Spring Break at the Canyon

Getting Started

Grand Canyon National Park

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Attraction | "Spring Break at the Canyon: An overview"

Painted Desert vista Photo - Petrified Forest National Park, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

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It’s hard for me to imagine now, but I used to think that the Grand Canyon was overrated. It didn’t trouble me that I hadn’t actually visited the Canyon; it seemed enough to know that it was an over-visited, over-hyped piece of Americana. I remember listening quietly to an Eastern European friend in 1982, nodding and smilingly condescendingly while he waxed on about the greatest highlight of his eight months in the US, fondly recalling his time in Arizona as he prepared to head back home to his family in Poland. I recall just a touch of internal defensiveness as I tried to sort out whether it was odd that he appreciated one of my country’s landmarks more than I did.I’m not sure what change...Read More

It’s hard for me to imagine now, but I used to think that the Grand Canyon was overrated. It didn’t trouble me that I hadn’t actually visited the Canyon; it seemed enough to know that it was an over-visited, over-hyped piece of Americana. I remember listening quietly to an Eastern European friend in 1982, nodding and smilingly condescendingly while he waxed on about the greatest highlight of his eight months in the US, fondly recalling his time in Arizona as he prepared to head back home to his family in Poland. I recall just a touch of internal defensiveness as I tried to sort out whether it was odd that he appreciated one of my country’s landmarks more than I did.

I’m not sure what changed my mind. A few things certainly contributed: my brother hiked the Canyon rim-to-river and rim to-rim with glowing reports about both experiences; I became reacquainted with Yellowstone and Glacier and obsessed with visiting the National Parks. Some time later, the Canyon looked like the largest, glaring omission on my must-see list and not at all like a place I should be proud to have avoided.

I made it to the North Rim first, as part of a swing through northern Arizona and southern Utah. My kids were too intimidated to venture below the rim, fearing that every step might lead to disaster (although they left with a different attitude, ready for mule rides or hiking or anything else that would take them into the Canyon). When a colleague offered me the chance to help coordinate a spring break trip to the South Rim, I jumped at the chance. Having done it once, the 1200-mile drive seems more than doable, even when it results in equal parts time at the Canyon and time on the road.

This journal describes that six-day adventure, which began in southwest Missouri as an ice storm rolled in, resulting in a nerve-wracking ride from Tulsa to Oklahoma’s western border. I-44 follows the same general route as the now decommissioned Route 66, but the weather left us no chance to explore any of the towns and landmarks along the way. After an 8 am start, we arrived in Albuquerque at midnight local time, having taken a tip for a good Mexican restaurant in Amarillo, and enjoying the sunset as we covered the west Texas plains.

On our second day of travel, we briefly explored the northern reaches of Petrified Forest National Park, saving the region south of I-44 for the return trip, and hiked around the lower reaches of Sunset Crater Volcano. The remaining drive brought us in to Grand Canyon NP from the east, reaching Desert View just in time for sunset. Our three days at the rim gave us time for a three-mile warm-up hike along the South Kaibab Trail, and the following day’s journey along the Bright Angel Trail to Plateau Point.

In between, I enjoyed two sunrises at Mather Point, breakfasted twice at El Tovar (highly recommended), and enjoyed a hard-earned pie and beer at We Cook Pizza and Pasta after our ascent from Plateau Point. As we headed home on Thursday morning, my principal thought was that this would be a great way to spend spring bring every year. (Of course, that was before we hit white-out conditions somewhere west of Amarillo.)
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Member Rating 5 out of 5 on December 9, 2010

Grand Canyon National Park
P.o. Box 129
Grand Canyon, Arizona 86023
(928) 638-7888

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On the Way

Best Western Rio Grande Inn

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Hotel | "Character and Charm"

Best Western Rio Grande, Albuquerque Photo - Best Western Rio Grande Inn, Albuquerque, New Mexico

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Given the hours we lost to snow in Oklahoma, we didn’t spend much time at this hotel. That’s too bad, because it’s hardly a typical chain hotel: the furnishings and general design show a great deal of local character. It’s conveniently located just south of exit 159 on I-40, which gives a separation from Old Town Albuquerque that’s larger psychologically than it is physically. We arrived at the hotel at 11:15, after 16 hours of travel from Missouri, and then faced another 30-minute delay while we wrestled with the credit card fraud department by phone before getting our out-of-town purchases approved. The gracious hotel clerk was patient with us while we convinced Bank of America that we w...Read More

Given the hours we lost to snow in Oklahoma, we didn’t spend much time at this hotel. That’s too bad, because it’s hardly a typical chain hotel: the furnishings and general design show a great deal of local character. It’s conveniently located just south of exit 159 on I-40, which gives a separation from Old Town Albuquerque that’s larger psychologically than it is physically.

We arrived at the hotel at 11:15, after 16 hours of travel from Missouri, and then faced another 30-minute delay while we wrestled with the credit card fraud department by phone before getting our out-of-town purchases approved. The gracious hotel clerk was patient with us while we convinced Bank of America that we were legit, although his sympathetic comment about having all our freedoms taken away fell on deaf ears.

Nine hours later, we were back on the road. In between, I enjoyed the extensive use of wood in my standard but spacious two-queen room: it formed the headboards and the desk, framed the mirror, and constituted the wardrobe/TV stand. It even lined the walls of the elevator. Other nice touches included the hand-hammered and painted brass signs in the hall, and the southwestern fabrics on the furniture in the rooms and the lobby.

My room had a bathroom right inside the door, with the sink on a triangular counter in the corner. That served me just fine, but might have been a touch tight if I’d been traveling with family. The room was quiet and the beds were comfy, and I reluctantly left at 6:30 a.m. to start a pot of coffee and then squeeze in a few miles in the exercise room before breakfast and packing up. The small exercise facility had a treadmill, an elliptical and a small set of weights (and, thankfully, no competition for the treadmill).

