A trip to:

The Grand Canyon,

Death Valley,

Las Vegas,

Indian Reservations,

Painted Deserts and Petrified Forests,

Extinct Vulcanos,

Old western ghost towns,

and Big Cactus:

Around Arizona, Nevada, California, and Utah in 10 days.

Somehow I managed to find enough spare time over the last month (Nov 1995) to compose this description. I just wanted to tell you a little about our trip to the Arizona/Grand Canyon area. If you don't have time to read this now, save it and read it later: it is a good description of places for you to go if you ever get out this way. I don't know if you've been to that area or not, so indulge me while I, sometimes, go into detail. It was a fun trip, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to take it when I did.

Las Vegas, NV

The first day was spend in Las Vegas. You've probably been there since about 30 million people go there every year. Of course, 95% of those are probably repeat visitors that are compulsive gamblers ;) You see some really "dedicated" people there, with their hands dancing across the buttons on the electronic draw poker machines. You now have the option of pushing a big button instead of pulling a lever on the slot machines -- wouldn't want to tire out our customers, now would we? Those damn slot machines were everywhere! From the moment you get in (at the Airport) to a fill up at the gas station to buying groceries at the supermarket! We only stayed in Vegas for two nights -- believe me, that was enough. Sure we could have done the MGM Grand Theme park and the hundred of other "attractions", but I was going on this trip to see some NATURAL wonders 8^0 and were there plenty! We did indulge in a heli-o-copter ride up and down the strip...wasn't worth the money. Maybe if the pilot wasn't thinking "damn tourists!" and "what I have to do for a living now!" it would have been slightly more enjoyable. 10 minutes up and down gave us barely time to enjoy the ride. The only full day in the area was spent visiting the Hoover Dam -- a must see for Vegas go- ers. It was big and the river (the Colorado) was green. It is also a place where Pacific Time meets Mountain Time.

What time is it? Las Vegas is in the Pacific Time zone. Across the Colorado at the Hoover Dam, we have the Mountain Time zone. Arizona, but not Utah, abides by Day Light Savings time. This is like the Navajo Reservation which does, but not like the Hopi Reservation, which it encircles. Confused? Try driving from Nevada to Arizona to Utah to Arizona in one day and ask yourself: Do you really care?

Red Rock Canyon, NV:

Our first stop was just outside of Vegas, a place called Red Rock Canyon. The blue (that is really blue, now -- must be something about the low humidity in the air) sky against the red rock of the canyon is something to admire. That is also where we saw our first cactus. Nothing like the big cactus of the southern deserts of Arizona, of course.

Death Valley, CA:

There is a reason why they call it Death Valley. It is a hell of a drive to get into it and it's damn hot. In a wagon, forget it! But it was a "cool" place cruising in the comfort of a minivan. The sand dunes -- yes, sand dunes -- were the highlight of that area. The only signs of life were the lizard tracks (you can tell because of the continuous line in between the three-toed prints). The rest of the valley was either hard mud, loose rocks, or strips of salt flats from dried up pools of water. I actually caught one of us using the phrase: "...it's not like we're in the middle of nowhere..." I could, with great satisfaction, say that, "...yes, we are in the middle of nowhere!":) We spent the night at a place called Stove Pipe Wells. It is a small "town" in Death Valley that consists of a hotel, general store, and saloon, all owned by one guy. The town was basically the hotel. Not very big, but very expensive, because they got ya! The nearest town is 80-100 miles away. The air conditioning situation was a bit touch and go because we were under strict orders not to adjust the controls (it was set on minimum, of course!) or it would shutdown the whole electrical circuit to them all. We checked the thermometer at the General Store (elevation: 0 feet): 105 degrees at 10pm. I think it finally cooled off around 3am because I actually got cold! After plugging in our hot pot to cook dinner (salad was $10/plate -- forget that!) we blew the breaker on the light circuit. Oh, well: we survived off of Granola bars and peanut butter crackers that night. Some memorable moments were how many stars we could see and how bright they were. Truly an awe inspiring experience. Another was how hot the wind was. It was like opening up an oven and having your face too close -- exactly like that. Did I mention the silence? Nice that we couldn't hear a thing coming from a world of computers, TVs, and air conditioners. On the way out we drove through the OTHER town in Death Valley called Furnace Creek (catching on to the names here?) It was priced something on the order of $115/night for probably an air conditioner that you could adjust. It was over done with Palm trees and a golf course. I don't know if it's me or what, but something about seeing a golf course in Death Valley is a little out of place. We drove a couple of hours back to Las Vegas (exchanged minivans because the A/C was crapping out -- definitely can't have that!) then pushed on through a piece of Arizona into Utah and back into Arizona again. The time changed twice.

