#16 Grand Canyon, Vermillion Cliffs, French Neighbors and The Four Corners

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#16 Grand Canyon, Vermillion Cliffs, French Neighbors and The Four Corners

Sunday Sept 5-Mon. Sept 6: Every evening I mark an orange line on our atlas with the route we've taken, and I re-estimate our forward journey for time and possible sites. It had seemed best to leave visiting the Grand Canyon to the South Rim on our return trip, but today we decided to pop in to the North Rim for a quick “sticky beak”.
The sheer magnitude of the Grand Canyon would make anyone gasp, including us of course. Then I saw the Grand Canyon Lodge, perched right on the edge, with a magnificent view from its sun porch and I quickly imagined that it would be a great place to wake up on the morning of our 36th wedding anniversary (½ of Phil's life spent with me!). When I mentioned this to Phil, both his eyes turned to dollar signs, but he didn't say no. We went inside to check, but it was still Labor Day weekend and it was totally booked out. Oh well, we would find some appropriate way to celebrate.
I'm queasy about heights, though I do get sort of close to them to take pictures now and then (sometimes I hand the camera to Phil) and Phil hates wind. Well, it was definitely a gusty day, so we stayed for a while but then left, admitting to each other (can you believe it?) that we were starting to get “canyoned-out”.
Cliffs are another matter. We gasped again when later that afternoon we rounded a high corner and saw the Vermillion Cliffs for the first time. The intensity of their color doesn't show up in our pictures, but they are truly fabulous, and I guess I generally get more excited discovering something than revisitng places I've been. We'd heard of the Vermillion Cliffs as part of the Grand Escalante, the stairway of the layers of the earth's crust laid bare in Utah, from the oldest rocks at the base of the Grand Canyon (Vishnu) to the youngest ones, near Cedar Breaks. And here they were in front of us, and then a long time beside us, for many miles of wonder.
This was our second longest day of driving, and we were quite tired when we pulled into Page, hoping for a motel and a hot shower. But it was still Labor Day weekend. Finally we found a motel called the Page Boy, which had made what the hostess thought was a mistake by accepting a busload of tourists for Saturday and Monday nights, thus leaving Sunday unfilled—but we were glad to help her out. The motel looked like a stucco prison from the street, but there was a lovely interior courtyard and that evening our next door neighbors turned out to be two women from France, agog with encountering the natural wonder of Yosemite and working through their own preconceptions about what “America” was. I loved trying to speak French with them, and we cheerfully mangled our way with Frenglish in the cooling evening air, sitting on the still warm concrete behind our rooms and comparing our trips, past and future.
The next morning we headed out for our next stop: Mesa Verde. This meant passing through “Four Corners”, the only place in the USA where the borders of four states come together.
I've done a series of photos to document for you what Four Corners is like.
As with most rest areas and vista stops, there were stalls there run by Native Americans, selling their wares—silver and turqoise jewelry, beautiful pottery, arrows, carvings, weavings...many of these things very gorgeous.
I talked for a while with a Hopi man artist (who'd last year done a show in Portland, Oregon) and bought a book from him about the Hopi which I found fascinating, especially in connection with our next days at Mesa Verde. Stay tuned!

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Photos

North Rim view
A mile deep and many miles across the top, the Grand Canyon lives up to its name.

Cliffs enroute to Grand Canyon
Along our drive from Bryce to the Grand Canyon, we viewed many colorful cliffs of the Grand Escalante.

Cabins with a view
Part of the Grand Canyon Lodge accommodation options.

Grand Canyon
OMG! Can you see those two folks right there on the edge of that pinnacle? Leave me to my laptop!

Grand Canyon
Various formations have names, like Venus Temple, Brahma Temple, Zoroaster Temple.

Brinks looking, Grand Canyon
Holding onto the railing as the wind gusts-oooh!

The Grand Canyon Lodge
Fully booked, but dream inspiring for me.

A tributary finger
A closer edge where a tributary ran into the Grand Canyon

Vermillion Cliffs 1
The depth of color was astounding, but the atmosphere wasn't clear enough for a great picture

Vermillion Cliffs 2
Another part of the Grand Escalante

Vermillion Cliffs 3
Miles and miles of stunning cliff face in Navajo country.

The San Juan River?
At Navajo Bridge. I think this is a tributary to the Colorado River, which is the river at the base of the Grand Canyon.

Towering Monument
Along the wayside, we see amazing towers left by erosion over time.

Four Corners Monument
Marking the only place in the USA where the borders of 4 states come together.
Which state would YOU choose to enter, from this survey?

What's the difference?
A plateau is a huge uplifted area with a flat top. A mesa is a middle sized flat top, and a butte is a smaller high area with a flat tip.

Some babies
As Phil says, "A beaut butte"

A monument
Many of the monuments have names and attributions, like Ship Rock and Angel Rock, but this one I don't know.

Comments

[Joy Hruby]

Awesome
Thrilling stuff. Your stories are wonderful. want them on TVS Do your own show. you have heaps of material. Love Joy

[Michelle Cavanagh]

Grand Canyon Lodge
Like you, despite the cost, the last time we visited the Grand Canyon we decided it would be nice to stay at the Lodge. We did manage to get a nights accomodation there - it wasn't a long weekend so that no doubt helped. Maybe next time for you?! And were you, like us (I'll rephrase that..me) tempted to buy some Indian jewelry and dream catchers from those selling their wares along the road? I must wear my necklace and ring next time we meet. I'm loving your travels - it's like doing it all over again!! M xx