I quickly breakfasted in the restaurant just off the lobby. Unfortunately, there was no free breakfast, and all of us found the menu little overpriced: my yogurt parfait and muffin was $7.50, and a glass of OJ ran $3, thus unexpectedly taxing student food budgets at the start of our trip.

But that’s largely niggling. If we’d known better, we would have made different breakfast plans. At $88, I thought our rooms were a bargain at a central, very comfortable hotel. Whether coming back to Albuquerque for business (we shared the place with a large academic conference contingent) or pleasure, I’d look here first. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 27, 2010

Best Western Rio Grande Inn
1015 RIO GRANDE BLVD NW
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87104
505-843-9500

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Petrified Forest National Park

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Attraction | "Desert and Forest"

Petrified Tree Photo - Petrified Forest National Park, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

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Petrified Forest is really two parks in one, which explains why it’s one of only two National Parks to be bisected by an interstate (nearly urban Cuyahoga Valley NP is the other). We took the exit ramp at noon on a beautiful Sunday afternoon for a look at the Painted Desert, the colorful badlands that stretch from east of the Grand Canyon and end here, northeast of Holbrook, AZ. The Desert is the attraction at the northern end of the park, which is only accessed via Exit 311 on I-40. This takes you first to the Painted Desert Visitor Center, an unusual arrangement that allows you to stop and shop without paying to enter the park. Going any further into the park requires you to pass the ent...Read More

Petrified Forest is really two parks in one, which explains why it’s one of only two National Parks to be bisected by an interstate (nearly urban Cuyahoga Valley NP is the other). We took the exit ramp at noon on a beautiful Sunday afternoon for a look at the Painted Desert, the colorful badlands that stretch from east of the Grand Canyon and end here, northeast of Holbrook, AZ.

The Desert is the attraction at the northern end of the park, which is only accessed via Exit 311 on I-40. This takes you first to the Painted Desert Visitor Center, an unusual arrangement that allows you to stop and shop without paying to enter the park. Going any further into the park requires you to pass the entrance station, and after paying our fees we headed another half mile to the first scenic turnout at Tiponi Point.

From here, you look north out over the colorful desert badlands. The Painted Desert is actually part of the Chinle formation, which stretches from Nevada to Oklahoma, and in this region is both ancient layered seabed and former pine forest. The color is due to the presence of iron and manganese in the silica, which produces shades that range from interesting to spectacular. Even though we were there for the direct light of noon, the worst time of day, it was still an amazing sight. The size and structure of the small buttes and hills were nearly identical to the smaller features in South Dakota’s Badlands, but where those rocks were uniformly light in color, these shared a common set of bands of reds, pinks, greys, and even an occasional blue, all topped off by a white layer that often looked a like a scoop of ice cream atop some surrealistic cone.

The park road curves gradually circles back to the south, and passes under the freeway about a mile and a half west of Exit 311. However, there’s no access to I-40, and the road continues south for another 30 miles before it reaches the park’s southern edge at US-180, 20 miles southeast of Holbrook. The section north of the interstate is about six miles long, and features six other overlooks into the desert, as well as the Painted Desert Inn. This landmark was one of many western facilities undermined by the death of Route 66, but is now open as a museum following a near-death experience and a recent renovation.

On our way west, we got as far as Tawa Point, the second scenic turnout, before deciding to save our sightseeing time for Sunset Crater and sunset at the Grand Canyon. We only pulled away having promised to make the most of our week-long park admission by stopping on our way home, this time beginning at the south entrance to view the Petrified Forest, and then completing the trip back to I-40 along the entirety of the park road.

US-180 separates from I-40 just west of Holbrook, and the ominous sign at the other edge of town announces that the highway is neither patrolled nor plowed in poor weather. In addition to that cheery bit of news, this route to the park also gives you the Route 66 experience you miss by getting off the interstate in the midst of the park. Rock shops, tourist traps, drive-ins—some closed, some still open—get a little more frequent as you approach the turn north into Petrified Forest. Tacky? Quaint? Americana? I found myself scanning the horizon for any and all signs of the establishments that lined the way west for decades, many of which are crumbling back into the desert. We didn’t stop at any of these along US 180, but it was definitely a more interesting road than I-40.

With the prospect of 12 more hours of driving between us and Amarillo, our time in the park was brief. We bypassed the Rainbow Forest Museum just inside the boundary, along with several of the easily accessible trails. The ranger had recommended the Crystal Forest and the Long Logs sites as the best places to see the stone trees. We headed directly to the former, where a short trail winds through one of the many areas where these stone trunks lie in sections on the ground, looking like dark brown versions of the columns from Greek or Roman temples. Up close, you notice that the faces are tremendously beautiful, and become fantastic when polished, looking like the view in some exceptional kaleidoscope.

They’re really not trees at all, but stone casts of trees: after falling over in a mineral-rich sea, the water that infiltrated each plant cell brought with it silica that later turned to quartz. Over time, the organic material decayed, leaving behind the quartz in a perfect cast of the plant that originally absorbed those waters. Vandals and thieves have removed some of the park’s best specimens: if you’re wondering why you see no crystals in the Crystal Forest, that’s why. (How much disappears annually? Perhaps as much as 12 tons.)

The Painted Desert isn’t quite as obvious here in the southern section of the park, with the exception of a few stretches. Five miles north of Crystal Forest, the Chinle formation crosses the road, which weaves among the very aptly named Teepees, triangular cones eroded out of the buttes that are colorful enough to look like bomb pops in stone. The park road winds 28 miles north, crossing the railroad, ducking under the interstate, and then looping back around to the highway. This is where the Fred Harvey store can be found, as well as a smaller visitor center with a good bookstore, and a snack shop.