Kaibab Trail, North Rim, Grand Canyon, AZ:

Mule-back riding into a part of the North Rim (Kaibab Trail) was well worth the money. The views are spectacular. I had a mule (cross breed between a female horse and a male donkey) called Bob. The guides told us that some of the mules liked to walk on the edge of the path, like Bob. Looking down sometimes was *quite* a gripping experience. The drops were sometimes measured in the thousands of feet -- no kidding. In one section, it was just a vertical cliff with the exception of the horse-shoe shaped pathway that was carved out of the wall, with no where else to go but forward or down.

The previous winter, a group lost 8 pack mules when two of them lost their footing on the ice -- they were tied together. My fearless wife, who has a known fear of heights, did very well considering. She regards it as an accomplishment equal to getting her master's degree ;) I keep telling her that one lasted just a little longer than the other. One can just imagine though. It is an experience that I highly recommend.

Lake Powell, Page, AZ: Here we took a boat tour of the second Natural Wonder of the World of our trip:

Rainbow Bridge

This is the largest natural stone bridge/arch in the world, standing some 290 feet above the water. One reason I like to get a tour of some of these places is you get to hear the history and myths behind them. The Bridge is sacred to the Navajos because they believe that all the rainbows in the world come from the male and female rainbow spirits that form the Bridge. The geologist have a different explanation, but we won't get into that. This lake, Lake Powell, is a big one that took just about 17 years to fill (this is because they couldn't take all the water at once -- hmm, I wonder why). If you're wondering, the Hoover Dam makes this lake possible. I'm not going to get into a debate about the ethics of dams, but suffice to say that the Navaho's were pretty upset about the water level rising and going underneath the Arch.

Canyon De Chelly (pronounced canyon 'day' 'shay'), Navajo Reservation, AZ: A portion of the reservation is in poverty and that is always hard to see. It reminds us of what "we" did and what we aren't doing. It is a credit to the spirit of these people to see that they are still very proud. And they should be, they live more in harmony with the planet than the rest of us.

I think we all had one of the best times here. The people are friendly and laid back...not like us rude, fast paced city slickers! Still feeling very sore from improperly sitting on the mule, we did a 4 hour horseback riding tour. You can see my improper posture here :^o

Our guide, who they called "Eddie", is a Navajo native. Eddie told us that he wasn't going to tell us where to go or how fast to go. This was cool because I've never galloped on a horse before. NOW I know how the jockey at the track feels. So we don't get Eddie in trouble, I'll mention the stable's name:

Justin's Horse Rental

Canyon de Chelly

520-674-5678

contact: Justin Tso

It was great! At one point, my foot slipped, leaving not much in the way of shock absorbers while my pure bred Mustang galloped on. There is one thing about Mustangs: they love to race each other. Once one starts, they all join in! Along the trip we got to see several 5th Century Anastazi ruins

in the cliff walls. Impressive up close. The blue & white specs to the left end of the green tapper of bushes are people.

