Thursday, May 23, 2013

Grand Canyon and approach to Las Vegas

In retrospect, I'm so glad I got to gain two hours on August 21st heading from Texas to Arizona, that cut that day far shorter in total hours to make that drive. I woke up refreshed that Wednesday in Flagstaff, ready for the first really scenic adventure of the new trip.

Flagstaff is in the area of Arizona which does not resemble what most peoples' mental impression of Arizona is. Most people, I assume, think of Arizona as a hot, flat, endless desert. Really, a good portion of the state is mountainous, and going north on I-17 from Phoenix to Flagstaff, the landscape gets greener, and as I found out on Tuesday night, it rains in noticeable amounts there. Flagstaff is on the Colorado plateau, 6,900 ft above sea level, and lies adjacent to the San Francisco Range of mountains to the north on the way to the Grand Canyon. The highest of those mountains, Humphreys Peak, is the tallest in Arizona at about 12,600 ft. Since Flagstaff is higher in elevation than the southern big cities like Phoenix and Tucson, it actually gets cold there in the winter and gets 90+ inches of snow during the winters, according to Wikipedia.

Culturally, Flagstaff qualifies as an artsy, "weirder", coffee shop and outdoor activity rich place, being up near the Ponderosa pine forest and the mountains, only 100 miles south of the Grand Canyon. It's not as "weird" as the 4 Corners of Weird that I've designated in the U.S., such as Austin, Portland, Madison or Asheville. Fun little city though. Here's a picture of the downtown, not one that I took but found it online.

Flagstaff, Arizona

Here's a couple of looks at the mountains to the north of the Super 8 motel along I-40.

Flagstaff, Arizona

Flagstaff, Arizona

Not how you'd normally picture Arizona right? But it's good to be up in those highlands, the air was crisp, cool and clean.
I think this was one of the few mornings on this trip where I actually had the continental breakfast in the hotel, because I don't remember getting any kind of lunch in Flagstaff. I do recall going to a neat coffee shop downtown, called Late For The Train. They had a lot of funny quotes along the side of the counter, including "No Coffee, Workee" signs. That was a worthy Instagram. Going to that coffee shop started a tradition that I kept going through the entire journey of going to local, non-chain coffee shops in just about every city I went to. It's a good way to experience more of a city than if one just goes out for food and touristy places.

Downtown Flagstaff is a walkable, compact area with lots of local shops and architecture. I also parked near and walked in Heritage Square, which has a very colorful tiger that the Duckies made friends with.

Flagstaff Arizona town square
Given its geographic location, it's no surprise that Flagstaff has the southwestern look to its downtown buildings.

downtown Flagstaff, Arizona

downtown Flagstaff, Arizona
Best advertising ever, how did I not go in there?!
downtown Flagstaff
And here are the rest of the downtown pics, including Late For the Train.
downtown Flagstaff, Arizona

downtown Flagstaff, AZ

Heritage Square

downtown Flagstaff, AZ
downtown Flagstaff

downtown Flagstaff, Arizona

downtown Flagstaff, Arizona

Late for the Train Coffee

downtown Flagstaff, AZ

downtown Flagstaff

downtown Flagstaff

downtown Flagstaff

downtown Flagstaff

downtown Flagstaff
From there, I loaded up the Top Gun anthem and headed north along Highway 180, windows rolled down, car put in manual transmission mode, ready to tackle my first scenic drive of the trip.

It was only a few miles north of Flagstaff before I turned right onto Snow Bowl Road, and headed up into the Arizona highlands. That could be Humphreys Peak off to the right, that was definitely a moving picture judging by the amount of car in it.

Northern Arizona
 Gotta love fields of yellow flowers along the roadside.
Northern Arizona fields
 The junction with AZ 64 takes you straight to the Grand Canyon.
Northern AZ pines
Once I got up into the twisty, winding roads going uphill, I finally got to attack the corners and row through the 5 gears of the car as it was meant to be driven. I even put the Duckies on the seat instead of the dashboard, for they would've fallen off because of the lateral G forces that were being achieved. So much fun! Midway up the road I paused to take a picture of the trip odometer that showed I had already driven 1,000 miles on this trip. Boy was that a small fraction of the final tally.

