Grand Canyon, Arizona
TRAVEL ROUTE: Sedona, SR 89A, I-17, US 180, SR 64, Grand Canyon, SR 64, US 89, Cameron
September 21, 2006 — I had always envisioned the Grand Canyon as being a large, tourist-infested gash in the earth sitting in the middle of a desolate, dessicated desert without a molecule of chlorophyll visible, in any of its forms, for miles in any direction. Turns out I was wrong about everything but the tourist infestation, but I'm getting ahead of myself, so I'll start back at the beginning.
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The drive from Sedona to Grand Canyon National Park will take about 3 hours; not because it is 3 hours away (it's only about 100 miles), but because it will allow you a bit of time to stop along the way. If you leave Sedona going north on Arizona Route Alt 89, you'll go through spectacular Oak Creek Canyon, considered to be one of America's most scenic drives. Problem is the floor of the canyon is heavily forested and to appreciate it fully, you must park your car and explore on foot. Problem is there are very few places to park along the road, so stopping at Slide Rock State Park (there is a fee of about $6) and using their parking lot as a staging area is your best bet.
Arizona Route Alt 89 climbs to about 7,000 feet in elevation at the end of the canyon and continues to rise from there to just over 8,000 feet as you skirt the San Francisco Mountains and Humphreys Peak (Arizona's highest point - 12,633ft.) on US 180, going north out of Flagstaff. At Valle, you'll join up with SR 64 and follow that for 30 miles through high desert which gives way to Kaibab National Forest and leads to the entrance to Grand Canyon.
The forest (chlorophyll galore!), which grows right up to the South Rim of the canyon, was our first surprise. The next big shock were the busloads of tourists crawling over the parking lots, sidewalks, rest rooms and scenic overlooks. We had read of the feeling of awe and reverence one should feel when viewing the canyon for the first time and the silence that naturally comes when contemplating such an incredible sight. Well, not the day we were there, anyway. The yammering swarms of internationals didn't seem to be interested in anything except fitting themselves in the picture that Uncle So-and-So was taking, along with their other 75 laughing, waving, yelling family members. But, in this peripatetic age, rubbing elbows with a couple of hundred thousand of one's fellow earthlings is, I suppose, a small price pay (along with the $25 entry fee [as of May '07]) to get a glimpse of one of the world's great sights.
We had watched the TV shows, read the National Geographic articles, seen the awesome photos in books, magazines and posters and, quite frankly, none of them even begin to do justice to this place. The scale, the vastness, the depth, the subtlety of the colors - far beyond words and belief. To call it merely "Grand," seems to me, somehow, an insult. There really needs to be another word for it.
 Grand Canyon has two distinct areas - the South Rim, which is by far the more frequently visited because of its accessibility and more hospitable weather and the North Rim which is less accessible and has less hospitable weather due to an average elevation of over 8,000 feet (it is closed in winter due to snow), but, on the plus side, is also far less crowded. Because we were on a schedule and because it would've taken another full day to even get to the other side, we confined our visit to the South Rim. SR 64 runs the distance from Mather Point in the west to Desert View, the park's eastern entrance point and gives easy access to numerous viewpoints and overlooks along the way. It's probably a good idea to stop at all of them because, even though some are fairly close together, your perspective changes ever-so-slightly and new details will emerge.
Sunrise and sunset are, of course, the most interesting times to view the canyon because of the deep shadows, but mid-day, when we arrived there, is certainly no slouch. If you're looking for visitors centers, souvenir shops, restaurants and snack bars, Grand Canyon Village is where you'll want to go (true, Desert View does have services, but the Village is the real heart of things). There are several trailheads in the Village, so if you're of a hiking mentality, this will be your departure point.
Bright Angel Trail is the main hiking route to the canyon floor roughly a mile below, and is where you'll see the mule trekkers on their plodding mounts, hugging the canyon walls. The mule treks, so I've heard, are exciting, but there are size and age requirements, as well as being quite costly. But, if you're looking for a new thrill, what could be better than to trust your life on the edge of a preciptous 4,000 foot drop-off to an animal whose cartoon representation is Winnie the Pooh's pal, Eeyore, and whose IQ must be as close to zero as it is possible to get. At least you can count on them not to be spooked by a sudden idea or flash of imagination - and when you're perilously close to the edge of the Grand Canyon, I guess that's a good thing.
Our plan was to overnight in Cameron, Arizona, about 55 miles east of the park. On the map, the landscape doesn't look like much, but we changed our minds as we drove through it. It is actually quite beautiful, although far less "grand" than where we'd just come from. Sunset was approaching, the shadows were lengthening, the land was turning a deep ochre and the candy-striped hills of the painted desert provided a distant backdrop as we arrived at Cameron Trading Post, a Navajo establishment on US 89 just south of the Colorado River bridge. This is a true trading post that not only serves the through-traveler, but the local Navajo community, as well. The associated motel was quite comfortable and reasonably priced and the restaurant serves up large portions of hearty, tasty fare. On a final culinary note, don't even think of leaving Cameron without trying an order of Navajo Fry Bread, served dripping with butter and drizzled with honey - it is to die for . . . or maybe because of, but what a way to go!
Next Stop: Monument Valley
Travel to One of These Other Fascinating Locations:
Sedona, AZ
Grand Canyon, AZ
Monument Valley, UT
Lake Powell, AZ
Zion NP, UT
Rhyolite, NV
And, Coming Very Soon...
Death Valley NP, CA
US 395 & Owens Valley, CA
Mono Lake, CA
Bodie, CA
Yosemite NP, CA
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