The Day's Inn was an old motel like many we have stayed in, in Flagstaff; downtown, near Amtrak and surrounded by every fast food restaurant imaginable.
So, now yesterday, our second 24 hours, June 28 - Jun29, a Sunday.
I was up at 7:30 and walked to Starbucks, getting there at 7:50. That allowed May, Arianna, and Olivia to sleep in as late as they wanted, and have the room and the shower to themselves when they did get up.
They were ready to go by 9:10.
The Grand Canyon
We drove west on I-40 to Williams, gateway to the Grand Canyon, and then drove north. The park is about 50 miles of Williams.
The traffic on the road north was fairly light so it was a surprise when we saw all five lanes backed up at the main entrance to the gate. Surprisingly, the lines moved very quickly. We had forgotten out National Park passport at home (May said she did not know where I kept the passport and I had forgotten to put it on my checklist).
It appears they’ve changed the National Park passport to a “Federal Agency Pass” or something like that. May and I both qualify but because the lines were so long, they only take time to issue one. We got mine for $10 and will get May’s at a later date. It really doesn’t matter; we just need the one. So, now we have a national park pass in each car.
A flashing sign before entering the park said that parking would be very hard to find, and they recommended folks park outside the park, and then take the shuttle bus in. Interestingly, the parking outside the park was more limited than what we eventually found inside the park.
We drove immediately to the east end of the park; the east end is about 45 miles east of the main entrance, but very few come in that entrance, and very few drive over to that end of the park. It’s our favorite area in the park.
The park seemed much less busier (busy?) than last year. Parking was very, very easy to find. On the east end, we parked in the front row nearest the rim and the concession stands. I vaguely recall that last year were told that the weeks before and during July 4th weekend were generally quiet because fireworks were not allowed.
But having said that, the east end of the park feels empty. I'm sure it's busy and full at the center and at the hotel, but we drove to the east end -- Desert View -- and the watch tower.
We noted a lot of changes since last year. The watch tower’s retail store was not gone except for a very small area off to the side. Very few people at the watch tower.
The general store at this end of the park as 12:30 p.m. was empty. The snack bar in a separate building was all empty.
The watch tower -- which last year was shoulder-to-shoulder was relatively empty. I found a huge window area overlooking the canyon -- which could easily sit eight people -- was empty, despite a great view of the canyon from inside the watch tower.
One thing about the park: I can't talk about parking itself, but the park is so huge that it can't handle a lot of people.
The grandeur and the size of the canyon never fail to amaze me. No matter how many times I see it -- it simply surprises me when I see it again -- the immensity of the canyon.
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West End of the Canyon
After the watch tower, we drove to the tourist center and the "main part" of the park.
Arianna wanted to hike the trails and we did. We hiked two trails part way down into the canyon.
The first was one very rough. It was the Hermit's Rest trail at the far west end. Arianna, Olivia, and I went down; May stayed up at Hermit's Rest. It's about a seven-mile hike to the bottom of the canyon. We walked about a quarter of a mile down and then came up. We probably could have walked another quarter of a mile, but that would have been the limit.
Later in the day, we walked down the most-used and most-developed trail to the canyon, the Bright Angel Trail. When I get the photos from Arianna I will post them. She took some great photos if they turned out.
Arianna, Olivia, and I hiked that trail also; May stayed up at the visitor center area.
We saw one bull elk while in the park, and a small herd of females.
We departed the park at sunset, found a very inexpensive Quality Inn (which was much nicer than the motel in Flagstaff) in Williams.
I'm typing this at 7:00 a.m. I think. I'm a little confused on the local time. My fellow travelers are sleeping in. There is no hurry to depart.
We will depart Williams some time this morning (Monday, June 29, 2015) and then drive to Kingman, AZ; Bullhead City, AZ; and then across the desert.
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Note To Be Completed Later
Confluence of the Little Colorado and the Colorado River just outside the east entrance of the park. Navajo own one mile of the land just inside the park where the confluence is. It is anticipated by 2025, the Indians will have a casino on the mesa above the confluence; a runway large enough to handle 747 aircraft, and an “escalator” from the casino on top of the mesa to the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon. The EPA is shutting down the coal plant that provides the only real income to the Navajos. The casino will be their way of generating income once the coal plant is shut down. The Indians own one mile of the canyon inside the park. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long (or something like that); the white man currently has access to 25 miles of the canyon.
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