While ROVER is perfectly capable of towing THE POD from 3400' up to 7400' he would much prefer to do it over a short steep distance than a long constant uphill battle. Such was the case today!
About 50-miles into our route today we had slowly gained an elevation change of nearly 3500' as we approached Flagstaff, AZ. ROVER was not happy and let's just say he was getting a little hot under the hood. Both the engine and transmission temperatures were way above normal. I started to consider pulling over and giving ROVER a rest, but then we hit a 10-mile stretch where there was a gradual downhill and he recovered quickly.
Towards the end of our route, as we entered Grand Canyon National Park, we gained another 1500' of elevation, but this time over a much shorter distance and there were no problems at all with ROVER keeping his cool.
I'm considering adding an auxillary radiator in front of ROVER's current one, but I'm not sure I could fit anything big enough that would help out the situation. We'll have to wait and see if this becomes a issue when we cross up, over and through the Rocky Mountains not once, but twice later this year.
If you are driving your own vehicle you can enter the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park either from the south or the east. Since our campground is just inside the east entrance of the park, we entered from the east today.
Once you turn off of US89 onto AZ64 you'll be traveling another 27-miles before you reach the National Park boundary. Along this stretch you'll occasionally catch glimpses of the Little Colorado River Canyon.
That's where we'll be staying for the next 7-days (the max allowed) during our 2025 visit to the Grand Canyon. Our campsite is at an elevation of 7471' and within walking distance of a splendid view of the Grand Canyon.
The entire top opens up because it is a promotional popcorn bucket from The Accountant 2
movie released last month. It was exclusively available at AMC Theaters for a short time.
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no·mad·i·ver·sa·ry
/ˌnō-ˌmadˈəˈvərs(ə)rē/ noun |
That's right, today is our 7th nomadiversary! We've been traveling for 7-years as of today and haven't yet found any reason to stop. |
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Those are "our" Big Red Numbers!
All you Airstreamers out there know what I'm talking about.
All members of the Airstream Club International get to pick their own personalized membership number and we chose 18512.
Let me word it another way, 2018 MAY 12th. It's the date we left Broward County, FL with everything we own to begin our new fulltime traveling lifestyle exactly 7-years ago today!.
With that big beautiful Grand Canyon just steps away, that's not going to be something easy to do, but I think we'll manage just fine, we've seen it before!
ANSWER: They are respectively, Alaska and Hawaii.
Without using Google, who knows which is the 48th state admitted to the United States? Not so easy, huh?
Another good reason to take the day off from exploring is because all day long we've been having wind gusts up to 25MPH. It doesn't make for a comfortable feeling to be standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon and taking photos.
The road that runs along the south rim of Grand Canyon National Park is roughly 30-miles long. Our campsite is less than 1-mile inside of the East Entrance Gate. You have to travel 22-miles west of here to reach the Visitor Center where the Shuttle Bus Depot is and all the other amenities like bike rentals, snack shops and Information Services are all located.
You'll have to travel another 1.5-miles west to what is called Camper Services, located outside of the Mather Campground where we stayed the last time we were here two years ago.
Camper Services includes the only dump station in the park, plus the laundromat and showers.
We're looking to take care of our laundry chore this morning. It's the perfect time to do so because once again it's going to be a cold and blustery day, with high temperatures around 60°F and a wind advisory of 30MPH gusts throughout most of the afternoon.
The temperature is forecast to drop below freezing tonight and tomorrow night, but the winds disappear tomorrow and the last 4-days of our visit is going to see a warming trend each day.
Looks like it'll be Wednesday afternoon before we'll get out to see the Grand Canyon again!
So let's get out there, now that our chores are all done, and see if the Grand Canyon has changed much since our last visit over two years ago.
DAY 1
OF
GRAND CANYON SIGHTSEEING
(SOUTH RIM)
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This watchtower was constructed in 1932 and is recognized as a National Historic Landmark.
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We arrived early enough to not have to stand in line to experience the top of the tower.Only 25 people at a time are allowed to climb the 70' to the top of the tower.
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Probably the best view of the Colorado River is seen from the top of the Watchtower.
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Looking westward down the edge of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
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Looking down from the fourth (top) floor you can see the Observation Deck on the 2nd floor.
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The views from the top are just amazing.
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All along the walls and ceilings are depictions of local native art.
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There are 11 separate tribes that call the Grand Canyon home.
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There is no time limit on how long you can remain in the tower, there is much to take in.
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All right, let's head back down and let someone else come up and enjoy the views.
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Inside of the round room on the bottom is where you'll find the gift shop.
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The views from ground level at Desert View Point aren't too shabby either.
