched it a bit more thoroughly, but we did picnic in a lay by on the famous route. Back on IS 40 we were hit by a monstrous hailstorm that stopped the traffic...apart from the thundering trucks. Then we turned north, with the temperature rising, up the wonderfully named "Detritus Valley" where we had an entertaining stop at the once busy mining village of Chloride (some folks had made an effort to cheer the place up) before stopping to view the amazing Hoover Dam at the head of Lake Mead. Then it was 1 hour to Las Vegas and the Imperial Palace Hotel and our tour was over!

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