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Articles Tagged ‘BIG TRIP 2011’

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Recovery and Ruins (Flagstaff region)

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

May 4th-May 5th

On the road back to Flagstaff, we made a stop-off at Sunset Volcano. Though are legs were still aching from the early morning climb out of the Grand Canyon, we decided it would better to stretch them again after the long drive before turning in for a lazy evening. The volcano crater reminded us of our visit to Mt. Etna, with its black lava sand and visible lava flows. The Native Americans living near the volcano when it erupted more than 1,000 years ago, believed that it was a great spiritual force.

Back to civilization, we slept in a warm bed for the first time in a week. We also went out to a steakhouse buffet for dinner. The next morning, we woke up with a mission: oil change, grocery shopping, calling the parents, laundry…all by noon. We even had time to do some sightseeing in Flagstaff. We visited a beautiful house built by two brothers who made their fortunes in the timber industry and helped build Flagstaff. The two houses were joined in the middle by an enormous recreation room, complete with a 19th century billiards table, bear rugs and a cozy salon. It was here that we also learned about how Arizona’s budget crisis is affecting the state parks system. This site has lost most of its funding and now depends on private donations and fundraising to keep its doors open. We’ve seen numerous unfortunate examples like these while traveling the country.

East of Flagstaff, we stopped at Walnut Canyon national monument. This was another site of prehistoric Sinaguan cliff dwellings. This time we were able to hike down into the canyon to a path that led us past many of the dwellings. What surprised us was the fact that the inhabitants always built the fires inside and the only entrance/exit of the space was through the roof. It must have been very smoky in such a small space. The hike in and out required climbing quite a few stairs- and Fabien and I whizzed past a number of people. As in all of the parks, there were a lot of warning signs about the “strenuous” nature of the trail. Unfortunately, it seems that the average American isn’t physically able to do a lot of these trails.

Our day’s journey ended in Holbrook, a small town on the old Route 66, just outside the Petrified Forest National Park. We found a cheap motel, the Desert Sands, perfect on our budget and offering a little 70’s era charm.

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A Most Inspiring Hole, Grand Canyon National Park

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

April 29th-May 4th

The drive from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon was across a flat plateau and relatively uneventful except for the views of snow-capped San Francisco Mountains behind us. There was no hint of what was to come. We entered the park fairly quickly. This was my first visit to the Grand Canyon and Fabien’s second. He came with his parents on a family trip when he was around 11 years old. The number of entrance booths hint to the popularity of the park- more than 5 million visitors annually, but even though it was a Friday afternoon, there weren’t too many tourists. We were amazed at how rustic the campground felt. There were elk feeding (on plants) in the campsite next to us when we arrived. Maybe we could enjoy nature among millions of other people. Then it was time to see what all of the fuss was about. We drove up to Grand Canyon Village and ventured out to the rim to see the amazing geologic wonder below. I felt like I was staring at a painting. The layers of color on the north rim blended in to the perfect blue sky below and continued for hundreds (more accurately thousands of feet) below. Even from behind a stone wall, I felt a sense of vertigo staring down into the vastness .I couldn’t bear to watch as a man propped his 5-year old daughter up on the wall to take an unobstructed picture of her. How many of the people who fall in to the hole each year are children with stupid parents?

Being on an extended trip, we have the luxury of not being on a fixed schedule. As the weather was deteriorating- it was cold and windy at the top of the south rim- the ranger recommended delaying our backcountry adventure into the canyon until the weather improved. We decided to spend two full days exploring the rim. The first day we did the Rim Trail on foot. We started at “Hermit’s Rest,” a beautiful historical stone building that houses a charming cafe and gift shop. A shuttle bus (like the ones you find in the parking lot at Disney World) runs the route continuously, limiting the vehicular traffic. We took our time on the rim, enjoying the ever-changing vistas and reading the information panels which told about the history, the geology and the wildlife. Some interesting and surprising things we learned- they mined uranium in the Grand Canyon in the 1950s; the California condor, an endangered species, was reintroduced in to the GC with impressive success; and the many layers of rock visible on the north rim represent half of the earth’s history. Staring at that for a few days will give you conflicting feelings of empowerment and insignificance. What we weren’t prepared for was the drastic drop in temperature; it was around 50F during the day and 24F at night. Still motivated by the awe-inspiring hole, we packed a picnic dinner and went watch the sunset. We were surrounded by other enthusiastic tourists speaking a myriad of foreign languages- some of them were in shorts and t-shirt. The expression of wonder and dazzle was frozen on our faces, so we took advantage of the evening ranger’s program in a nice heated auditorium. It was an interesting lecture on the climate and weather of the Grand Canyon. We learned about the monsoon which brings heavy thunderstorms in the summer. We also learned that this was an unusually cold May. No kidding! After the ranger program, it was time for bed. We were dressed for the slopes- in hat, scarf and gloves. Fabien looked like the wolf dressed as Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother all snuggled tight in his mummy bag.

We were inspired by the Ranger Program on Saturday, so we went again on Sunday night, once again to escape the cold. We had snow flurries Sunday afternoon while we were relaxing at the campground. I ended up relaxing in the car on the phone with my mom. The Sunday program was a lecture about mountain lions, and the ranger was excellent- inspired and inspiring. She reminded us that the most dangerous animal in the park is the human. How many times have we seen people breaking the rules in front of the sign posts? Fabien and I have made a huge effort on this trip to follow the principle of “leave no trace.” Some things are so easy, like packing out your trash and not feeding the animals, yet so many people continue to break the rules. The evening ended on a very strange note. One of the audience stood up and told us that Osama bin Laden had been killed. We walked back to the campground by the light of our headlamps with a strange sense of uneasiness and got back into our ski get-up for another night of sub-freezing temperatures.

