Arriving at the Grand Canyon is like no other arrival. When I was first here in 1991 we jumped on a helicopter – I must have had money in those days – and set off about hundred feet above the trees of the Kaibab National Forest. I thought it would easy to the see the Canyon once we were airborne, but the fascination of skimming the tree-tops left me totally unprepared for the sudden lack of tops, never mind trees, being replaced by a huge chasm of nothingness. The experience was breathtaking, awe-inspiring and not a little scary all at the same time. I may have screamed a little bit but the pilot was polite enough just to offer a knowing smile. The flight was short, fast, and tested my nerves as well as my bank balance, but each second was a gift from God, albeit with a little help from Airbus.
I love being able to see the reaction of friends and family when I show them the sights and sounds where I’ve been moved by the numerous majestic views I’ve experienced. I knew this latest visit was going to be no exception, and as I walk my partner Nicky up to the viewing point looking out over the abyss, the expanse of this wonderful place showing itself bit by bit, little by little, until the sheer scale of the Canyon bares its soul. Our eyes mist over.
We walk for a couple of hours along the South Rim and experience numerous moments of wonder, eventually getting the bus back via Back End Grand Canyon Complex.
At the car park, Elk are walking around nonchalantly between the vehicles and we steer carefully onto the road, before heading off down Desert View Drive towards Cameron. The Canyon takes on a continuing kaleidoscope of magical shapes and sounds, while in the distance black clouds roll round the North Rim, the rain cascading into the valleys and chasms. The speck of a tour helicopter in the far distance seemingly flies through the downpour with the ease of the hawks that soar and swoop in this vast bowl.
We tear ourselves away and head to Page, some two hours away, although in truth it seems somewhat longer as we sit in silent thought, now understanding fully what the Grand in Grand Canyon means. As the night draws in, the light fades and we pass little settlements seemingly sinking into the prairie grass, lit only by one or two street-lamps. It’s quite strange and eery in the gloom.
But never fear, we are saved by the great food God in the sky as the bright and gaudy arches of Macdonalds appear on the outskirts of Page. We’re back in fast food civilisation. As we queue there are only two other people in the restaurant, a man and a woman. I hear the lady talking with a Scottish accent, so I interrupt her in mid-flow as she’s ordering a couple of Sweet Chilli Chicken wraps with full sides and a Double Cheeseburger for dessert. It turns out they come from a town only fifteen minutes from where we live in Scotland. I call Nicky over, and we sit down together for what you could euphemistically call “dinner”. We all agree that we’ll not talk of this when we get home to our respective friends and family, just in case we are run out of town or ex-communicated for having a sneaky Big Mac. I bet our new best friends were mortified at being found. I decided not to tell them about our monthly pass for Subway……..
We ultimately find our accommodation at the “Suites on 10th Street”, set in a strange area beside a commercial estate. It looks as though they were formerly offices, but the accommodation is good, clean and comfortable. I search for the washing-machine which was part of the deal, however I don’t find it until the following day. It turns out it was at the rear of the building in a storeroom. Of course it was. Silly me, why did I not think of that ? In a rash decision, I decide to keep the clothes on that I arrived with.
201 miles today.
We leave Page at 11am even though I thought it was an hour earlier. Apparently, we’d crossed some invisible mid-western time-zone, so we drive all of four minutes to Starbucks to have a coffee to get over it. By now the sun is hot, I’m bald and Nicky’s hair goes curly in the heat, so we bravely enter Safeway and buy two hats, which I regret to say we never wore. A bargain though at ten dollars each.
We head to Lake Powell and the boat ramp at the conveniently named Lake Powell Resort and end up having a disagreement over a photograph, so I take more pictures of Nicky just to be really irritating. Turns out they are really good pictures !
At Dixies, the guided tour company at Lower Antelope Canyon just outside town, we get the time wrong again and turn up an hour too early. The tour of the slot canyon is a revelation. We walk down some steep stairs into a fantasy world of colour. Photographs will never do it justice, but these remarkable canyons are extraordinary and one of the highlights of our trip. The experience of walking through these coloured stone walls so tightly wrapped around us is like being in a Disney movie, marvelling at how many shades of brown, yellow and gold there are in the world. Nature at its most inventive. Our guide, whose name escapes me, mainly because I can’t pronounce it, is a Native American but seemingly has a side-line promoting Apple iPhones. He shows us how to take incredible photos with our cellphones and I learn a lot. We spend nearly an hour in the canyon, and it is spectacular. I will remember this walk for a long time. One of America’s unique and fascinating experiences.
Horseshoe Bend is next via a quick trip to Subway and Safeway once again for provisions. We walk nearly a mile in 80 degree heat to the viewing point. It’s very busy but many others are here for the sunset due in a couple of hours. There are also one or two who have left their sensible hats at home because we watch them getting very close to the cliff edge including a girl with a baby. For those who have been here and looked down at Horseshoe Bend you’ll know that the fall is not a short one. I take pictures of them just in case their family want a memento of their idiot son or daughter’s last few seconds. Luckily, none oblige, and they live to die another day. The view down to the river is dazzling, and as the tiny speck of a speedboat heads northward, its wake spreads out across the river like an arrow slicing through butter.
