Grand Canyon Trip
 

Recently I took a trip with my wife and in-laws to the Grand Canyon. Here's some pics.

This is the road between Kingman and Grand Canyon West in Hualapai territory.





This was open range territory and cattle were grazing here and there. Not many, but enough you had to pay attention.



Branching up towards the Canyon itself.





A pic from the bus. Once at Grand Canyon West Airport where you park, you have to take shuttle to various points of interest.



A pic of the Sky Walk. It's made of glass and you can stand on it and look straight down a 1,000 feet or more. I'm not afraid of heights, but honestly, it was a little freaky.



Some Indian dancing. Once on a trip through Navajo territory long ago with my wife (Japanese) we stopped at a Mickey D's. I'll never forget seeing her sitting across from some Native Americans. The resemblance was striking. The human story is fascinating.





Here I show my wife the housing that will be available in the post apocalyptic future.




The thing that's amazing about little shelters like this is how much they actually shelter you from the outside. It was pretty hot, but a solid 20 degrees cooler under this cover.



This is a sweat lodge. It was used for healing (men and women) and hanging out (men only). The Native Americans poured water over hot rocks to make steam and spent time praying to the Creator. Side Note: The wood selected for construction must not have been struck by lighting. They believed trees, among other things, possessed life force. They also believed Lighting was a great power, but if wood was struck by lightning it was considered to have its life force removed. Curiously the Japanese have a similar notion about life force permeating trees.



I've always had a little fascination with Native American cultures. In North America there were many and highly varied. . . . all lost to the sands of time. That's at least a little bit sad.

(The Last of the Mohicans and especially Black Robe, and even Dances With Wolves are some pretty good, "recent", mainstream movies.)



Drama. Beauty.





Weather was highly and rapidly changeable. This wind kicked up out of nowhere in seconds and was fairly strong. One of the things I loved about this place, perhaps because it was on Indian territory was the rather substantial lack of nanny safety guards. See the picnic bench? Notice the edge? That's the edge of the canyon.



Here's the album for some more pics.

I went on a trip to the Grand Canyon about 6 years ago or so and it was awesome. The size of the canyon just floored me. One of the best trips I have ever been on.

I've been too - it's amazing!

Never been.:(

Go.

No.:smack:

Great pictures Ben:bigthumbsup:

I've never been there and Beth and I have been talking about going.

I promise you won't regret it. One of the neat things for me is that even just a day or so of roaming around, and just minutes of walking in the desert alone . . . it's amazing how much your cares melt away and you see the world, for a moment, for what it is. And that's where words stop, or at least my ability to use them.

:bigthumbsup::bigthumbsup:
The Canyon is maybe the most amazing place I've been. However, the scale is sooo hard to take in that most drive-by tourists would be just as well off with a postcard. As you said, it takes time to let it sink in. Finding a quiet place on the rim, especially at sunrise, and just soaking in the view is a great cure for "life".

It's not just the Canyon. The entire Flagstaff area is awsome. It's become one of our favorite get-aways. Flagstaff itself is great, Old Town is eclectic and full of freaks and Salsa Brava on the east side of town is one of the best Mex. restaurants I know.

Other adventures in the area-
Hwy 180 from Flagstaff to Hwy 64 is an amazing drive thru the San Francisco peaks area. There's a huge network of dirt roads wandering thru the area that are great to explore.

Oak Creek Canyon to Sedona- Yes, Sedona is full of new-age freaks but the scenery thru the canyon and into red rock country is amazing. Again, ton's of off-road adventures to be had. Warning-Oak Creek canyon is a zoo on summer weekends and requires a state pass to park.

My wife has a deep love of the desert. (I do too, but the call of the Big Blue for me is hard to ignore). Sedona is way high on her list. A fusion of hyper-modern Western and Traditional Japanese designed home up in the hills around Sedona maybe in the cards a couple decades down the road. But who knows what the winds of time will bring.