If you’re thinking of coming here as part of your Grand Canyon trip, I’d suggest doing it first. Our second experience at Petrified Forest suffered from grandeur fatigue: the Painted Desert looked a lot more impressive before we’d spent three days atop and inside the Canyon. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on April 1, 2010

Petrified Forest National Park

Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona 86028
(928) 524-6228

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Sunset Crater Volcano Monument

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Attraction | "Arizona's dark (rock) side"

Sunset Crater Volcano Photo - Sunset Crater Volcano Monument, Flagstaff, Arizona

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San Francisco Peak is the highest of these volcanic mountains, and about it are grouped in an irregular way many volcanic cones, one of which presents some remarkable characteristics. A portion of the cone is of bright reddish cinders, while the adjacent rocks are of black basalt. The contrast in the colors is so great that on viewing the mountain from a distance the red cinders seem to be on fire. From this circumstance the cone has been named Sunset Peak. When distant from it ten or twenty miles it is hard to believe that the effect is produced by contrasting colors, for the peak seems to glow with a light of its own. John Wesley Powell, The Exploration of the Colorado and Its Canyons, 1875...Read More

San Francisco Peak is the highest of these volcanic mountains, and about it are grouped in an irregular way many volcanic cones, one of which presents some remarkable characteristics. A portion of the cone is of bright reddish cinders, while the adjacent rocks are of black basalt. The contrast in the colors is so great that on viewing the mountain from a distance the red cinders seem to be on fire. From this circumstance the cone has been named Sunset Peak. When distant from it ten or twenty miles it is hard to believe that the effect is produced by contrasting colors, for the peak seems to glow with a light of its own. John Wesley Powell, The Exploration of the Colorado and Its Canyons, 1875

Arizona is home to three national parks, and is also chockablock with national monuments and historic sites. I didn’t realize that 1,800 sq mi of north central Arizona is also covered with volcanic sites, so that nearly every protrusion above the surface between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon is a volcano or volcanic vent. On our final approach to the Grand Canyon, we had time to stop and visit a few sites, and immediately added the Painted Desert on our itinerary, as viewed from the north end of Petrified Forest NP. With time for one more experience before the Canyon, we chose the dramatic geology of Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, which had a lot of appeal for the geology fans in our bunch (of which there were several, including me).

Most people think of Powell’s account of his famous 1869 exploration of the Colorado as an adventure tale, taking the crew from their confident put-in on the Green River to the skin-of-their-teeth exit from the Canyon four months later. But before that tale even begins, there’s a 100-page introduction to the southwest, a region that for Powell extends as far north as the geyser basin of Yellowstone. The first of his trips was largely concerned with surviving, but the second had time for a more leisurely expedition of the region, and he noted the area’s profusion of cinder cones. Sunset Crater particularly caught his eye, as it would anyone who was moving through the region with a minimum of time to look around.

The site is west of US 89 on the way north to Cameron, a route to the Canyon that gave us a chance of seeing both Sunset Crater and the ruins at Wupatki, would avoid going through Flagstaff, and (if timed right) would bring us to the Grand Canyon’s rim right at sunset, which we would watch from Desert View just inside the park. The turn off for Sunset Crater is just 12 miles north of I-40, a stretch that gradually climbs to an elevation of about 8,000 feet (easily noted by the signs marking every 500 foot gain). The surroundings correspondingly change from the desert that surrounds I-40 to a more forested, alpine environment, and by the time you’re reach the monument you’re in the middle of large stands of fir trees that are a surprising contrast to the earlier part of your day. Due to that cover, you could easily fail to catch a glimpse of the nearly perfect triangular jet-black cone of Sunset as it pops in and out of the trees as you wind your way back.

That’s not true once you’re in the park, which begins with the visitor center about two miles east of US 89. It’s a small center, with exhibits on volcanism and geology, and we skipped time here to continue into the heart of the monument and a quick hike. It’s no longer possible to hike to the top of the crater, as those trails were closed in 1973 due to the serious erosion that was occurring. A major lava flow is visible to the north of the highway that heads east and skirts the north side of the crater, and the aptly named Lava Flow Trail is a one-mile, self-guided introduction to the area. We opted instead for the Lenox Crater Trail, which packs a lot of altitude change in to its half-mile climb to the top of a cinder cone. The trail heads right up through the forest, and had several of us slowing for a breath along the way, as our lungs realized that we weren’t at sea level any more. At the top, there was a great view to the south over most of the rest of the volcanic field, with the San Francisco Peaks visible. It’s a significant climb that’s billed at 30 minutes. We did it in about 20, but it’s easy to rest along the way if you need to take longer.

I was tempted to head further down the road past the crater, and on to the Loop Road that heads north and then back west to Wupatki NM. By the time we left the Visitor Center, however, it was clear that there we’d be choosing between that tour and sunset at the Grand Canyon, and that choice was easy to make. So, revived by a little bit of exercise, we headed back to the vans for the last 90 minutes of our 1,400 mile drive.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on December 13, 2010

Sunset Crater Volcano Monument
Route 3
Flagstaff, Arizona 86004
(928) 526-0502

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At the Canyon

Desert View and Watchtower

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Attraction | "Canyon's Edge: Desert View"

Desert View from Parking Lot Photo - Desert View and Watchtower, Grand Canyon, Arizona

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There are only three main routes to the Grand Canyon: one to the North Rim, and two to the South. US 180/AZ 64 heads directly north to Grand Canyon Village, the large developed area at the east end of the directly accessible portion of the South Rim. The more interesting route leaves the east side of Flagstaff on US 89, climbing through the volcanic region that includes Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. As Stephen Pyne observes in How the Canyon Became Grand, despite its phenomenal size (200 miles long and over a mile deep), the Canyon takes you by surprise: a significant mountain range, or the Grand Staircase of cliffs just north of the Canyon, announce their presence over hundre...Read More