We were up bright and early on Monday ready for our trek into the canyon. We quickly packed up camp and repacked our backpacks for two nights at the bottom. We parked our car at the backcountry office and caught a shuttle bus to the trailhead of the South Kaibab Trail. We had chosen to descend on the South Kaibab Trail and ascend on the Bright Angel Trail. It is the most popular overnight trek to do in the canyon and very scenic. From the trailhead to the Bright Angel Campground at the bottom, it is 7 miles with a 4780ft elevation drop. We took about 5 hours to descend with a nice long lunch break and lots of picture stops. The views were spectacular as we wound our way down, each turn giving us a new glimpse of a part of the canyon. My adrenaline started pumping as soon as we could see and hear the river. Unfortunately, my feet were suffering at the same time. The constant pounding on my heels and toes, exacerbated by the weight of my pack, left me with large blisters. I hobbled over the suspension bridge and to the campground. There were rafters camping out on the beach- they were in the middle of a two-week float of the Colorado River. The campground was buzzing with excited trekkers whose voices were drowned out by the stream rushing by. We explored the Phantom Ranch where those who come down on mules stay for the night and set up camp. Then I nursed my suffering feet, while Fabien went back to take some pictures by the river. We left the rain fly off the tent so we could stare up at the steep canyon walls and then the beautiful starry sky from our sleeping bags. The night was calm and restful.

We took advantage of the warmer temperatures- it was about 20 degrees warmer on the bottom than at the top and took our time over breakfast and packing up. My feet were feeling slightly better and I was comforted by the fact that we would be mostly ascending during the day. The first part of the trail followed the Colorado River. We stopped at a beach and sat and enjoyed the bright green river flowing by. Then we started the climb up to the Indian Gardens campground where we would spend the night. We only hiked about 4 miles and felt good when we arrived. The campground was in a forest of cottonwood trees. We spent the hot part of the afternoon reading and relaxing. Then we hiked out to Plateau Point to one of the most amazing views in the park. It’s a level walk from the campground through desert landscape. After scrambling over a couple of rocks at the end, you come to a sheer drop that peers down onto the Colorado below. When we arrived there was a Slovakian couple there waiting for us, at least waiting for someone to come and take their picture. On the way back to the campground, we saw some mule deer, or maybe they were elk, drinking from the springs. We turned in early once again, staring up at the clear night sky from our bags and happily tired from another day of adventure.

We had planned to start the hike up to the rim around 8 am, beat the heat of the day and arrive at the top for lunch. However, all of our neighbors were up and about by 5 am. We finally succumbed to the pressure, and got up at 6. We were on our way up by 7. I was feeling refreshed and “en forme” as the French would say. We hiked up the last 5 miles and the steepest part in a little over 3 hours. I almost expected a medal at the end, but we were rewarded with all of the day hikers awed that we had slept “down there.” We got back to the car, unloaded our gear, and changed t-shirts. It was our last day in the Grand Canyon and it felt strange to be on our way out. We took some pictures of the old Grand Canyon Railway Station and then drove down to Desert View, which offered yet another view of the canyon along with the Little Colorado Canyons and the Painted Desert. It was time to move on and continue on this great journey across North America.

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Flagstaff, Arizona (Gateway to the Grand Canyon)

Friday, May 13th, 2011
April 28th-29th After the beautiful drive up from Sedona, we arrived in Flagstaff mid-afternoon. We planned a short one-night stopover in Flagstaff before going to the Grand Canyon. One of the sights we wanted to see was the Lowell Observatory, a ... [Continue reading this entry]

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Exploring the Sedona Region, Arizona

Friday, May 13th, 2011
April 25th- April 28th We based our visit of the Sedona Region out of Dead Horse Ranch State Park, an unappealing name for a very pretty park. As we drove in through the cottonwood trees, we were impressed by the sea ... [Continue reading this entry]

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Stopover in Phoenix

Friday, May 6th, 2011
April 24th-25th It was a relatively quick trip on the highway between Tucson and Phoenix, so we decided to take a detour to see the Casa Grande National Monument. We actually didn’t have any idea what it was until we got ... [Continue reading this entry]

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The Cold War and Desert Adventures (Tucson, Arizona)

Thursday, April 28th, 2011
April 21st-24th Just south of Tucson, we stopped at the Titan 2 Missile Museum. I’m not a big fan of military history (Fabien is the one who’s very into space and airplanes) but I found the place fascinating and unsettling at ... [Continue reading this entry]

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Arizona Bound

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
April 19th Since we were awake so early in the morning after our night in White Sands, we had time to visit a few things in the area before driving to Bisbee, Arizona. Just up the road was the White Sands ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Arizona FR, BIG TRIP 2011, In English, New Mexico | No Comments »

White night in White Sands, New Mexico

Friday, April 22nd, 2011
April 18th-April 19th From El Paso, we drove to the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. These great wave-like dunes are made from gypsum sand and encompass 275 miles of the Chihuahuan Desert. We were planning to ... [Continue reading this entry]

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Borderlands (Guadalupe State Park to El Paso, Texas)

Thursday, April 21st, 2011
April 17th-18th We awoke around 6:45 on Sunday morning to another windy day in the Guadalupe Mountains. Most of our neighbors had packed up camp or were in the process of packing up- I guess they were either tired of the ... [Continue reading this entry]

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Crazy about National Parks…Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico

Sunday, April 17th, 2011
April 14th-16th Okay, I have to admit that now that we have our National Parks Pass, we’re on a mission to get our money’s worth. After another swim in the spring-fed pool and a very windy morning, we got on another long ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in BIG TRIP 2011, In English, New Mexico | No Comments »

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