We left the caverns and drove to the edge of the Grand Canyon National Park. We passed through this lovely green country on Route 66. We went through Seligman, the birthplace of historic route 66, the world famous roadkill 66 diner, the famous historic Snow Cap drive in, Route 66 historic Seligman Sundries, with the end of a plane sticking out the front, Angel and Vilma's Route 66 gift shop. Along the road were many of the Burma Shave ads. This one said Attention Insured, Remember Kiddo, They don't pay you, They pay your widow. Burma Shave.
Then through Williams. founded 1881, Gateway to the Grand Canyon, Route 66 Grand Canyon Gift shop with a Teepee out front, Williams, the last town bypassed by I-40, route 66 Arizona Motel, Cruisers Cafe 66 bar and grill and Route 66 Diner. Beautiful, historic downtown Williams.
Here we are boondocking (free camping, no hookups) on forest service land right outside the Grand Canyon. We will venture in tomorrow. I finished this cute basket. The center is a stone my friend Kat's found on the beach in Oregon with glass copper colored seed beads. The edge is done with the leaves from a ponderosa pine, with glass beads with a copper sheen over the top edge. I am pleased with how it came out.
Sunset tonight from camp. Today we went to the Grand Canyon National Park, south rim. The high temp was 59 degrees with a breeze. It is at almost 7,000 feet and again I am not acclimating well to the altitude.
The south rim is very crowded. It amazes me the the number of people who have never seen the grand canyon. John taking a photo.
If you look closely you can see the beginning of the Bright Angel Trail switch backing down. I went to college in the Flagstaff and we used to hitchhike out here and hike it to the bottom. As we were standing there this guy was saying- look there is that one mile trail down. I had to correct him, it is 10 miles down and a mile (5,200) of elevation change, a very rigorous hike. A woman with him said, well what is down there? Like why bother. John says the river, and she says well how do you get out?? Hike back out. . . I guess you have to go down into it to understand. The Hopi house. It was built by Fred Harvey to house Hopi Indians to show case their art work and way of life. It is built to look like a pueblo. Back in the day indians lived here. Now it is a huge gallery and shop of Indian art.
Looking down toward the Tonto Plateau, it is about half way down. The greenery is Indian gardens, a big campground. We used to camp there. Looking at Lookout Studio build right on the edge. It is a big gift shop and overlook.
After we overlooked at the Lookout the door knob came off in John's hand. We thought we were locked out, but John got it opened. Looking back at the historic El Tovar lodge on the edge with it's peaked roof. . It was also built by Fred Harvey as a luxury lodge. We went in to the cocktail lounge to have refreshment. We must have been invisible because no one waited on us, so we left. Very lovely building.
The brown building is Kolb Studio. The Kolb brothers lived there and operated a photography business, guide service and any thing else that would earn them a living there. There is a museum there now about them. Their photography recorded life at the canyon in the early 1900's. They were very adventurous men. This is near the top of the Bright Angel trail today. Clogged with people taking photos of each other. A view near the top of the Bright Angel trail where you go through a tunnel.
The round globe is really a screen they showed a movie about the canyon on it, it looked like it was turning, very cool. The Beautiful painting is in the El Tovar. The fireplace in the Bright Angel Lodge was designed by Ann Coulter, the famous architect who designed the famous buildings on the rim here. It reflects the natural strata of the Grand Canyon, using rocks from the geological strata in the canyon. I was looking at this elk listening to people saying, it is a mule deer, they are really big. . . I told them it was an elk. It is amazing to me how many people don't know their animals. Guess I was lucky to grow up with them. The beginning of the Bright Angel trail, it says ice, use crampons. A big beetle back at camp. A sign in many languages saying don't feed the squirrels, they carry plague. And an unhappy squirrel that i was not feeding. Another sign saying don't throw coins, the condors eat them and it kills them. A blooming wall flower.
A picture of my friend Katy and I in the early 70's at the top of the Bright Angel trail. We met in college because she wanted to learn to backpack. We are still friends today and have done many, many backpack trips and much more. Sunset at camp tonight.
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