There are only three main routes to the Grand Canyon: one to the North Rim, and two to the South. US 180/AZ 64 heads directly north to Grand Canyon Village, the large developed area at the east end of the directly accessible portion of the South Rim. The more interesting route leaves the east side of Flagstaff on US 89, climbing through the volcanic region that includes Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. As Stephen Pyne observes in How the Canyon Became Grand, despite its phenomenal size (200 miles long and over a mile deep), the Canyon takes you by surprise: a significant mountain range, or the Grand Staircase of cliffs just north of the Canyon, announce their presence over hundreds of miles. But the Canyon is invisible until you’re just yards away.

So there are no visual clues that you’re approaching one of the Earth’s most amazing places, and the trip must provide its own pleasures. Leaving Flagstaff, we left suburbia for ranching country and then Indian country, quickly gaining altitude as we passed through a region littered with cinder cones. We were racing to make it into the park before sunset, heading west along AZ 64 just before the town of Cameron. I knew we wouldn’t be alone at the Canyon, even in mid-March, but this was a wonderfully solitary drive. The highway eventually parallels the Little Colorado, and the region surrounding the river is a Navajo Tribal Park. Two scenic turnouts take you north to the edge of this very vertical gorge. We didn’t stop, to ensure that we made as much of sunset as possible, but viewed a few miles of the Gorge before the Little Colorado turns north to its eventual junction with its older, larger brother.

AZ 64 then turns northwest, cutting across the high desert plateau to eventually meet the South Rim at Desert View. We crossed the park boundary just after 5 pm and reached the parking lot about 10 miles later, without a hint of the canyon ahead. It’s an odd transition from desert plateau to blacktop parking lot, which (even though largely empty) led to 10 minutes of walking from car to rim.

Desert View is the last western promontory in the Canyon, and despite its relatively large distance from the River, provides a spectacular look at the entire geography of Canyon and close neighbors. Desert View Point is a small equilateral triangle of land about 50 yards on a side, and due north the Colorado can be seen coming from the northeast. To the east is Cedar Mountain, an imposing plateau whose top is a half-mile across. Even in March, with spring some distance away, its green sides were a strong contrast with the canyon’s nearly barren slopes and walls, whose deeper recesses were still lined with snowdrifts. The Painted Desert is also visible to the east. The Point provides a 240-degree panorama encompassing the canyon and the geology beyond.

Desert View was originally a small outpost, a day trip into the wilderness from the original South Rim headquarters at Grand Canyon Village. The Fred Harvey Company, the Canyon’s original concessionaire, developed Desert View as place to reward those brave enough to make the round-trip of 60 miles over undeveloped roads. Company architect Mary Colter worked her magic here, too, designing and building the Watchtower, the Canyon’s most unique structure, which sits at the western edge of Desert View Point. Influenced (like all her Canyon structures) by the surroundings and the heritage of the Canyon’s original residents, it echoes the towers and habitats found throughout the southwest. The tower’s first floor (housing the book and gift stores) reproduces a native kiva, and the wood and stone interior is decorated throughout by native artists hired by Colter to create a number of impressive murals. This building was completed in 1932, and meshes wonderfully with the natural and cultural landscape. To promote this integration, Colter deliberately added a ‘ruin’ alongside the watchtower, which was under extensive renovation during our visit. She also deliberately built cracks and flaws into the stone exterior (which is layered over a completely hidden set of steel ribs).

The views out the windows are spectacular, and the stone frame they give to views of the Canyon enhance it further. The top of the tower is the highest point on the South Rim, and the additional elevation improves the view of the Colorado and Marble Canyon, and looks south to the San Francisco Peaks, which dominated the landscape for early explorers.

The rest of this site was closed by the time we arrived, and we were lucky to grab a few minutes in the bookstore before it closed at 6 pm. There’s also a snack bar and trading post, as well a 50-site campground (which would be perfect for those who don’t require access to every service and prefer fewer people). There are few developed trails in this area, and apparently nothing appropriate for novices or day hikers. Adventurous souls can follow the rapidly deteriorating rim to the east for a bit on the 4WD Cedar Mountain Trail, which I’d be tempted to try on a future visit.

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Member Rating 5 out of 5 on November 5, 2010

Desert View and Watchtower
South Rim
Grand Canyon, Arizona

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Red Feather Lodge

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Hotel | "Comfortable, Affordable, Close to Canyon"

Old School Sign Photo - Red Feather Lodge, Grand Canyon, Arizona

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I usually lean towards staying inside a national park, provided the rates aren’t too high and the lodging isn’t too modern. But someone else was making all the reservations on this trip, and in March, we wouldn’t be paying a premium to stay anywhere, so it was a given that we’d end up in Tusayan, the small community just south of the park.I was surprised to admit that I’m glad we did. This strip of hotels, restaurants and stores isn’t that large, probably because there are so many rooms inside the park (600 at Yavapai and Maswik Lodges alone). There are several motels here, but I’d be happy to return to Red Feather Lodge, where we spent three very comfortable nights.It’s a fair...Read More

I usually lean towards staying inside a national park, provided the rates aren’t too high and the lodging isn’t too modern. But someone else was making all the reservations on this trip, and in March, we wouldn’t be paying a premium to stay anywhere, so it was a given that we’d end up in Tusayan, the small community just south of the park.

I was surprised to admit that I’m glad we did. This strip of hotels, restaurants and stores isn’t that large, probably because there are so many rooms inside the park (600 at Yavapai and Maswik Lodges alone). There are several motels here, but I’d be happy to return to Red Feather Lodge, where we spent three very comfortable nights.