Another 70 miles of road disappears underneath us as spectacular rain clouds unload over the gold-coloured wheat fields, and later, a sunset sets fire to those same fields. Quail Park Lodge is one of those anonymous lodgings so beloved of the American roadside but quickly contradicts the image by being comfortable, clean and with surprisingly welcoming hosts in Austrian’s Robin and Vins. How they found themselves here from the stunning valleys and mountains of Austria was a little beyond my understanding, but they are nice people. The property is quirky rather than Quail but breakfast is great with bagels, cream cheese and coffee.
Zion National Park comes next, through the East entrance and the mile long tunnel, where we stop to make acquaintance with a group of Utah’s wild horses. They weren’t exactly wild to see us, but at least gave us a flick of their manes to acknowledge our existence. To get to Zion, we have to park in Springdale, before boarding a shuttle to the park, which at 20 dollars a day is pretty expensive. We ride up to where the Narrows Trail starts and walk for a couple of miles along the track in the company of hundreds of others on the same mission. It turns out the river has very high water and the Narrows are disappointedly closed. This time of year, with a lot of water run-off from the mountains, it dictates what we can and can’t do, which we knew before we got here. Hiking up to Angels Landing is also off, which is probably just as well considering it’s not for the faint-hearted.
We walk back the few miles to the visitor centre along the Virgin River and watch climbers attempt a sky-high cliff, seemingly hanging by a thread. Lunch is taken in town at Oscars Café in their covered patio, before hitting the road again along route 1-70 to Panguitch and checking into the Lamplighter Hotel, another Bates Motel look-a-like and I get horrified looks from my travelling companion. Luckily, we are given the “luxury option”. It’s basically the same motel room, but separated from the rest of the complex, sparing us the thin wall syndrome of noisy neighbours. I pass the accommodation test again.
585 miles over the last two days
Leave at 8am and stop for coffee at a little roadside hut beside a fuel station, and chat to an Italian couple who were going to Goblin Valley. The fact he is stuffing his face with a pastry, their choice of destination doesn’t come as too much of a surprise.
The entrance to the greatly anticipated Bryce Canyon comes into view. We were encouraged by others to drive to the far end of the park and work our way back stopping at the various viewing points. Rainbow Point and Yovimpa Point overlooks, then Poderosa Canyon Overlook and Agua Canyon, which has some of the best colours in the park. Natural Bridge is next, spanning 85ft and cut by the wind and rain then from Farview Viewpoint, you can see the Grand Canyon North Rim. Bryce Point has the largest amphitheater of hoodoo’s, while Inspiration Point has the best view of the silent city, the massive gold coloured edifices weathering gracefully in the wind and rain. The combination of rain and thunder is getting serious now, and we have a moment regretting that we have to leave and not able to hike the trail far below us, wending it’s dusty way through the hoodoo’s. We walked over to the General Store, buy chilli soup and sandwiches, and sit on the porch commiserating about our basic lack of understanding about what the weather was going to do.
We leave the park reluctantly as we have a three-hour journey in front of us, which ultimately takes four and a half hours due to the unbelievable views along Scenic Byway 12, otherwise known as The Million Dollar Road, through Capitol Reef Park. We stop twenty times or more to gawp at our surroundings.
At Green River, we find an absolute gem of a hotel at the “River Terrace Inn” which turns out to be one of our more comfortable accommodations on the trip. It overlooks the overflowing Green River just below our window. The Tamarisk restaurant is literally twenty yards away, and as it turns out, serves pretty good food. It wasn’t a long walk home. With a great night’s sleep behind us and the sun shining on the river in the morning we could have stayed much longer.
286 miles today
A 50 minute drive towards Moab is ahead of us, and the route through prairie and mountain scenery is simple fabulous. 18 miles into the park, we ditch the car and hike to “Devil’s Garden Arch” in 84 degree heat, compensated by some awesome views. After spending a few hours in the park, we miss out Moab town, shimmering in the heat haze in the distance, which is a shame, but we have another long four hours on the tarmac to tackle.
We backtrack to Green River for fuel and eats with our friends in Subway, then head towards Salt Lake City and our ultimate destination of Sandy. I was looking forward to seeing Nicky’s face when we drew up at this Air BnB. I knew it was nice, but I didn’t know it was $12 million nice. This was a huge mansion set in the wonderful sounding Dimple Dell Road and owned by the lovely Jeannie. The super luxurious accommodation was divine, and the home, or retreat, call it what you will, has a large range of artefacts, a couple of horses in the corral and a little lake to provide some calm. It was exactly the kind of place you dream about after a long few days on the road. We are shown to a large luxurious suite with an accompanying office although I have no intention of working during our stay !
We sit on the terrace for a couple of hours enjoying the peace and quiet of our beautiful surroundings, contemplating the amazing sights and sounds of the previous few days, before falling into a deep sleep.