10/10 - The Grand Canyon

In the spirit of adventure, instead of taking I-40 to the Grand Canyon, we took state roads north along the Colorado and Utah borders and drove through the enormous Navaho Nation. It was raining in Taos and some weather reports talked about locally heavy snow along our route, but the hotel staff verified we weren't taking high altitude roads, so off we went.

Rio Grande Canyon walls

At first, we drove down the Rio Grande Canyon, then set off along drier areas. The scenery was often spectacular and reminded me of Utah, but I can't imagine how people support themselves or why I would want to live there.

Rio Grande in the Taos area

Cliffs somewhere in New Mexico, above and below

Shiprock in New Mexico, in Navaho Nation

Hoodoos above, other rock formations below. In
Navaho Nation, either New Mexico or Arizona

Drawing of what the original abodes would have
looked like. What we saw were the foundations,
a couple of stones high.

Once we got to the Grand Canyon east entrance, we gained an hour and had time to spare before checking in, so we stopped at almost all the viewpoints and one museum. The museum showed the Tusayan Ruins -- parts of the walls and two kivas (ceremonial halls) of the Tusayan culture. The homes were stone built and entered from the top, as were the kivas. Not sure that would be a good place to be old in!

The Grand Canyon, looking west from the Desert
View (eastern) stop

Jim at another viewpoint, looking west

Grand Canyon eastern view

Grand Canyon eastern view at sunset

I was here for a few hours with Kristen in 1975 and nothing but the canyon itself is recognizable. Jim was here for 2 days in the late 50s and he sees stuff he saw then, but a lot has changed.  The canyons are amazing, but I'm afraid the photos will be inadequate, like they were in 1975.

We went to dinner at a different lodge and began to understand why the park emphasizes using the free shuttle. Parking was ridiculous close by, and I got all turned around when we found a parking lot, and luckily Jim prevailed and we got some help and found we were only a 7 minute walk to our restaurant. On the way driving to dinner, bunches of people near our hotel were ogling the deer near the road and I was like so 'ho-hum, another deer'. On the way back from dinner, a small herd of elk crossed the road in front of us and I fumbled with the camera to get settings to take a decent photo. So much for wildlife ennui!

Dumb camera didn't want to use flash, did multiple
photos and combined while nasty elk refused to stay
in one place. You CAN discern mother and calf, however.

The only bad part is that there is only internet access in the lobby and dining room, a hike from our room, so staying in touch will be a challenge.