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From our next stop at Navajo Point you can still see the Watchtower a mile away.
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The Colorado River is nearly 300' wide at this point.
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Here the clouds are playing tricks by casting shadows on the canyon walls.
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This zoomed in shot makes the tower look closer than it really is.
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Just another mile down the road at Lipon Point the views haven't changed much.
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The closest canyon wall to us was completely in the shadow of a large cloud.
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Watch as it comes back into the sunlight.
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Just a few seconds later the canyon wall looks entirely different in the sunshine.
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Just think, that river, along with a little help from the wind, carved out this canyon.
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No more captions, just enjoy the photos!
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A few rapids that make rafting trips down the Colorado River so much fun and dangerous.
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Juniper trees typically live from 350 to 700 years old.
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They are very hardy and can survive the harsh winter conditions on the canyon rim.
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Plus, they are interesting to look at with their twisted limbs and fibrous bark.
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I just can't get enough of these juniper trees, they're everywhere.
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These last few photos were all taken from roadside pullouts along Desert View Drive.
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This rock formation is called "Duck on a Rock". Use your imagination, can you see it?Maybe flipping back and forth between this photo and the next one will help!
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Did that help?
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Look how grey the canyon seems when the clouds cover all the sunlight.
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This elk stopped in the middle of the road, like he was daring the motorcycle to hit him.
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Although he fled quickly when this little tour bus driver approached him.
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But the ordeal of crossing the road didn't appear to harm their appetites.
Believe it or not we got all this sightseeing done before noon, so now it's time for lunch.
I noticed yesterday that the market/snack bar here at the Desert View Village has a Sonoran Dog on the menu. Each state has an iconic food that I'm supposed to sample before leaving and for Arizona it's a Sonoran Dog.
In the spirit of trying new things I ordered one for lunch while Tricia got a slice of pizza.
There are many variations of a Sonora Dog, but the one they offer here is pretty typical.
One of the key ingredients is of course the hot dog, here they use Nathan's All Beef Hot Dogs, my favorite. The second key ingredient is the Chili sauce and here is where they fell short of a pleasing flavor, but I don't believe chili belongs on a hot dog anyway. Everything else, diced tomatoes, diced onions, mayo, mustard, salsa verde and a fresh hogie roll is pretty standard.
I don't think I'll ever order one again in a restaurant. I would consider making one myself, using my own chili recipe, but once again I don't think you need chili on a good hot dog.
The North Rim of the Grand Canyon opened for the season on time today, that wasn't the case two years ago when it was still snowed in on May 15th.
It's good news for us, because we have a week long reservation in the campground over there starting on the May 22nd.
Tricia woke up early this morning and headed out on foot to grab some sunrise photos.
Try multiplying that noise by about 30, because that's what we had in our campsite.
At a more reasonable hour of 8:00AM we hit the highway for a second day of sightseeing here on the South Rim. We will be riding the Shuttle Bus today because some of the locations are off limits to personal vehicles.
Also please note that all of today's photos were taken along a 3-mile long stretch of the south rim trail. Many will appear to be the same scenery, only from a slightly different angle.
DAY 2
OF
GRAND CANYON SIGHTSEEING
(ORANGE SHUTTLE ROUTE ON THE SOUTH RIM)
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The modest begining of a 6.5-mile trail that takes you down 4700' to the Colorado River.
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Right from the start the South Kaibab Trail looses a lot of elevation...
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...which means every step "down" involves taking an even harder step "up" on the return.
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I think I'll stay right where I am and enjoy the view from here.
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Way off in the distance you can see the Bright Angel Trail.
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Just before the trail goes over the edge there appears to be a Port-A-Potty.
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Of course if you don't feel capable of hiking down into the canyon you can take a burro ride.Well I can't, there's a 200-pound weight limit to ride down into the canyon.
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We are slowly making our way closer to the Bright Angel Trail to get a closer look.
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This is my idea of hiking in the Grand Canyon. Flat and paved section of the South Rim Trail.
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Here you can see a section of the South Kaibab Trail going through some switchbacks.
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You can just see the Bright Angel Trail on the left of the photo.
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You can also see the Black Bridge hikers use to cross over the Colorado River.
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From the west side of Yavapai Point you can see a long section of Bright Angel Trail.
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I believe they are installing water stations and pit toilets down there.
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There is definitely construction activity going on down there.
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With Bright Angel Trail being the more popular trail the improvemnets here makes sense.
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A slightly better view of the Black Bridge.
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Somewhere over there is the North Rim Campground that we'll be visiting next week.
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A much wider angle view of the South Kaibab Trail from Mather Point.
