People get out on these scary outcroppings to get the perfect picture. Sometimes they misstep into 1200 ft. of nothing but air. Don't need that gene pool anymore anyway.

Cactus in bloom on Rim Trail

El Tovar Lodge

Sat, 6/27/09

Mather NF Campground, Grand Canyon, South Rim: This morning we decided to drive south on Rt. 64 to the south entrance of the park and the little town of Tusayan. There’s a National Geographic IMAX film we want to see there. Also checked out the National Forest campground a little south of town which is another nice one. Back to our campsite and had a light lunch and read a little. Then we drove over to Yavapai (Yah-vah-pie) Point and Observation Station. I believe this building was constructed in the early 1900s and offers a spectacular view of the canyon from both the rim trail and inside the building. We could see Phantom Ranch (on the Colorado River), the metal bridge spanning the Colorado, Bright Angel Trail, and you could almost see Indian Garden. Walked the rim trail for a while which goes right along the rim with no walls or guard rails. It’s mostly paved so really easy walking. But I was amazed again at the behavior of the people on the trail. This one mother had her kids sit on a rock at the edge of an abyss so she could get their picture. One of the kids started to go around the boulder which would have meant a shear drop until she screamed at him. Another parked their two kids in a stroller very close to the edge and left them unattended while they checked out the view. We walked down to Mather Point and then back to Yavapai. Drove over to the rim lodges and parked by Bright Angel Lodge and then walked the rim trail to El Tovar Lodge to have dinner. Pretty fancy and very pricy, but it was good and we had a great view of the canyon from our table. After dinner I wanted to walk part of the Bright Angel Trail which starts a little way down from Bright Angel Lodge. My fear of heights would never allow me to hike this trail. It starts with a series of switchbacks right on the edge. I could never do it. The mule rides go down this trail also. Back home and sat outside for a while enjoying the great evening. 81 today. Went down to the 40s last night.

Watchtower replica of ones Anasazi and other ancients built thousands of years ago

In the Kiva, looking up at two more levels

Hopi Paintings in the Watchtower/Kiva

This place is awsomely beautiful and dangerous at the same time

Fri, 6/26/09

Mather NF Campground, Grand Canyon, South Rim: Rained last night. A nice, steady rain. Great sleeping. And I started reading the book, “Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon”. An amazing read. It’s amazing how stupid people are. They disregard the walls, climb over and get out on an outcropping so they can get their picture taken or whatever. One went over two days ago. Everywhere we stopped people were taking great chances—until a ranger would come along and give them a talking to. They had to get a 350 lb. woman out of the canyon who was hiking in flip-flops with no water. Anyway, this book is a great anthology of episodes in the canyon written by a couple of park rangers. We left early this morning and headed back to desert view where we first came in yesterday. Started pouring down rain with lightning and thunder. Dashed into the restaurant for breakfast there and after eating checked out the Watchtower—which is a recreation of these strange, prehistoric towers built by the Anasazi and other ancients. Mary Colter was the architect and also designed Bright Angel Lodge, Phantom Ranch, and several others. The second level of the tower is a Kiva with beautiful pictographs representing Indian ceremonies painted by a Hopi artist. I think there are 4 levels in the tower—each one with beautiful Indian paintings. The top of the tower is the highest point on the South Rim with great views of the canyon. While taking pictures outside a piece of rock fell from somewhere and you could hear it falling and echoing all the way down. Started driving in the direction of our campground stopping at all the turn-outs to gaze at this magnificent place. We also stopped at a Tusayan Pueblo ruin. They lived here 1100 years ago. Had lunch at Bright Angel Lodge. Again it started pouring down rain. And the temperatures were now in the upper 50s. And people were in shorts and tank tops freezing. When you were in the sun though, even though the thermometer said 60, it felt much warmer. Back to our campsite to relax the rest of the afternoon.

Hance Rapid

Thu, 6/25/09

Gouldings Monument Valley RV Resort to Mather NF Campground, Grand Canyon, South Rim: Up this morning and decided to vacuum before we leave since we won’t have hook-ups for 7 days. Went to the Monument Valley Lodge Restaurant one last time, had breakfast, and enjoyed the view. Back to our site and finished getting ready to leave. Left around 11:00 and backtracked to Kayenta and Tuba City. At Cameron we headed north towards the South Rim. Think it was 95 in Cameron. We headed up, up, up under low, leaden clouds. Started seeing the Little Colorado River Canyon which was pretty awesome. And there were dirt roads running right along the rim—at least 1000 feet straight down. Still heading up through a beautiful forest of ancient cedars. We finally made it to the top and the park entrance. And then you see the first view. Wow! After that the only words I uttered to Mike was “Oh My God” and “slow down!”. We had another 28 miles to go to get to the campground. And we drove through a beautiful forest of ancient cedars, junipers and old growth pines. Saw a beautiful elk along the road—his antlers covered with velvet at this time of year. Finally made it to the campground and saw two more elk right in the campground. They put us in a pull-through site which we barely fit in. But we made it! A really nice site in the pines and cedars. Nobody close to us. Looking forward to no hook-ups. Fired up my GE super radio which runs on batteries or 110. Grilled pork chops and I made a macaroni/tunafish salad and cooked up some corn. Pretty good. Turned on NPR and heard that Farah Fawcett died. And Michael Jackson!. I’m shocked about Michael. I loved his music. 76 up here on the rim.

