Checked out and headed out of Flagstaff on route 180. Early on we passed Humphreys Peak, tallest point in Arizona. After that the trees thinned out a bit and it was mostly scrub and some small trees. There was quite a line to get into Grand Canyon National Park, mostly because people kept clogging the “pass only” lane and paying the entrance fee (which took forever, as many were paying with credit cards). We did get in about noon, though, and parked at the visitor’s center near Grand Canyon Village. We bought a few light sandwiches for lunch, I got a peanut butter, jelly, and honey on wheat. None of the sandwiches were that great but at that point we’d have eaten anything. An elk came up while we were eating — no fear at all.
Humphreys Peak, Arizona's highest point
Afterwards we walked out to Mather Point, which was packed, and took some pictures. I think the wife and kids (who had never seen the canyon) had the same reaction I did when I first saw it in 1991 — bewilderment. It’s just really hard to process, it’s so huge. A full mile deep and twenty miles or so wide, and nearly 300 miles long it’s just massive. Though the canyon itself is quite young, the rock it cuts through at the bottom is nearly two billion years old — old enough that there are no fossils as there were no significant living organisms at the time. It made me feel so insignificant.
View from Mather Point, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
View from Mather Point
View from Mather Point, with a small glimpse of the Colorado River far below
We turned back to the visitor’s center and looked through their few exhibits, including a bulky wooden boat that was used to survey the Colorado in the 1920s. A quick trip to the gift shop yielded a few magnets (yay!) then we watched a pretty decent movie about the canyon. Hopped back in the car and were very fortunate to find a parking space very close to our hotel, El Tovar. El Tovar is impressive lodge built in 1905 and has hosted good ol’ Teddy Roosevelt. We got two rooms, both on the floor below the lobby and across the hall from each other. We decided to walk around a bit before getting all of our luggage to our rooms. While the others went to the Hopi House, an Indian gift shop across from the hotel, I went down the small hill to take pictures of the passenger train that runs from Williams, Arizona to the Grand Canyon. On return I went into the Hopi House briefly and saw a rather macabre book that detailed all 700+ of the deaths in the canyon since the 1800s. On the way out I smacked my head on the top of the door — ouch!
Train running between Williams, Arizona and Grand Canyon National Park
Santa Fe Depot, built in 1909
Hopi House
Hopi House roof
Walked a little farther to the east before turning back and grabbing our luggage. Dropped it off in our rooms then went to dinner at the Bright Angel Lodge. It wasn’t great, oh well. I had pork loin and green beans so at least it was a bit healthy. Afterwards we walked west to the Bright Angel trailhead and read about the mules they use to carry people down into the canyon, most of which are bought from farms in Tennessee. Passed the Kolb Studio and its competitor back when the park was young, Lookout Studio. We hung out at the Lookout a while and watched the sunset. Genetta and I went to a lower viewpoint while Michelle and Addison stayed above. Continued to walk back towards El Tovar as the sun set and got a espresso chip milkshake. Yum!
View of the Grand Canyon
View of the Grand Canyon
View of the Grand Canyon
View of the Grand Canyon
View of the Grand Canyon
El Tovar, Grand Canyon Village, Arizona
El Tovar, perched on the canyon's south rim
Grand Canyon at sunset
Grand Canyon at sunset
Grand Canyon at sunset
Grand Canyon at sunset
Grand Canyon at sunset
In front of El Tovar was an elk with a huge rack of antlers, then later another four elk came by. We stayed on a bench on the rim for a while, then El Tovar’s porch, as the last of the day faded and the stars and the gorgeous milky way made me feel insignificant yet again.
Elk in front of El Tovar
Grand Canyon at sunset
Route for Saturday, August 3rd, 2013