I got up an hour early this morning by accident, having forgotten that Arizona is an hour behind Utah and not changing my clock. So what I though was 0705 was actually 0605. So I got back into bed for half and hour then went out for my jog. By the time I did that, the sun was just about poking up above the horizon.
The air was still cold when I stepped outside but the sun was heating up nicely, so I started jogging immediately to get warm. There is something special about sun up. There was nobody about ( it is Saturday) so I was also able to explore the building site just across from the hotel illicitly, and without interruption, then toodle off down the road for a mile or so, disturbed only by the occasional vehicle.
By the time I came back however, the sun was at full blast and it was difficult to see anything other than in silhouette. Needless to say, I couldn’t find the hotel because I was looking directly into the sun.
Unfortunately, the road to where the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is, was blocked off - perhaps a rockfall or something. So that meant a backtrack and then a detour of 160 miles. What a fag, particularly as it took us through hours of featureless scrub land. OK there were a few big rocks on way, but I’m a bit done with them now and need to see something else.
The Vermilion Cliffs were an exception, staggering cliffs rising 3000 feet from the valley floor and of the most amazing red hue, hence the name. But that was all that really caught my eye today.
One thing that I have noticed is the scattered Navajo settlements that line the roads are really no different from those that you find scattered along the way in Kazakhstan or Mongolia. And they look similar; trailers instead of wooden shacks and better cars, plus the occasional boat but the people look very similar, albeit at least twice the size here. I think that originally, the ancestors of both were linked racially and the look is preserved today. But it is weird to see it and to recognise the habitat similarities, thousands of miles apart and with no other apparent connection.
The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is far less developed than the South Rim, and we had been told by several people that much of it is State forestry land rather than National Park, and so not shut. So we decided to take a chance. If all else failed, we planned to continue on to Las Vegas.
Luckily for us, our information was good and we found a lodge place at Jacob Lake. We only stopped for coffee but Nadine overheard that they did rooms, and that two routes to the Rim were still open, so we got a room, dumped our stuff, and drove up to the Rim. It was mostly dirt road but it was OK and once again, the car coped, although it is getting a bit bashed and is filthy.
It was a long haul for in late afternoon but it was worth it, even for the change of scenery from boring old scrub to fabulous forest. The light caught on the trees, the leaves of which were starting to turn golden.
And the route was empty; we passed a few campers but nobody else on the 90 minute drive up there. There were a couple of people setting up camp at the rim when we arrived, but apart from them we had the place to ourselves.
Although I’ve seen it before, it is a scene that really takes your breath away. Stunning rock formations, some timber covered, others rocky outcrops, all covering an enormous area. The scale of it is almost too much to take in and you cant help but be mesmerised by it in the constantly changing light.
So we will go back tomorrow before driving to Vegas.
The drive back was a bit fraught, with grazing deer taking to the unlit highway and stopping in the middle. However, thankfully we avoided all of them than, getting back to eat at the Lodge where we are staying. it is very cold out too, noticeably so once the sun has gone. But tomorrow - which also happens to be my birthday - is set to be warm and sunny. Yaay!
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