It’s a fairly standard motel of 200 rooms divided between two units that were built at different times. Our rooms were in the original wing, which seemed to date from the 1960’s (the motel still features the original neon sign out front). It’s been through several incarnations (most recently as a Rodeway Inn), but the current ownership appears to be independent of any of the chains.

Although standard, the rooms were very comfortable. My double queen was in great shape, and it was clear that the property was recently renovated. Each room number sign featured an individual photo from Grand Canyon history, which made walking the halls far more interesting than usual. I was surprised to find that the bathroom amenities were from Bath & Body Works. Free wi-fi was available throughout the motel, and the in-room single-cup coffeemakers were supplemented by a big coffee machine in the lobby and a bowl of complimentary apples (a great addition to your backpack each morning). The staff was exceptionally friendly, and I felt that we were getting a great bargain at $98/night. Eating options in Tusayan aren’t extensive: the Café Tusayan is connected to the restaurant, but cheaper breakfast options are available across the highway at McDonald's (don’t expect the prices to match those back home: the sausage mcmuffins here run $2.99). Canyon Star and its bar & restaurant is also a short walk across Highway 64, and my co-leader and I trekked there each night for a good, cold 22-oz beer and a chance to map out the next day’s itinerary.

Unless I unexpectedly learn something new about the park lodging (or come into enough money to splurge at El Tovar), I’ll look here first on my next trip to the South Rim. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on April 1, 2010

Red Feather Lodge
300 State Route 64
Grand Canyon, Arizona 86023
(928) 638-2414

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El Tovar Dining Room

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Restaurant | "Breakfast splurge at El Tovar"

El Tovar Dining Room Photo - El Tovar Dining Room, Grand Canyon, Arizona

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One of the travel tips I’ve picked up over the years is to enjoy a crowded or expensive place by visiting off hours: have lunch instead of dinner, or have a drink in the bar instead of a meal. Combine that with my favorite tactic of getting out the door and on the trail for sunrise, and the result was breakfast at El Tovar.This 100-year old hotel remains the Canyon's most prestigious address. Built in 1905 by the railroad, it sits in the middle of the cluster of original structures: the Kolb Brothers’ Studio, Verkamp’s Store, and Bright Angel Lodge. It’s hard to classify the building, which looks like a Bavarian-style precursor to the now-traditional National Park architecture of timber an...Read More

One of the travel tips I’ve picked up over the years is to enjoy a crowded or expensive place by visiting off hours: have lunch instead of dinner, or have a drink in the bar instead of a meal. Combine that with my favorite tactic of getting out the door and on the trail for sunrise, and the result was breakfast at El Tovar.

This 100-year old hotel remains the Canyon's most prestigious address. Built in 1905 by the railroad, it sits in the middle of the cluster of original structures: the Kolb Brothers’ Studio, Verkamp’s Store, and Bright Angel Lodge. It’s hard to classify the building, which looks like a Bavarian-style precursor to the now-traditional National Park architecture of timber and stone.

The entrance is from the east. The lobby is flanked by gift shops on either side, and a ends with stone fireplace set at an angle on your right and surrounded by deep craftsman-style chairs that are difficult to leave. Across the lobby is a private dining room, rumored to have built to accommodate the ill-mannered Teddy Roosevelt, who had a nasty habit of sitting down to dinner still dressed in his riding duds.

The guest rooms are off to the left and right, and the dining room for the more genteel is straight ahead, a long rectangle running north/south so that the number of seats with a view of the Canyon is rather limited (a shame, given the hotel’s rim-side location). The room has impressive arts and crafts style brass chandeliers, large murals illustrating Hopi and Navajo culture, and dark wood paneling that augments the timbered rafters. If you weren’t continually recalling that you’re dining at the Canyon, you might enjoy the room more: a stone fireplace at the north end (although attractive) takes up one-third of the window space. I kept thinking back to the dining room at Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim, which celebrates its spectacular setting by orienting the room along the rim and then placing picture windows floor to ceiling along the south and west sides.

There’s plenty of tables for two, four or six, so that most of the seating is here. But your job is to ask for a table in the adjoining Canyon Room (or, in my case, to simply luck into one). This small addition to the northwest end of the dining room holds 12-16 tables distributed over three tiers, giving every guest a view of the Canyon in this more intimate setting. Having spent a hour between parking, hoping desperately for some semblance of a sunrise, and returning to my car largely empty handed, I immediately ordered the organic coffee and sat back to examine the menu. Any irritation I felt at the $3 charge for coffee immediately dissipated after the first sip and my first look at the full carafe deposited at my table. The bill, tip included, was a modest $17, not a bad price for a splurge.

The food was fabulous. It was difficult to choose from the strongly southwestern list of Chef’s Specialties: Sonoran-style eggs with chicken & chorizo, a breakfast quesadilla, blackened trout with eggs and potatoes finally lost out to the signature breakfast burrito, which was large enough to feed two. The menu also features a number of unique omelets and plenty of options from the grill. I dawdled over my food, repeatedly scrolling through my pictures of the sunrise, and enjoying the multi-generational family that gradually arrived for their breakfast date. (Not surprisingly, the grandchildren and grandparents easily beat the parents to the table.)