Hopi Reservation, AZ: People of the Short Blue Corn

Located within the Navajo reservation, the Hopi are an interesting, but different people than the Navajos. We were told that the Hopi were a more stationary people, unlike the Navajos, who we would consider nomadic. While the Navajos built their dwellings out of wood and mud, the Hopi built them out of stone and mud. One such place was the Second Mesa village (mesa is Spanish for table top). Atop this mountain with the top chopped off of it are three villages, the oldest being from the 13th century. Tourists are strongly urged not to go where we went: atop the mesa to view a ritual dance ceremony called the Scalp Dance. This, in part, was a purification ceremony for warriors coming back to the tribe from far away lands and battles. Photography by outsiders was also strictly forbidden. We found out one of the reasons for discouraging tourists: flying objects. At the end of each group's dance, gifts (of any type) were thrown from the roof tops for anyone to catch and keep. The gifts ranged from toilet paper to frying pans -- yes, frying pans! It was weird to see a little kid smile and laugh (not cry) after getting whack by a flying frying pan! It was here that we bought a Kachina Doll in the 3rd and oldest village atop the mesa. They are hand carved images of various religious figures from single pieces of wood. Ours represented the God of a good harvest. We actually met the teenaged artist (probably one of the ones listed on the above web page -- I'll check the signature and compare it to the listing) and got a very fair price (since it was all the cash that we had on hand) for the amount of work that goes into one. After we made the purchase, the mother came out with three loaves of bread fired in the open air stone hearth behind where we stood, insisting that we take them. We discouraged ourselves from bargaining with them because the incomes around there aren't very high due to the severe lack of external economic investment. The Navajo have them too, but the Hopi only make them out of Cotton Wood root, where as the Navajo make them out of any kind of wood.

Petrified Forest / Painted Desert, AZ:

After changing our plans to see the Hopi dances, we didn't really have time to see much of this National Park. From what we did see, it was cool seeing huge petrified logs atop strips of eroded earth. This is where we witnessed our first spectacular "Arizona Sunset". Up until this point, mountains blocked our view at dusk. A picture can't really capture this kind of sight, but we tried.

Sunset Crater, AZ:

Because of the change in plans, we spent the night in Flagstaff, Arizona. About 20 miles north was an extinct vulcano. We couldn't resist. We were in for a shock. The place looked like it had blown last year. The nearby mountain sides were still blackened and seas of black lava rocks were everywhere. The eruption took place over 900 years ago. We were impressed. Nearby are some ruins dating back to around the time of the Battle of Hastings, in 1066. Since the native Americans have such a long history here, it makes one rethink the term "settlers". "Invaders" might be more appropriate.

A Big Cactus

Back around the turn of the century, this was a thriving gold mine town. Today, it can be considered a ghost town. It is a self sustaining ghost town with shops and a restaurant to cater to the locals and mostly to the tourist that come to see it. About 5 miles before the town, we saw our only big cactus, which was obviously tended to by someone nearby.

Oatman, AZ:

The main street (there's only one) is the famed Route 66. It's located about 20 miles southeast of Bull*head* City. The locals affectionately modify it. Back in 1926, when all the gold that was to be gotten (using conventional means) was extracted, the miners let their burros loose. Upon entering the town, we got to see them wandering in the middle of the street. Upon leaving Oatman, we got to see one of Arizona's famous sunsets:

The wildlife: Through the course of our travels, we encountered many creatures: Lizards, Deer (don't feed the deer: last winter they had to "remove" about 10 deer because they were fed by people and couldn't fend for themselves. So when other people wouldn't give them food, the got very upset and resorted to violence), rattle snakes (just heard the rattle while on the mule -- not a good place for a snake to pop out!), sheep, cows, bulls, horses, mules, donkeys, coyote, antelope, and mountain goats, not to mention the multitude of bugs (splat!). Quite a few of these animals were in or near the road, so watch out!

We had a great time and would recommend a trip like this to you if you liked what you read. I can provide you with more information about the places we went to if you want.