Michael on a hot day on the
South Rim
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appreciate the immense depth and vastness
of this canyon. Far below in the distance you get a glimpse of the Colorado River winding
its way through beautiful red rocks. At Desert Point you can climb inside an old
watchtower, decorated with Indian sand paintings. On top of the tower you get a totally
unspoiled view to the scenery from a glass enclosed observatory equipped with telescopes.
The Colorado River winds through narrow gorges about 1200 m below you. After viewing we
had to relax with a small lunch at the adjacent cafe. The road follows the rim until Grand
Canyon Village. There are quite a number of viewing points where you can park the car and
leave the pine forest for a close look to all these strange rock formations which just
appeared to us as in a fairy tale from a far away planet. From |
the Village you can
take a free busride or walk (13 km) further to the east to Hermits Rest. Unfortunately we
had not set aside time for a hike to the bottom of the canyon and probably the hot climate
would also have prevented us from doing this. The South Kaibab Trail is a 6.7 miles trail
all the way down to the Colorado River; a descent of about 4800 feet. In the inner bottom
rocks as old as 1.7 billion years are exposed. A strange thought : we had passed
volcanic lava only 1000 years old on our way to Grand Canyon. On our way back to Flagstaff
we went due south through Kaibab Natl. Forest where a controlled fire had been started. We
were allowed to pass so that's why we believe that the was deliberately started and well
under control by the fire fighters. The next day our destination was Gallup in New Mexico.
To the south of I-40 about 40 miles from
| Flagstaff we visited Meteor Crater. As the
crater was once used as a astronauts training center, there is a museum for space missions
and meteors inside. The place which is privately owned was first believed to be the
remains of an ancient volcano. But now scientists have found evidence that the crater
resulted from a huge meteor some 50.000 years ago, leaving the 570 feet deep crater. You
cannot descend the crater but from a viewing platform we have taken the picture. From
Holbrook we took highway 180 to |
Meteor Crater
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|
Compare the size of the petrified log.
Petrified National Forest
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Petrified National Forest which
is a huge area containing fossilized conifer trees and wood all over. At the south
entrance visitor center you can buy small pieces of petrified logs (found outside the
park) for one $ a piece, probably to prevent people from picking their own pieces in the
park (which is of course strictly forbidden). The trees date back to the dinosaur era; the
Triassic 225 million years ago. Heavy floods have carried the trees to this flat area
where volcanic mud has buried them and later they were fossilized by deposits from mineral
water. Millions of years later uplift and erosion of the landscape exposed these well
preserved logs. Going north after crossing under the I-40 you reach Painted Desert
National Park, which consists of dry bare rocks in delicate colors. Arriving early in the |
Painted Desert
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|
| morning or late
afternoon should be special rewarding. The coloration of the red hues of the sun magnifies
the spectacular multicolored scenery. From here we continued along the I-40 to the small
city of Gallup which is just after the New Mexican border. Here you find a good selection
of motels along the interstate and prices are low because of the competition. The next day
we continued north |
| past the Navajo Indian capital Window Rock
and westwards to Hubbell Trading Post which is now a national historic site. This
spectacular stone construction was established as a trading post in the late 1870`s.
Hubbell saw it as his mission to help the Navajo Indians by trading their products to the
white man. Today Navajo Indians demonstrate craftsmanship inside where rugs were weaved
and silversmithing demonstrated. The crafts were sold in |
In front of Hubbell Trading Post
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|
| the souvenir shop.
We continued north to Chinle where we had wonderful chickens for lunch in a
Kentucky Fried Chickens operated by Navajo Indians. Just east of Chinle is Canyon de
Chelly |
Spider Rock
|
National Monument. You cannot enter the
canyon system by car, but there is both a south and north rim drive. We wanted to see the
Spider Rock so we went south. The canyon divides into two main arms and is very beautiful
with steep red rock walls, a river and dirt roads in the relatively flat bottom and
ancient cliff dwellings in the walls. Navajo Indians have small |
The Southern arm of Canyon de Chelly.
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|
farms and hogans on
the bottom. The South Rim Drive ends at an overlook to Spider Rock; a double rock tower of
which the highest is 800 foot and hosts Spider Woman on top according to the Navajo
Legend.
From Chinle we went north through the Navajo Reservation in deserted and fabulous red rock
surroundings. It must be a tough work to get a living out of these bare rocks with the sun
constantly burning. It was a wonderful lonely drive of about 100 miles to the Colorado
border. |