As a finale to our three-day expedition, I returned two mornings later with the whole crew, following a much sunnier sunrise at Mather Point. Our party of 12 was seated (by necessity) in the Dining Room, split between two tables. They all enjoyed the morning as much I did on my first visit, with the conversation and reflection on our experience proving a worth substitute for a view of the Canyon we’d spent the last three days exploring.
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Member Rating 5 out of 5 on October 29, 2010

El Tovar Dining Room
El Tovar Lodge
Grand Canyon, Arizona 86023
(928) 638-2631

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On the Trail

South Kaibab Trail

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Attraction | "South Kaibab Trail to Cedar Ridge"

Cedar Ridge, South Kaibab Trail Photo - South Kaibab Trail, Grand Canyon, Arizona

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This was my first hike in the canyon, and before I returned to the rim, I was glad that it wouldn’t be my last. The short trip down South Kaibab, one of the south rim’s two major trails, was a warm up for a 12-mile round-trip down the Bright Angel Trail to Plateau Point. In order to avoid retracing our steps on that long hike, we started with the South Kaibab Trail, which (like Bright Angel) is broad enough and maintained enough for a group of 12 largely novice canyon hikers. In preparing for this trip, I’d entertained the idea of heading to Ooh Aah Point and back, just less than a mile down the trail. I was confident everyone would be able to handle that: no one would be aerobically overwhelmed, we’d...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on April 14, 2010

South Kaibab Trail
E. Rim Drive
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona 86023

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Bright Angel Trail

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Attraction | "Nearly the River: Bright Angel Trail to Plateau Point"

Trailhead, Bright Angel Photo - Bright Angel Trail, Grand Canyon, Arizona

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For this trip, I was anxious to find as deep a dayhike into the Canyon as our group could handle. Plateau Point brings you as close as you can come to the river without violating the repeated admonition never to attempt hiking to the river and back in a day. It’s a fabulous spot, 1200 feet above the Colorado as it passes through Granite Gorge, the chute of rapids that Powell and other explorers dreaded the most on their navigations of the canyon. My appreciation for the fantastic view was heightened by the 6.5-mile hike, which gives you every experience in the canyon except that final descent to the river. On the other hand, my enjoyment was cut short by the need to get back up top before the early su...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on December 10, 2010

Bright Angel Trail
Begins near the main Visitor Center complex
Grand Canyon, Arizona 86023
(928) 638-7888

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Heading Home

Comfort Inn And Suites Amarillo

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Hotel | "Bargain Stop on Homeward Journey"

Comfort Inn & Suites, Amarillo Photo - Comfort Inn And Suites Amarillo, Amarillo, Texas

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This was the travel hotel on the homeward part of our journey, and (just as on the way out) weather kept us from spending much time here. Heavy snow started somewhere near the Texas border, and by the time we finally crept off I-40 on the west side of Amarillo it was after midnight. It took me until the morning to notice, but the lobby is actually a faux Spanish courtyard, with a wrought iron balcony and painted doors and decorations overhead. Directly off the lobby was the small breakfast area, which needed a few more tables. The offerings had improved since my last visit to a Comfort Suites, and now included make-your-own waffles, fresh fruit, sausage patties, and eggs, plus small danish...Read More

This was the travel hotel on the homeward part of our journey, and (just as on the way out) weather kept us from spending much time here. Heavy snow started somewhere near the Texas border, and by the time we finally crept off I-40 on the west side of Amarillo it was after midnight. It took me until the morning to notice, but the lobby is actually a faux Spanish courtyard, with a wrought iron balcony and painted doors and decorations overhead.

Directly off the lobby was the small breakfast area, which needed a few more tables. The offerings had improved since my last visit to a Comfort Suites, and now included make-your-own waffles, fresh fruit, sausage patties, and eggs, plus small danishes and bagels, breads, oatmeal, and juices. The overworked breakfast lady had difficulty keeping the single thermos of coffee full (the most critical task at the morning buffet), but eventually caught up without leaving me caffeine free for too long.

I wasn’t sure what made my room a ‘suite’, but it was comfortable. It seemed just a touch deeper than the other two queen-bed rooms I’d had on this trip, with a typical TV/dresser combo, four small pillows on each bed, a coffee maker, and a fridge/microwave combo. The sink was in the room, with the shower and toilet in the separate bath. At the other end sat a small, awkward desk and chair, across from a lonely black leatherette chair that looked like it used to be part of a larger set. These items occupied the extra depth of the room.

My students all thought it was the nicest of the three places on this trip, although I thought they were all quite comparable. I slept really, really well here, in part due to the last three hours of white-knuckled driving, and in part due to the bed (and its four smaller sized pillows) and the quiet room. I knew it was quiet when the sounds of students settling in next door were very muffled.

The hotel is on the very western edge of Amarillo, which was clearly just open Texas plain not long ago. There’s now development on both sides of I-40, with a few other hotels at this exit, and the majority of the restaurants and shopping across the road on the south side. At $69 a night, it’s hard to believe that any of the other options were a better value. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 27, 2010

Comfort Inn And Suites Amarillo
2300 Soncy Road
Amarillo, Texas 79121
806-457-9100

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Canyon Reading

Grand Canyon National Park

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Attraction | "Canyon Readings: The First Expeditions"

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In 1869, the Colorado River was truly the stuff of legends: it originated at the junction of the Grand and Green Rivers in northern Utah, and shortly thereafter disappeared from the map, emerging in the Gulf of Mexico 1,500 miles away. Spaniards had gaped at its extent, US Naval vessels had sailed some few miles upstream from the Gulf; missionaries and explorers had (with difficulty) crossed it, and no one knew what challenges it held as it carved its way deeper into the west’s sandstone and granite. John Wesley Powell, a self-taught scientist from Illinois, conceived the idea of the first ‘scientific’ exploration of the river and its surrounding topography, and cobbled together a crew of nine in 1869...Read More

In 1869, the Colorado River was truly the stuff of legends: it originated at the junction of the Grand and Green Rivers in northern Utah, and shortly thereafter disappeared from the map, emerging in the Gulf of Mexico 1,500 miles away. Spaniards had gaped at its extent, US Naval vessels had sailed some few miles upstream from the Gulf; missionaries and explorers had (with difficulty) crossed it, and no one knew what challenges it held as it carved its way deeper into the west’s sandstone and granite. John Wesley Powell, a self-taught scientist from Illinois, conceived the idea of the first ‘scientific’ exploration of the river and its surrounding topography, and cobbled together a crew of nine in 1869. They survived by the skin of their teeth, and Powell turned some of the lessons learned into a second expedition two years later. Two books give first-hand accounts of each: Powell’s own book largely (but, controversially, not exclusively) tells the story of the first trip, while the only full account of the second trip came three decades later from the youngest member of either expedition.

