Vermilion Cliffs and Lees Landing

Timing is everything!  We decided to drive back to the Navajo Bridge which spans the Colorado River and is the start of the Grand Canyon National Park.  But first, since we have no cell service and the holiday weekend is coming up, we wanted to verify that we do indeed have a reservation at our next campground.  So, if we did not have cell service by the time we got to the Bridge, we would drive onward to Page, Arizona.  However, as soon as we got to a very small community called Cliff Dwellers, which butts up against the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, I got cell service.  While I called to verify, Dave walked around a small establishment and low and behold - it was a River Expedition company and they were readying boats to go on their 5 day trip from Lees Landing, which we were right by,  to the end of the Canyon.

Stopped to make cell call - raft company readying boats

Drive into Vermilion Cliffs National Monument

Rafters coming!

Rafting through Paria Riffle 

Lees Landing - group getting ready to go - last of day 

We continued on to Lees Landing which is the point most river rafters start their trip down the Colorado.  Wow!  As re drove into the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, we were stunned by the magnificent red cliffs!!  We thought we were done with red rock, but this blew us away!  Moab is great, Zion, Bryce - nothing compares to the vista views of this monument.  We drove down to the Colorado River area - Paria Beach - and saw rafters coming.  I stuck my hand into the Colorado, never being this close.  We watched 2 separate raft groups go by, which is right at the first ‘rapid’ known as Paria Riffle.  Not really a rapid but the first time the rafters get to feel the force of the water over rocks.  Very cool!

Just stunning!

Every direction - wow!

Drove to Lees Landing and watched the last group ready to go down the River, the last one to step off is noon.  Was I impressed!  The gear the rafts carry is amazing.  Was not keen on ever going down the River but after seeing this, I have put rafting down the Colorado on my bucket list.  Some day.  Went back to the Navajo Bridge, walked over it, looked down and saw the groups of rafters resting.

Rafters resting below

Truly amazing day!  Wow factor big time.  If you really want to get impressed with seeing Red Rocks - and there is no way to fully explain the hues of reds, blues, yellows, greys, whites - you need to come to Lees Landing and view the Vermilion Cliffs.  Breathtaking!

Hiking here if you want - I just wanted to stare!

Amazing!

Bright Angel Point - North Rim

Went up/down to North Rim yesterday.  Up by climbing to over 8900 feet up and over the Kaibab Plateau then dropping down to 8200 feet at the North Rim.  Just as we remembered.  With this being the first official weekend the rim was open, there were many people and parking was limited.  Even though the North Rim only gets 1/2 million visitors each summer (they are only open from May 15 to October 15) where as the South Rim is open all year and gets typically 5 million people, I prefer this North Rim.

View from the Lodge

Snow - said this is what it was like 3 weeks ago

And now!

Walked the trail for a bit - along the Rim

Pristine views, the smells of the Ponderosa Pines and the Junipers, the birds flitting around, hearing the screech of a hawk in flight over the canyon, just marvelous.  The drive to the North Rim Lodge and Visitors Center reminded us a lot of our travels in Yellowstone.  Deer grazing, we did not see Tatanka's (buffalo) but know they are out there, did see a mass of tent campers (snow still on the ground in some places) at the DeMotte Camp ground.  Seems there was a 100 mile run down into the Canyon, along the Colorado, and then back up.  God bless them all!!!  As of yesterday, the last few were still coming in to the finish line.

Was an enjoyable day, not used to being in the fresh air and we were pooped last night.

Moved to North Rim, Grand Canyon

Our second journey took us north out of Camp Verde, Arizona, up to Flagstafff and then north on Route 89 through the Navajo Nation.  We had hoped this trip was less eventful than our trip 3 years ago when the road we traveled (same as this time) was so torn up and bumpy, our RV we had at the time had suffered some damage when we pulled into Page.  This time - no problem, thank goodness. We had to contend with rain showers but that was no problem either.  However, by the time we reached Jacob Lake, at elevation 7200, the rain had turned to snow.  Yuck.

Snow falling - view out our back window

On our scenic drive we passed Lees Landing where you could catch a white water raft ride down the Colorado, through the National Park, crossing over the river there.  Very pretty scenery.  We followed the Escalante Staircase, now a National Monument. Climbed up to over 7200 feet and into Jacob Lake where we will be for a week.  Wanted to see the Grand Canyon, North Rim again.