The traditional Navajo home--the Hogan

The outside shade structure

Victoria getting her feet wet

Our Navajo Guide, Victoria, and her jeep

White House Cliff Dwelling from the South Rim Overlook

One of the South Rim Overlooks

Gouldings Monument Valley RV Resort: Up early and had breakfast at the Lodge this morning. Then headed out to Canyon de Chelly. Went through little towns of Rough Rock, Chilchinbito, Many Farms, and Chinle. Went through some really rural areas and fantastic vistas. In some places it’s more desert-like with sand drifting onto the road. Lots of sand drifting onto the road. We saw lots of the traditional Navajo house—the Hogan (Ho-gan’). It’s made of logs and then covered with mud with the door facing east. Has a hole on top in the middle for a stove vent. And then outside they usually build a “shade” structure where they do their outside chores protected from the sun. Anyway, I checked into the jeep tours. Their vehicles are bigger than the ones here at Gouldings and bounce around pretty good—the locals call them the “shake and bake”. So I decided to hire a local to take us through the canyon in her jeep. It’s really something down there at the bottom of the canyon. There are 50 families that live down there—even though it’s a National Monument. We saw several cliff dwellings, some petroglyphys and pictographs. Our guide’s name was Victoria. She runs tours and also owns a coffee house near the mouth of the canyon. She was raised in the canyon. Her father was born there and still owns land there. He runs horseback tours. Even though she drove really slow we got bounced around pretty good. I’m taking drugs and hoping they work. There were sheep, cattle, and horses down there. There are several branches of the canyon---she took us up the Canyon de Muerto. After the jeep tour we drove the south rim road. Stopped at overlooks and were amazed at the vistas. After that we had dinner in Chinle—Navajo flat bread again—and headed back to Gouldings. Hit 95 today. Tomorrow we leave for the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

Prickly Pear Cactus in Bloom

Monument Valley Butte

Monument Valley Backcountry

Gouldings Monument Valley RV Resort: Decided to do the laundry and grocery shopping today. We were going to take a ride to Canyon de Chelly today, but my back is not great since our four-wheel drive tour into the Valley yesterday. But it was worth it. Drugs are helping. So, we took care of some chores and kicked back reading. Warmer today and cloudier—93. Our neighbor with the Westy left today heading to Moab. He’s from Tucson. Just he and his dog in a big motor home pulling a jeep. Tomorrow we’ll go to Canyon de Chelly. They have a four-wheel tour of the bottom of the canyon. We’ll see.

Three Sisters

After filming for the day, director John Ford used to take his director's chair out onto this promontory where the horse and rider are standing and relax with his cigar.

It's called Ford Point

What a beautiful, mystical place

Hole in the Rock

Petroglyph

Hole in the rock

On top of this spire--called Totem Pole--Clint Eastwood filmed a scene during the

movie "Eiger Sanction". The top measures 20 ft. by 20 ft. Not very big.

More desert-like in the backcountry. In the foreground is all a very fine sand dune.

Gouldings Monument Valley RV Resort, UT: A beautiful, sunny morning. Last night the stars were amazing. I walked over to the office this morning and booked us on the 3:30 tour. It’s a 3-1/2 hour tour that takes you to some restricted places so we decided to do it instead of driving ourselves. Came back and got talking to the guy in the motor home behind us. He has the cutest Westy. He mentioned a canyon he had just come from--Canyon de Chelly (pronounced Canyon de Shay)—which is a National Monument about 3 hours southeast of us. We may do that before we leave. Relaxed outside reading for a while and then decided to hike the little trail going up the big rock formation in the campground. It winds around through this beautiful rocky area to a natural arch. I took pictures with my cell phone camera. Didn’t want to lug my camera up there. A couple pulled into the site next to us from Holland. They’re on a four-week trip in a rental RV. They are also going on the 3:30 tour. At 3:30 we all gathered for the tour under a cloudless cerulean sky. Loaded up and off we go. The first part of the tour we could have done in our own vehicle, but the second part went into the back country and was well worth the extra time and money. We saw some amazing cliffs, bluffs, and rock formations. And it was very desert-like with rippling hills of sand. They have sidewinders up there. We were hoping to see one. We stopped several times for pictures and at several places with holes in the rocks and petroglyphs. An amazing place. Even with four-wheel drive, the going was very rough. We were bitching about the speed bumps in the parking lot, but after that tour they were nothing. And by the end of the tour we were all covered in a fine layer of ocher dust. How earthy. After the tour we went to the Lodge restaurant for dinner. We both had the beef stew with the Navajo fry bread. Delicious!

Gouldings Monument Valley RV Resort, UT: Decided to just kick back today. Sat outside reading into the early afternoon. I just finished “A Land Remembered” by Patrick D. Smith—a historical novel of Florida. A great read and hard to put down. I’m now reading “Lone Survivor” about a Navy SEAL team’s mission in Afghanistan where they were ambushed by al Qaeda fighters and only one survived. Pretty good so far. Mike is reading “Cross” by James Patterson—another good read. We went over to the restaurant here and had dinner. I had spicy pork and green chili stew with Navajo fry bread which was really good. Mike had a burger on Navajo fry bread. I think we’re getting hooked on the fry bread. A beautiful, sunny day today. Hit 88. The wind really whips in this canyon.