Exploration of the Colorado River and its Canyons.—This is John Wesley Powell’s classic account of the first end-to-end running of the river, from Green River ‘City’, Wyoming to the junction with the Grand River that was then considered to form the Colorado, to the party’s emergence in the Grand Wash several months later. Powell is educated, understated, and still worth reading. It may not give you an accurate read of the emotional or physical state of the troop, but he is unstinting on the relevant details. The geology, the geography, the anthropology are all here, although he’s frequently been faulted for blending together the original 1869 expedition and the subsequent 1871-2 into one account. After all, this was originally a government document, detailing for the Smithsonian Institution what had been learned about the river and the region, making more than good on the meager funding appropriated for the second trip. (The first expedition, run on a shoestring, was cobbled together by Powell from who-knows-where.)

Despite this ‘inaccuracy’, it’s still a good yarn, although it’s difficult to avoid the feeling that in those circumstances where disaster was near, Powell erred on the side of creating the impression that he was in control. To be fair, he is unsparing when the river or the canyon walls are the source of possible doom, and the fearlessness of this one-armed major is impressive. (A Civil War veteran, he lost an arm following an injury at Shiloh.) Later journals revealed George Bradley to be the journey’s hidden malinger: he bemoans the dwindling supplies, second guesses Powell’s leadership, and still saves Powell by lowering his own pants as the Major clings to a cliff with one good arm. But his accounts of the expeditions dwindling rations seem more realistic. Powell appears to steadfastly persevere in the face of these caloric difficulties, but then he wasn’t pulling the oars or carrying the cargo on the portages. In the end, Bradley soldiered on, while three others left the group only to be murdered by Shivwits Indians. Just six days later, their six remaining companions emerged in the Grand Wash, greeted by a group of Mormon fishermen who, like most of America, had given them up for dead based on a false, planted story of their demise.

Before Powell’s journey, almost nothing was known of the Colorado’s thousand-mile extent. No one had traveled it end to end; and it could be crossed at only two known places. Rumors of mythological proportion swirled around it: it dove underground for miles at a stretch; it was impassable due to whirlpools of unfathomable size; the rapids were miles long and unrunnable in any craft. In the end, Powell took three ordinary wooden boats and nine ordinary men, and with precious little planning, carved through the heart of the only uncharted territory in the U.S.

A Canyon Voyage—Frederick Dellenbaugh was a 17-year-old easterner with apparently little to recommend him for an expedition to the last uncharted section of the U.S. That hardly distinguished him from the rest of Powell’s second crew (or his first), but his account of that journey suggests that his energy, spirit, and sense of companionship were probably as apparent to Powell as they were was to me. His ability as an artist, which later led him to train in Europe, was primarily responsible for a spot on this second expedition to the Colorado, which was nearly guaranteed to be more successful than the first. It’s easy to imagine that this trip changed his life: he continued to combine his artistic abilities and his love for the outdoors and the unknown, heading to Alaska in 1899 with Harriman, Muir and the other elite of the emerging conservation movement, illustrating scores of articles and books about natural history, and eventually returning to the topic of the Canyon for a pair of well-received books in the first few years of the twentieth century.

A Canyon Voyage was written more than 30 years after his trip with Powell and companions, but it hardly seems like recollection at all. That’s largely due to its principal source: the extensive diaries that Dellenbaugh (like nearly every participant) kept of their experiences, which keeps the story completely in the present moment. The result is a wonderful balance of a daily account of the expedition from a resourceful, thoughtful, and fully engaged participant who hardly comes across as a teen. Perhaps that’s due to careful writing, but I doubt it. Dellenbaugh’s position, as well as his audience, are vastly different from Powell (whose first priority was to justify any monies he’d received, and procure additional support for the future), and so his account of the difficulties faced by the second team is more honest and detailed. But he was hardly a whiner or a shirker, and also leaves little doubt that the trials of the first trip greatly influenced Powell’s preparation for the 1871-2 expedition (which actually wintered and explored in the southwest before returning briefly to the Colorado). Along the way, they survive the constantly threatening waters of the pre-dam lower Colorado, worry about (but never encounter) the possible threats from hostile natives, come close to the end of the food stores as they await resupply at various points, and spend time with legendary characters Jacob Hamblin and John D. Lee, each of whom is a gracious and generous host. (This is especially notable in Lee’s case, as even then he was held responsible for the 1855 Mountain Meadows Massacre.)

I think Dellenbaugh’s book is actually the better read, but both are worthwhile. He pays more attention to personality and difficulty, and takes more joy (and pride) in the expedition’s repeated ability to succeed in the face of every challenge. He is affectionate and generous towards Powell, rarely second guessing him (and it was probably rarely necessary). It’s easy to see why this book was reprinted in 1926 and 1962, and remains available even today. (My copy was of the 1926 edition, which includes some amazing reproductions of maps of the region pre-Powell, and the new maps that Dellenbaugh helped produce in his role as assistant topographer.) Best of all, I just learned that the sting of the saddest sentence in the book has been removed. Dellenbaugh repeatedly describes the efforts made to climb the cliffs and photograph and sketch their surroundings, and yet after the fourth or fifth reference to his artistic endeavors, I began to wonder why they hadn’t been used to illustrate the volume. Midway through the book a footnote sadly notes that ‘the pencil sketches I made on this trip were taken to Washington, but I do not know what became of them.’ But during the research for his 1999 book The Wild Colorado: The True Adventures of Fred Dellenbaugh, 17, on the Second Powell expedition into the Grand Canyon, Richard Maurer found them miscataloged in a Smithsonian archive.

