6/28: Grand Canyon's South Rim, Desert View & Forrest Gump!

The previous afternoon Steven and our sons, Alexander and Zachary, returned to Flagstaff after hiking up from the bottom of the Grand Canyon beginning that morning. They all looked pretty tired after that huge accomplishment and Steven walked a little gingerly. He luckily made it much better than his 40 pus year old hiking boots that only just allowed him to get to the top without having to hike in socks!

After saying goodbye to the boys off at the Flagstaff airport so they could return home to San Francisco and Denver respectively, Steven was gracious enough in agreeing to my request that we return to the Canyon's South Rim as I hadn't been there for a good 20 years or so. 

Steven looked pretty chipper, I though, considering he was sore after the long two-day hike! I was so relieved to have him back in one piece, let me tell you.

With a cloudless bright blue sky, the canyon looked spectacular and more than a little dangerous if one weren't too careful.

This was the beginning of the Bright Angel Trail that Steven and our sons had chosen to hike to the bottom and back up because it had more shade and was a little less steep than the only other option.

A fellow tourist and I both laughed when we saw we were each wearing dresses from Costco, especially since neither of us were members! Funnily enough, we were both wearing Keen river shoes, too. Goodness only knows why I decided to wear a dress of all things as I knew Steven and I would be doing some hiking that day; I've never worn a dress hiking before, that was for sure!

These were the same fluffy flowers I was so taken with while we hiked at Wupatki and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument north of Flagstaff a few days earlier.

To view more of the South Rim, we opted to take the free shuttle from Hopi Point west and hike some more.

I am far more of a daredevil than our children would ever think but even I didn't want to get any closer to the edge  than this. It was a tad scary listening to one of the park rangers a little earlier comment on the number of fatalities they must deal with each year because tourists have made poor decisions with regard to safety.

I don't think Steven thought that morning when we set out for the park, that he'd be hiking there again so soon. At least this time we were on even terrain, though!

If we'd brought picnic fixings, this would have been a perfect place to sit a spell even with all the crows hoping to pick up all leftovers!

Incredible views wherever we looked but not one guardrail in sight anywhere.

Prickly pear cactus:

I read that the Grand Canyon's pinyon-juniper woodlands grow on both its North and South rims and extend down into the canyon to about 4,000 feet. Pinyon pine and Utah juniper are very drought resistant. Sunlight, elevation, temperature and precipitation help determine where plants grow in the pygmy forest.

I was surprised given that the weather was gorgeous, it was the height of the tourist season at one of the country's busiest national parks how few people were out taking advantage of such magnificent vistas.

Since we still had a long drive in front of us, we got the shuttle at Mohave Point back east to the Grand Canyon Village.

About 25 miles east of the village was the Desert View section of the national park. The terrain wasn't as awe inspiring and colorful in my opinion as along the South Rim but it was certainly worth a stop. Had we become jaded by what we'd just seen? Quite possibly, I thought.

Cedar Mountain looked like it had had its top leveled from perhaps a volcano millennia ago.

The four-story Desert View Watchtower, completed in 1932, was designed by American architect Mary Colter. She intended that  each rock and painted wall convey meaning. 

It was fun trying to find triangular and diamond patterned rocks, plus different sized horizontal bands in addition to actual petroglyphs in the tower. It had tapered windows like buildings hundreds of years ago. Colter stated that she used uneven masonry surfaces to "creates shadows and give more vigor to the walls.

After finally leaving the Canyon much later than we intended, we set out for what I think is perhaps the most beautiful drive in all of the United States and that is Monument Valley, a region of the Colorado Plateau on the Arizona-Utah border. It cannot be a national park because it's located within the Navajo Nation Reservation.

If you're a fan of wide open spaces, then Monument Valley is the place for you as there were few cars on the two lane road and not a shop to be seen for miles and miles. We did notice a few locals, however, selling Indian carpets in temporary stands along the road.

Mammoth rock formations like these were called buttes. I loved how they seemed to change shape and color depending how we approached them and how the light hit them.

See what I meant when I mentioned the Valley's wide open spaces?

Like virtually everyone else who stops at the Forrest Gump Point, we did, too, for the iconic shot of looking back at the Valley we'd just driven through. I hoped to also stand in the middle of the road for the shot as Tom Hanks did while playing the character but a group of German tourists were taking forever to each reenact the shot with no cars or people in the picture so I gave up!

The Mexican Hat formation was named because of its resemblance to a Mexican sombrero, surprise, surprise! I don't normally feel we do too much each day on our trips but to have had a full day only exploring far, far more of Monument Valley would have been ideal as we barely touched the surface of this amazing part of the American West.

We were tuckered out once finally reached the tiny hamlet of Bluff, Utah, that night. Thank goodness, there was a great little steakhouse that was doing a thriving business as it appeared to be the only place around to grab a bite.

Next post: Sand Island Petroglyphs and Goosenecks State Park OR finally the first post on discovering Dublin!

Posted at long last on September 1st, 2019, from Waterford, Ireland, because the internet here has been horrendous!