|
The Copper State
We thoroughly enjoyed our ride through Arizona up to the Grand Canyon. Much of the time we were surrounded by large copper colored mountains and Indian reservations. It is nice to know that one-third of the state still belongs to its original inhabitants, the Native Americans.
It was here in Arizona that we stopped at our first National Park of the trip, the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert. We were awed by both the prehistoric fossilized wood and the endless views of colorful sand dunes. Little did we know that within the next few weeks in the west we were going to see even so much more natural beauty.
Humans began occupying this land over 10,000 years ago. Ancient petroglyphs give us an insight to an earlier civilization. We saw these petroglyphs on Newspaper Rock just below where we stood on a small cliff.
The Grand Canyon is made up of layers and layers of multi-colored rock. The lowest rocks of the canyon which stand beside the Colorado River are some of the oldest exposed rocks on Earth.
One of the most stunning views of the canyon are from the Grand Canyon Village.
We had three hours of a clear view, and then the clouds returned. Here we are enjoying the last few minutes before complete cloud cover. We felt very lucky that we had that window of opportunity.
|
|
2 Go Maps / 2 Go Actual Itinerary / 2 Go Photos / 2 Go Home Page
PLEASE E-MAIL US. . . WE WOULD LOVE 2 HEAR FROM YOU!
©1999-2001 Kelly and Rich Willis. All rights reserved. |
After the Petrified forest, we
continued to travel north until we reached the Grand Canyon. As soon as we
reached the outskirts of the park it began to snow..and snow...and snow.
It was 8:00 in the evening and it was very dark up there in the middle of
nowhere. The snowflakes came at us like space invaders. However, we
managed to make it to the famous Tovar hotel where we treated ourselves to a
night of luxury in the Canyon's oldest and most prestigious hotel. The
only room that they had available was the one with the best view. It was
late and the man at the front desk felt bad for us, so he gave us the room for
less than half of the price. Do you see the top deck with the wood
posts? That entire deck was ours. 
At
least 8 inches of snow had fallen while we slept that evening. When we
woke up, the canyon was socked in the clouds obscuring any view of the
canyon. However, as soon as the clouds lifted, we darted out of our room
and took a hike along the crater rim. The Grand Canyon far exceeded our
expectations. The white snow along the top of the Canyon added a cool
effect.
We enjoyed our hike along the Grand Canyon through the snow. We saw
beautiful trees and rabbits at ground level and deep canyon and the
Colorado river far below. 