Grand Canyon at Last

I could not post for the past two days as we had no internet connection.  Now we are back in the electronic world.

We left Camp Verde, Arizona, on Sunday morning and visited Montezuma Castle National Monument.  It is impossible to really understand all the hows and whys of these structures as you look up at them from far below knowing that people built them and lived here more than a thousand years ago.

Why and How?

By mid-afternoon we had arrived at Trailer Village at the Grand Canyon and set up camp.  Then we unloaded our bikes and took a long ride remembering where everything is and re-learning how to get around there. On the bike ride we met the present day mules who now do the work of those Merle and I rode years ago.  I think they had been warned about me as they either looked away or lowered their heads in prayer!

I shall never get on one of these creatures again!

The afternoon is such a beautiful time at the Canyon as the sun drops and shadows begin to highlight all the features of the vast scene.  We ate early so we could have leisure time along the rim up until sunset.  The brilliance of color magnified by the setting sun cannot be described except to stand there in silence for a long long time.

Remembering the Bright Angel Trail to the bottom.

The following day we visited the rim from Mather Point to Hermit’s Rest, taking dozens of pictures and saying the same repeated statements of wonder over and over again.  In the Hopi House Craft Shop there was a saying posted from an unidentifiable native.  “When all the forests are cut, when all the animals are killed, when all the fish are caught, when all the rivers and the sea are poisoned, only then will men realize that you cannot eat money.”

Our departure look at the Canyon

This morning we left the Canyon for a long drive to Visalia, California where we will have two days for Sequoia and King’s Canyon  National Parks.