If you’re interested, A Canyon Voyage is available free for downloading at Project Gutenberg. Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on October 24, 2010

Grand Canyon National Park
P.o. Box 129
Grand Canyon, Arizona 86023
(928) 638-7888

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Grand Canyon National Park

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Canyon Readings: More Favorites"

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There's a lot of great reading about the Canyon, and as my obsession with it continues, I'm making my way through more and more of it. Here are a few more of my favorites:The Man Who Walked Through Time. I’d never heard of this book, or the author, Colin Fletcher, until I saw his obituary in the New York Times. He’s given much of the credit for starting the ‘backpacking craze’ in the late 1960’s and 1970’s, although there was so little lingo developed back then that he was often described as an 'inveterate' or ‘compulsive walker’. This 1968 book tells the story of his now 50-year-old hike along the Colorado and through the Grand Canyon. On a 1963 visit to the South Rim, he wa...Read More

There's a lot of great reading about the Canyon, and as my obsession with it continues, I'm making my way through more and more of it. Here are a few more of my favorites:

The Man Who Walked Through Time. I’d never heard of this book, or the author, Colin Fletcher, until I saw his obituary in the New York Times. He’s given much of the credit for starting the ‘backpacking craze’ in the late 1960’s and 1970’s, although there was so little lingo developed back then that he was often described as an 'inveterate' or ‘compulsive walker’. This 1968 book tells the story of his now 50-year-old hike along the Colorado and through the Grand Canyon. On a 1963 visit to the South Rim, he was struck by the idea of ‘walking’ end to end, a powerful enough vision that he planned comprehensively for this journey. His book chronicles all aspects of the trip, including his discovery of fellow walker Harvey Butchart, whose grand obsession with the canyon would make him a legend in years to come. Just months before, Butchart had completed such an end-to-end journey, and his help was invaluable to Fletcher (who, as a former British paratrooper, was no slouch in the self-reliance department).

Fletcher chronicles his preparations, his equipment, his habits, and his fears during the trip. He and Butchart correctly perceive that the largest challenge in completing the trip will be finding paths through the canyon’s tortuous granite chasms, where shelves that allow foot travel may be hard to come by. This brings Fletcher face to face with his largest fear: swimming (which comes as a surprise). On several occasions, he’s forced to blow up an air mattress and dogpaddle for quarter-mile stretches upstream when no footpath can be found. The care and practice he takes before launching on these parts of the journey sum up his meticulous planning: this is no wild, unprepared, adrenaline junkie, or a naïve back-to-nature type who is over his head in this dangerous, austere, and beautiful environment.

But all this work is to enjoy the journey. It’s the experience in the canyon that he’s after, and not a notch on his hiking stick. He spends over two months alone on this trip, narrowly making one of his three supply drops, and reflecting throughout on the environment, the wildlife, and his own life and experience. At the time of writing, several years after the trip itself, the Department of Reclamation is pushing for a series of dams on the Colorado, which Fletcher finds hard to fathom, and the closing chapters ruminate on just what it is that drives us to change our world in such dramatic and disastrous ways.

Fletcher went on to write many more books on ‘backpacking’, as it came to be known, but I can’t imagine that they top this one: part do-it-yourself manual, part nature writing, part adventure story. Much like the title, the book is equal parts timeless tale of time in the Canyon, as well a glimpse back into an era when hiking and exploring along the Colorado was a rare and glorious undertaking.

How the Canyon Became Grand. I picked this book up at North Rim bookstore on my first visit in 2006, buoyed by the recommendation of the clerk who called it ‘a fantastic read’. It was one of those rare books that (metaphorically) picks up a familiar object and reorients it, giving you some now-obvious insights that you’d never seen before. Author Stephen Pyne is a historian/fire scientist at Arizona State, and he traces the evolution of Western attitudes towards the Canyon, beginning with the initial amazement and bafflement of 16th century Spaniards. The Canyon overwhelmed their sense of perspective, leading to an abortive attempt to hike from the South Rim to Colorado, abandoned after several hours when they found themselves hardly any closer to the river’s edge. 250 years later, US Navy Lieutenant Joseph Ives, who after succeeding in locating the near mythical canyon, predicted that his expedition had "been the first, and will doubtless be the last, party of whites to visit this profitless locality."

How did it turn from perceived wasteland into icon of wilderness? Pyne’s claim is that an aesthetic for appreciating the canyon required the discovery of geologic time, which happened partly in the canyon itself. He traces this through the work of Powell, Gilbert, and other geologists, in parallel with the increasingly realistic paintings that eventually make sense of the canyon’s contradictory combination of broad vistas and nearly vertical walls.

Pyne’s book opens with the observations that this mile-deep gash in the earth remains invisible until you’re within yards of the rim’s edge. This ‘inverted mountain’ is hidden in a way that no mile-high vertical summit never is, and thus the Canyon never dominates the surrounding territory in a way that the nearly San Francisco Peaks do. But Pyne’s book gave me a great understanding of how it came to figure so significantly in our cultural and scientific understanding, rising from wasteland to jewel over less than a century.
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Member Rating 5 out of 5 on November 4, 2010

Grand Canyon National Park
P.o. Box 129
Grand Canyon, Arizona 86023
(928) 638-7888

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