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Mather Point is where I'd bet 75% of visitors get their "first view" of the Grand Canyon.
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I know it was our "first view" two years ago, but it was the end of March and snowing then.
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It is quite a "first view" if you ask me!
The more we thought about it, the less appealing it seemed to be, when we thought about all the people we'd have to deal with on the Shuttle Busses and at the stops along the route.
First we would have to drive 25-miles to get to the Bus Depot and then board a BLUE ROUTE bus that would take us passed all the lodging stops before we arrived at the RED ROUTE Bus that would take us the rest of the way through the park.
It just seemed like a lot of work to go see the locations we had already visited two years ago. They are not any better than all the locations we visited here in the east side of the park over the last two days.
So what did we do? Tricia pulled out her knitting project and got back to work on it, something she hasn't done since before we left for Hawaii.
I got to work on this post, with all the photos she had taken over the last two days.
Other than that, not one thing required us leaving THE POD all day.
All rested up from yesterday we awoke today with a different attitude. We found two activities that we didn't get around to doing two years ago and decided that today was the day to "git 'er dun".
First up is the Shoshone Point Trail. This is a lesser known trail here in the park. You won't find it on any map the park hands out, you won't find any road signs telling you that the parking lot for the trailhead is coming up soon, and even if you do pull off into the gravel parking area there are no signs explaining why there is a parking lot there at all.
There is room for only about a dozen cars at the traihead. There are no picnic tables or bathrooms at the trailhead either. Once out of your car it's easy to spot the locked gate blocking access to a dirt road that winds around a corner and quickly goes out of sight.
This is obviously a road because there are fresh tire tracks, maybe from a 4x4 ATV.
How did we find out about it? Well we found it on Google Maps and then found more information about the trail on the All Trails App. It's only 1-mile from the parking lot to the canyon rim and it's all at a slight incline. We both headed out on the trail and we were just short of the halfway point when I called it quits. I just didn't feel like another chance to see an awesome view was worth the effort.
While I turned back Tricia carried on and here are the photos to prove she made to the end.
SHOSHONE POINT TRAIL
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The road/trail has a slight incline along the entire route.
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It was slightly breezy again today (20+MPH) but the trees blocked most of it.
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Just over this hump in the trail the canyon comes into view.
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Just as I suspected, another beautiful view of the Grand Canyon.
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Surprisingly, at the end of the trail is a large pavillion and picnic area.
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Anyone up for a picnic with a view?
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Again, no words!
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The trail continues on just a little bit further out to the point.
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Tricia stopped here due to a 3' drop step in the trail.
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I'm not sure if that stone structure at the end is natural or manmade.
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The backpack and water bottle means there are people out of view on a lower ledge.
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Literally, what a relief to see this at the end of the trail near the picnic area.
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Nothing left to do but head back down to the parking lot.
Our second activity was to explore the Tusayan Museum and Ruins. This part of the park opens for the season on May 15th, just like the North Rim does, and was closed during our last visit in March of 2023.
We have been driving right passed the turnoff for the museum because the driveway has been blocked with barricades since we arrived. We were glad to see the barricades gone today when we headed for the trail hike and decided to visit on our return to the campground.
TUSAYAN MUSEUM AND RUINS
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What a disappointment when we read the small white sign on the museum door.MUSEUM CLOSED indefinately due to understaffing.
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The Tusayan Ruin Trail was open so we wandered around it for a little while.
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The site is described as a "ruins trail" and that seems pretty accurate.
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There were a few walls that were 3-4 rocks high.
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These small rooms were used for food storage.
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This kiva is where ceremonies were held.
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This size room would have housed an entire family.
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Tricia never misses a chance to photograph snow-capped mountains.These are the San Francisco Peaks over in Flagstaff (48-miles away).
On the right is Humphreys Peak, at 12,633' is the highest point in all of Arizona.
and I'm always looking for help writing this blog, so here it is:
Staying at Desert View Campground and experiencing this area of the canyon a bit more thoroughly than on our last visit, has me liking this part of the canyon the best. This area of the Grand Canyon is at a turn in the river, so you get both a cross view (like the more popular areas) and a long view of the canyon.
It has the truly amazing Desert View Watchtower. The canyon here is a little less deep and a little closer to the North Rim, but I think that may be why the colors and rock formations pop so much more. There seems to be a bit less grey here, plus it's a lot less busy! No park bus runs down here and not everyone drives down. We'll be checking out the North Rim next week, so maybe I'll change my mind, but right now Desert View has a hold on my heart and would be my must see at Grand Canyon National Park for anyone planning to visit.
What's your favorite part of Grand Canyon National Park?
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