September 20, 2019
After a complimentary breakfast at the hotel, we explored some of Williams to the northwest as far as Interstate 40, then returned south to the historic side for over an hour. Step count 8,456
The bus departed at 8:45 for a quick stop near the Grand Canyon Railway for a short Cowboy play complete with an Old West outdoor set, a gun fight and live horses. Many of the audience were taking the train to Grand Canyon Village. Then it was everyone in our group back to the bus to to go to the Grand Canyon. Today’s round-trip journey was about 130 miles.
Matt, our tour director, gave us information about Grand Canyon. It is 277 miles (440 km) long with the Colorado River running on the floor of the canyon; 16 miles wide in places and one mile deep in places. Its’ area is greater than the state of Rhode Island. It was created by the water of the Colorado River plus the weather - wind, rain and sun – which combined to cause erosion of the many layers of sedimentary rock over hundreds of millions of years. It is a prime example of running water erosion. We visited the South Rim of Grand Canyon which is 1,000 feet lower than the North Rim. The average elevation of the south rim is around 2,062 meters. The average elevation of the Colorado River, at the bottom of the Canyon, averages around 670 meters.The temperature grows hotter as you descend to the canyon floor, sometimes with a difference of 20°C. There are 23 layers of exposed rock clearly visible. Grand Canyon became a tourist destination at the end of the 19thcentury and grew more popular once the Grand Canyon rail spur line was connected to the Grand Canyon Village in 1901. The original buildings were designed by architect, Mary Jane Colter. The area was designated as a National Monument in 1908 and in February 1919 became a National Park. This is Grand Canyon National Park’s centennial year.
The country side was mostly flat with bushes and trees scattered along the way. We entered Kaibab National Forest, on highway 64, a few miles before the town of Tusayan, which serves as the gateway town to Grand Canyon National Park.
Once in the park, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1979, we went to Mather Point for the first stop with an elevation of 7,120 feet. The views of the canyon were breathtaking especially looking down to the Colorado River bed almost a mile below. We spent an hour walking around on the Rim Trail and in the gift shop. Our lunch stop was at the Grand Canyon Market Plaza where we shared a sandwich and juice from the General Store deli. We ate it at a picnic table and were joined by Tim and Kaye. There was time to browse through two gift shops.
The final 3.5 hour stop was at Bright Angel Lodge another view from the South Rim. Matt gathered everyone on the canyon side viewpoint by the lodge and gave us an orientation of the park shuttle bus routes. He commented that there was smoke beyond the North Rim, which might be a controlled burn by the fire marshals. We decided to take the 12-kilometer Red Route which takes 80 minutes to complete one circuit, not including sightseeing stops. On the way we saw three elk does quite near the road. At Pima Point we were able to see a set of rapids on the Colorado River far below, take pictures of Hermit’s Canyon and noticed some smoke from a fire beyond the North Rim. We waited for the next bus which took us to Mohave Point for better views of the same rapids on the Colorado River and the smoke, as well as a wall covered in the black “desert varnish”. The last stop was Powell Point for more canyon views. Then we walked 500 meters over to Hopi Point for its view and back to Powell Point to catch the bus back to Bright Angel Lodge. At Hopi Point we noticed a Boston Museum of Science Triangulation Station bronze disc, which is a waymarker. There are many across the United States. It is sort of like geocaching. The shuttle journey had taken a little over two hours on a sunny, windy day with a temperature about 19°C. Jackets were appreciated in the shade.
Our step count, when we returned to the Bright Angel bus stop, was 17,209. Nearby was the trailhead for the Bright Angel Trail down to the Colorado River. You can take a mule ride down, on this same path, to stay overnight at Phantom Ranch at the canton bottom and return by mule, or walk the trail. Bright Angle trail is 16 kilometers down which takes about five hours. When hiking the canyons, a rule of thumb is that it takes twice as long to ascend than to descend. We walked only about 30 minutes on the trail. Back on the South Rim, we took the Rim Trail to Lookout Studio specially designed by Mary Jane Colter for views of Grand Canyon and met Line and Ken who told us that there was a long line for ice cream. Since we had almost 30 minutes before leaving the canyon, we found a stairway down to the railway and walked along a path to see an old Grand Canyon Railway diesel engine before returning to the bus.
Not everyone was on the bus at departure time. The bus was picking up about a dozen people who had earlier been taken to the Grand Canyon Airport for helicopter rides over the Grand Canyon. They all enjoyed the 30 or 40-minute experience. On the way out of the park to the airport. The bus slowed down several times for us to view elk does and calves, in the forest, peacefully munching on grass.
The journey back to Williams was less than an hour from the airport. Matt explained tomorrow’s itinerary which will include a stop at a grocery store so that we can buy picnic lunches since there are few amenities on tomorrow’s route mainly through the Navajo Reservation. He distributed red bandanas to everyone in anticipation of the dusty open-air truck ride tomorrow. Then a country music CD was played to get in the “Western” theme for tomorrow.
As we left the hotel for dinner tonight we met Kerrin and Greg. They were going to find a restaurant for dinner, too. After taking some Route 66 photos after dark, we went to Station 66 Italian Bistro for a pizza dinner. We also ordered a flight of six-60 ml mini-glasses of wine to share. It was less expensive that one-180 ml glass. We had a great visit over dinner and the 10-minute walk back to the hotel where we finished the evening with complimentary coffees.
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