Seeing the Grand Canyon the Hard Way

Oct 4th 2009

Today I got up early and checked the weather on NOAA.com. The news I got there was not good. High winds 20 - 30 mph sustained all day with 40-60 mph gusts and rain in the morning. I put on my rain suit and got after it.

You can see the rain in the background of this shot. That is where I am going. My rain suit and I are becoming good friends.

I took I-17 north. By the time I got to Flagstaff, about 40 miles, I had run through several showers. The wind demanded respect. The wind was from the west. I would be travelling north or south most of the day.

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There are signs like this between Sedona and flagstaff:

Todd Kitselman would like it here.

I drove west from Flagstaff to Bellmont on I-40 and stopped at the Harley dealer. They were closed for another hour. There was someone there so they let me in anyway. I bought some stuff to make my windshield "slippery" so the rain would run off. I continued on and turned off at Williams onto 64, which took me to the park. The rain had stopped by then.

Just past the sign a little ways was an opportinity to give up $14 to get in. I hadn't been here since I was about 13 or 14 years old.

There were lots of people here for the weather being crappy. I suppose most of them were in the same boat as I was: having travelled a long way to get here.

After driving a short way (about 5 miles from the gate) I got my first look at the Canyon:

This picture is not even close to what I saw. The size of the place is hard to comprehend, even while looking right at it.

I knew this would be hard to get a handle on, so I took this video for you to see:

Go ahead, watch it again (you know you want to).

I stopped in to eat lunch and some of the overlooks to have a "look-see." The views were great, but the wind was blowing people around, hats flew here and there, dirt was blowing people got dust in their eyes. No one stayed too long out side of their cars. It was just crappy out there.

At one point I was following a car that just missed hitting a cow elk. I saw the elk running toward the road, but the driver was looking at something else, I guess. I hit the binders, but the car did not. When the driver saw the elk he freeked out and drove into oncoming traffic. It was like watching a movie. I was far enough back that I was in no danger. It was awsome to see that elk.

If you have not seen an elk up close, take a deer and multiply it by about 6. Thats an elk.

My dad told me years ago the the Grand canyon was not make by the Colorado River like all of the experts want you to believe. He said what actually happened was that a Scottsman had dropped a quarter down a gopher hole and tried to dig it out.

This tower was built in the 1930's as a vantage point and to house the first souvenir shop in the park. It's at the "Desert Overlook." I have no idea why they call it that. There is no desert that it overlooks. Below is the view from the place:

But, one does get a hellofa view from up there.

After looking a half a dozen spots like this one, I had to get the heck out of there. The wind was making me crazy. I had about 3 hours to go to get back to Sedona. I knew it would be a chore. It was. My GPS quit working today while I was up in the park. The screen just went dark. The last couple of days it was doing wierd things (possessed, I think). I will have to send it in for repair when I get home. I still have a book FULL of maps, but I have grown used to the "Find fuel" or Find Food" features. It's really a handy little deal.

When I got back to my brother's place I was beat. My arms and shoulders were tired from trying to keep the bike between the lines. My once nice clean bike needed yet another bath. Maybe tomorrow. I was too tired tonight to knock it out.

I fiddled around with all of my gas receipts this evening. So far I have:

Driven 4754.5 miles on this trip.

Used 117.90 gallons of gas (premium)

Spent $344.21 for fuel.

I have been on the road for 16 days.

I have spend 2 nights in motels, the rest with family and friends.

Tomorrow I will go to Hoover Dam, then Vegas. After that, the Great Salt Lake.

Right now, this boy needs a shower and a nap.