Here's a look at the thick pine forests of Snow Bowl Road.
Arizona Snow Bowl

Arizona Snow Bowl

Arizona Snow Bowl

Arizona Snow Bowl

Arizona Snow Bowl
Once I got up to the top of Snow Bowl, I got to take some good pictures of the mountains in the distance, one of which is Kendrick Peak off to the west (the big one up close).
Arizona Snow Bowl
Arizona Snow Bowl

Arizona Snow Bowl

Arizona Snow Bowl

Arizona Snow Bowl
Those ominous clouds were around all afternoon, but it's because of that rain that this part of Arizona is so green with pine trees and actual grass. The mountain above the mists here is Humphreys Peak.
Humphreys Peak
Coming down from Snow Bowl was about as fun as going up, and for the first stretch of road heading north toward the canyon, the terrain was still green and mostly forested.

Arizona Snow Bowl

Arizona Snow Bowl

Arizona Snow Bowl
There are some Aspens in that area as well, which is one of my mom's favorite trees!
Arizona Snow Bowl
It rained off and on too, this is the picture that makes me remember that that happened.
Arizona Snow Bowl
Once it stopped raining, that led to some more spacious terrain and sky, although there's a section along Highway 64 that's more dry and flat, not as green as the previous area.
south of the Grand Canyon

south of the Grand Canyon

south of the Grand Canyon


south of the Grand Canyon

south of the Grand Canyon
And now, the Grand Canyon. We all know, or know now, that it's a mile deep. That's a nice fact for the mind to chew on, but it can't be fully grasped until you walk up to the edge and the earth just...falls away into abyss. I had the camera out and ready to start snapping away, but when I first glimpsed the canyon at the edge of the southern rim, I just stopped, let the camera down on its strap, and just stared silently at it all. Had to take the sight in for a second with just my eyes, one of God's greatest natural creations.
Grand Canyon

This was my second time to visit the canyon, but still, my only thought was "wow...". As one walks the trail along the rim, information signs tell you objects that appear fairly close can be 5, 10, 12 or even 20 miles away. Visibility like you wouldn't believe!

People of many nations, tongues and tribes on the precipice:
Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon was probably tied with the Empire State Building for least amount of English spoken in a crowd on this domestic road trip. The vast majority of things people around me were saying, I couldn't understand one word of.
The near Martian red rock colors and the mists far away:
Grand Canyon

I was told that peak in the distance was 5.2 miles away, which creates a minor "whoa moment":
Grand Canyon
Downward perspective:
Grand Canyon

One white rock close, everything else hundreds of yards in the distance:

Grand Canyon
You can see it raining near the north rim here:
Grand Canyon
Colorado River peeking through the crags of rock down below:
Grand Canyon

Duckies perched not precariously at all in a tree not even close to the rim...

Grand Canyon

This is the point where I post the rest of the day's pictures without captions, it's a long enough post already. The thing that struck me that afternoon as I took a picture of the odometer passing 1,000 miles for the trip was that, at that moment, the trip and the vast distance to be covered finally felt real. Like, I couldn't just turn back around and be home that day; I truly felt on my own at that point. This wasn't too unsettling, just an important shift in my thinking about the trip.

Final note: I didn't get a good picture of the Las Vegas basin because it was 10pm and dark by then, but let me tell you, it's a brilliant scene! Highway 93 from Kingman to Vegas is the darkest highway I've ever traveled, and then out of that night, to suddenly come around and see the tremendous burst of light that is Sin City, it's a beautiful thing to behold in person, and then to reminisce with others about. Great scenic drive moment. Here's the rest of the canyon, the road to Kingman and remaining rainstorm, and Hwy 93 from Kingman until it got dark.









































Best of all the very bad pictures of Las Vegas, wish I'd had a copilot for this shot.

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