Grand Canyon Road Trip

Our Grand Canyon Road trip will take us from Phoenix to Sedona, quickly out to Winslow to 'stand on the corner' and then up to Grand Canyon Village South Rim. We head up to Monument Valley and then up to Arches, coming back down through Bryce and Zion Canyon into Las Vegas. We have an exciting trip planned and look forward to the spectacular views of this wonderful land.
It was the beginning of our great Grand Canyon road trip with our good friends J&J. We have hired a big black Suburban car – this trip is like an extended episode of Criminal Minds only we’re not sure who’s going to be the ‘unsub’ and who’s gonna get left in the desert !! We’ve bought an esky, kettle, lots of water and supplies to make a cuppa and lunch along the way. We secured ourselves an impromptu mascot called ‘Princess’ during our wander through Walmart. She now features in many photos and rides in our backpack - and apparently my Batman appearances are embarrassing!  Our trip map is below and we are covering about 1200 miles (2000 km).

Phoenix. The capital of Arizona, in the middle of the desert. This is state number 29 for us. Far out, this place is HOT. It's flat, full of cacti and lots of mexican restaurants. Deb had planned a big hike on our first morning so we were on the trail by 6am just as the sun was breaking - the Cholla Trail up Camelback Mountain. We'd read lots of reviews and ascertained it was moderate to difficult, 3km long with steep sections towards the top. But the views would be worth it they said. Far out, it took us 2 slow hours to climb up and we were on our hands and knees for the last hour. It was a spider scramble and I have to admit, I was close to stopping as I could see plenty of nice views on the way up so the final crawl just didn’t seem to be worth it to me. There was a slight breeze but we were sweating and stopping lots to catch our breath.

Well the view at the top was gorgeous - a full 360 view of Phoenix. We were all so glad to get there - it was more about the challenge really. I've done some stupid things in my time and this is definitely one of them !! People were streaming up the trail - many under prepared with little or no water, no hat, bad shoes and just not in any shape to do the scramble. Unbelievable. The crawl down was a lot of sliding on bums and rock climbing slowly and the sun was out making us suffer even more. Pretty big start to the trip and we enjoyed a swim and breakfast back at the hotel. 

 

I was up early the next morning for a 10k run and it was about 28C at 6am. Bloody terrible. I struggled to finish as my legs were tired from the hike the day before and the heat killed what remained of my energy. We drove up to Sedona, still in Arizona where the flat desert become red rock desert with striking rock formations. Along the way we visited Montezuma Castle which was underwhelming. It was a rock face showing the outside of dwellings in the rock from around 1300AD but you can't go inside anymore. They had a diorama to show the inside but it was a quick visit as there wasn't much else to see. It was built and used by the Sinagua people, a pre-Columbian culture closely related to the Hohokam and other indigenous peoples of the southwestern US between approximately 1100 and 1425 AD. The main structure comprises five stories and twenty rooms, and was built over the course of three centuries.

About 20 minutes up the highway is the Montezuma Well. This is a natural limestone sinkholethrough which some 1,500,000 US gallons (5,700,000 litres) of water emerge each day from an underground spring. The Well measures 386 feet (118 m) in diameter from rim to rim and contains a near-constant volume of spring water even in times of severe drought. The water is highly carbonatedand contains high levels of arsenic. We enjoyed this more as it was interesting to walk around the area and read the information boards. Honestly, I was so busy watching the ground in front for rattlesnakes. And they reckon Australia is a dangerous place. 

Sedona was a beautiful town, much more nicer than Phoenix. It has a very Mexican feel with buildings designed for the extreme heat. They look like they are made of clay but we think it’s cement render. They are that orange clay colour and low set. It is a very touristy town and surrounded by huge red rock mountains. There was Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock and lots of others. We arrived to a stormy afternoon which delivered only wind and no rain. We were planning to do a loop of the airport which provides beautiful views of the surrounding red rock mountains. But the weather was not great and we decided to drive up top. The view was lovely and I don’t think we lost anything by not hiking up. Deb had another hike planned the following morning so we were off around 6am. It was a much easier hike than Phoenix and cooler. It was around 3k and we got some nice views of Cathedral Rock. 

 

Winslow. We left Sedona and headed towards Winslow. Our only reason to go to Winslow was to ‘stand on the corner’. This being made famous by The Eagles in their Take It Easy song. I’ve been singing it for weeks….Standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona, and such a fine sight to see, there’s a girl my lord in a flatbed Ford slowing down to take a look at me….take it easy, take it easy. The Eagles music was playing in the corner store and there were several ol’ timers getting their photos taken. This is one of those moments for me, I just was thrilled to see this. They have the red Ford truck on the corner and two statues – one of Glenn Frey and one of Jackson Browne who co-wrote the song. Batman was seen on the corner too.

 

We ended the day at Tusayan which is just outside the Grand Canyon Village, South Rim area. We were here for 2 nights to explore the wonders of this big canyon. But until the next post, here's a few more shots from the trip so far.