Passed over Colorado River - Navajo Bridge

Many roadside stands with Navajo selling wares

Was nervous about our stay - forecast for snow at night, Friday and Saturday nights, and highs only in the 50s, but supposed to be getting warmer each day.  Woke up to about an inch of snow Saturday morning, Saturday drove into Hurricane, Utah - not far from St. George - to find an alternative internet service since we have no cell.  Was a very beautiful drive - again along the high red rock mountains Utah is known for.

Red Rock State Park, Slide Rock, and Oak Creek Canyon

Visited Red Rock State Park yesterday morning, was pretty, but not what we were expecting.  Last August torrential rains wiped out two of the hiking bridges that cross Oak Creek so many of the trails were either closed or one way - hike in and turn around and hike back.  Did hike up to the House of Apache Fire, a home built by Jack and Helen Frye in 1941, never completed, sold many times, abandoned, and then later purchased by the state.  Jack Fry was the president of TWA and wanted a get-away home away from his job.  Must have been quite a concept - wondered what it looked like inside.  Designed after Hopi architecture, Helen was the brains behind the design.  After their divorce in 1950, she got the House, but it was never completed.  Two story home with each room literally on it's own level.  Impressive views of many of the red rock formations in Sedona surround it.  On the way down from the House, watched 10 deer meander by.

Oak Creek meandering through state park

House of Apache Fire

One of the views from the House 

Mule Deer came moseying by

We drove the scenic road north of Sedona into Oak Creek Canyon, very impressive.  30 years ago we drove this same road, remembered that at the top of the canyon at 6420 feet, a viewing area was set up and back then many Navajo and Hopi Indians were selling their crafts, spread out on blankets on the ground.  This visit the Native Americans were there, but they had their wares on tables to view.  Of course I had to get a trinket or two, even Dave found something!

At top of Canyon

Would not want to bring RV on the switchback road!

Just about half way between Flagstaff and Sedona

Lots of Native American artists selling their wares

On the drive back down the canyon, we stopped at Slide Rock State Park, a natural water park that people come to play in the running Oak Creek.  The water has worn the rocks smooth and people start at an upper level waterfall and slide down through many waterfalls.  Looked like fun although watching the people, they were howling that the water was so cold.  Did not stop them from having fun!  With limited parking there, I asked what happens when there is no more parking?  Where do people park their car?  The attendant said that people wait in the turning lane of the highway, waiting for someone to leave - could be an hour or two!  But, then the highway patrol comes along and makes people move on - loosing their place in line for the next spot in the parking lot.  Guess you need to come early!

Slide Rock area

Look closely - the kids are moving through rapids

Quite deep in areas!  These kids were loving it!

Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park

Thirty years ago we visited this park and we remembered standing right by petrified trees and also of viewing the painted desert - would it be as we remembered? The drive to the park took us over 2 hours but we felt that the chance of being this close to see the park in the future was very slim, so what the heck.  Traveled north to Flagstaff then headed eastbound on I 40.  Humphreys Peak, the highest point in Arizona, was snow covered - probably from the couple of nights prior when we got rain, it got snow.

Snow

Painted Desert - vast area

Drove the park road and stopped at almost all the sights.  First up was the Painted Desert.  Very colorful, vast open areas. We wondered how far could we see? Along the way south through the park, we stopped at the Route 66 sign where the famous road that spanned from Chicago to Los Angeles came through.  Without realizing it, we parked the car right in the middle of the old road!

Get your kicks on Route 66!

Petroglyphs

100 room structure housed over 200 people

Over 650 petroglyphs have been recorded in the park and we were able to view at least a dozen of them, dating back over 2000 years. But the wow factor came in when we hiked the Crystal Forest.  The area was once a humid, wet, lush climate with trees and plants and animals such as dinosaurs, giant amphibians living here over 200 million years ago. Floods, volcanos, uplifting of the land, climate change caused the area that was once a tropical environment to now be a grassy arid plain. Over time, wind and water wore away the rock and ash layers and exposed the remains of the downed trees and skeletons of the dinosaurs.  Archaeologists have found remains of peoples from 13,000 years ago.

