Grand Canyon

Friday April 27th:

You have all either been here or seen so many pictures of the Grand Canyon taken in perfect lighting (sunset or sunrise) that I will only include one here. One problem with the train travel was that our time was limited to about 3 1/2 hours at the canyon rim before reboarding for the trip back. We caught the shuttle bus on the rim route and stopped at each point out to "Mojave Point" then came back to the train station. All in all it was a long day as we were camped about 75 miles south of Williams and had to drive to the train and back. We slept well that night.

Grand Canyon Trip

Friday, April 27th:

We boarded the Grand Canyon Railroad at Williams, AZ for a train ride up to the Grand Canyon. The train traveled from the mountains west of Flagstaff, down through the desert and back up to the Grand Canyon rim (about 7000 ft). We booked first class tickets on the ANASAZI car for the trip, which was about 60 miles each way. Very pleasant trip and well worth booking if you are in the area.

Grand Canyon Trip

Friday, April 27th:

We boarded the Grand Canyon Railroad at Williams, AZ for a train ride up to the Grand Canyon. The train traveled from the mountains west of Flagstaff, down through the desert and back up to the Grand Canyon rim (about 7000 ft). We booked first class tickets on the ANASAZI car for the trip, which was about 60 miles each way. Very pleasant trip and well worth booking if you are in the area.

On to the Painted Desert NP

Wednesday April 25th continued:

As we drove on through the park we crossed I-40 and came into the Painted Desert NP portion. The camera does not do justice to what the eye can see. We can take in some many more shadings and shadows and depth than a mere camera, so the view is more wonderous than I can show you here.

More from the Petrified Forest NP

Wednesday April 25th.

The views along the drive up the park were absolutly breathtaking, but too many to try to post them all here. Along one old (former) river bank a clan of people had stopped and settled and began to farm the land. They may have been part of the Hopi tribe because of the farming. They built homes from adobe to house about thirteen families and stayed in the area for many years then moved on, apparently when the drought came and the river dried up. This is a picture of one of their house frames.

Holbrook Area Petrified Forest NP and Painted Desert

Wednesday April 25th:

Drove over to the Petrified Forest NP and Painted Desert NP today. Both parks are absolutely wonderful and I would love for those of you who haven't been here to come on down. All of this area was a large swampy area with forests of hugh trees and many river tributaries all connecting to a hugh river which riveled the Mississippi or Amazon rivers (according to park history). Trees would fall over into the river and be carried down and deposited in the mud. The mud would cut off oxygen allowing the trees to fossilize rather than decay. Here is a picture Carolyn took of one hugh stone tree laying on the ground.

Driving to Holbrook, Arizona

Monday April 23rd:

Today we left Albuquerque NM and drove west toward Holbrook, AZ. The scenery was dramatic and striking as we moved across a perfectly flat 6000 foot high "valley" with I-40 running to the horizon as if laid out with a straight edge.

We topped one ridge and came out into Mesa country with flat topped hills rising out of the plains. Were these pushed up by geologic uplift or were they the former level and time, wind and water eroded all of the land around them? Passed the Bandera Volcano surrounded for scores of miles by black volcanic ash and lava.

Long ridges stretch across the landscape.

We topped the Continental Divide, at about 7200 feet, in western New Mexico and started down the other side. Now all of the rivers run in a westerly direction rather than in an easterly direction, so I've been told.

The Welcome center Rest Stop coming into Arizona was set among red cliffs like the one here. Sandstone, I would guess, with areas carved out by the wind and rain. At this point we moved into Navajo Indian Reservation territory and crossed the Petrified Forest NP on our way to Holbrook. We plan to see the NP, Hopi Reservation, Meteor Crater