Looked like someone had a chainsaw - perfect breaks

Trees all over the place

Amazing all the colors

Beautiful fossilized trees - amazing colors and patterns.  Pink, white, blue, black, brown, green, yellow and red are the colors you can see.  These are caused from the iron, carbon, and manganese from the silica saturated water that the trees were buried in.  Amazing.

Trees were enormous!

Payson and The Zane Grey Cabin

Zane Grey, the famous writer, had a cabin in this area, but was not aware it was in Payson.  We decided to venture to the town the other day needn't to find a hardware store and of course, visit one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, El Rancho, and to visit the Rim Country Museum and Zane Grey Cabin.  But first, the drive was spectacular driving up and along the Mogollon Rim. Stunning landscape and snow!  We had rain the night before but the elevation along the Rim took us to over  7500 feet.  When we left Camp Verde the temp was 67 but the drive along the Rim was a breezy 42 to 48.  Brr.  Traveled through cute communities such as Strawberry, Pine.  Very wealthy homes tucked in the forest along the mountain side, you can see where the Phoenix/Scottsdale folks come to escape the summer heat.  Has to be 25 to 30 degrees cooler there than where we are.

Ah - snow!

One huge pine forest!

Once in Payson, did shopping and then visited the museum.  Noticed lots of people in town and especially around the museum.  It was a cookout sponsored by the Game and Fish Wildlife government folks.  The two docents that took us through the museum were very knowledgeable, unfortunately the original Zane Grey cabin that Grey lived in from 1921 to 1929 burned down in the Dude Fire of 1990.  We could not take pictures inside the cabin but the museum is trying very hard to recreate an authentic cabin from photographs, diaries, and local knowledge.

Reenactment of Zane Grey's Cabin

Pretty fresh water lake in heart of Payson

Payson is a "Fire Wise" community, after 6 volunteer firemen were killed in the Dude Fire, the community is very diligent in providing knowledge and help with preventing forest fires.  Payson resides in the largest pine forest of North America. The city also boasts that they have a natural source of water that will last at least 100 years from now - something that no other community/city in Phoenix can brag about. Quite a haven for hunters, campers, hiking, and any other outdoor sports you can think of.  Too bad it is so far aware from Chandler (where the grand girls are) Payson/Strawberry/Pine would make a nice summer retreat if/when we stop traveling during the summer.

Sedona and Red Rocks

The RV repair guy came out and found that our faucets were clogged with calcium deposits, and once he flushed out the system, drained the hot water tank, retested, we were good to go.  Nice to have water in the kitchen!  Dave has more maintenance now, the repair guy said to flush the system thoroughly at least 2 times a year if not more.  He was doing this just once a year.

Yesterday we decided to visit Sedona.  We had been to Sedona, not as campers but as hoteliers, about 13 years ago and wanted to revisit all the large red rock formations around the city.  We did manage to hike for a bit up Bell Rock and the weather turned rainy so we headed back to the car and drove into town to sight see.  If you are into New Age and Holistic Medicines and feeling the vortexes, then this town is for you.  Crystal bead shops, New Age bookstores, healing waters this and that, spas, etc.  Very touristy and expensive. Beautiful architecture, blending into the natural surroundings of red rocks.

Red Rocks coming into Sedona

Hiked a tidge of Bell Rock

Stunning views

The fauna was impressive

Thought the white was trash - pretty flowers! Evening white primrose.

Once we passed through town we headed south towards Sedona Wetlands, took a quick look-see and again was chased back to the car with rain.  We did see enough to enjoy nature in its finest.

Five ponds with all kinds of birds/ducks

We got back to the campground and decided to walk the nature trail here to the Clear Creek which runs along the property.  Very pretty!  I can see where people would come here to hang out.  Still waters run deep.

Right in our backyard!

Still waters run deep

Enjoyed a quiet evening and had a nice steady rain all night and today is bright sun but chillier than we are used to - high today is 59.  Still a nice change from the high 90s.  Buddy is beginning to come around - he is starting to annoy Grace, his limp is not as pronounced, and he is beginning to stay out more and not hide.  Good thing we have days here for him to get used to the rig.