Snow in October 10/30/2013

Carlsbad, NM was our ultimate destination today, by way of White Sands National Monument. We pulled into White Sands with no real expectations for what we'd find here. What a delight! Great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert, creating the world's largest gypsum dunefield. I knew it would be something different when I looked at Google maps satellite picture of the place.

The ride there had us climbing the mountains and then going back down. We had a great view of the terrible smog that sits over that area. On our approach on Route 70, Border Patrol was checking all cars--ostensibly for citizenship. We were asked if we were citizens, and then allowed to continue.

White Sands is a stunning landscape of glistening white dunes. We took a few short hikes onto and around the dunes. Fall foliage on cottonwood trees and rabbitbush stood out on the stark white sands. Wind whipped the sand around and at us, creating ripples in the sand that made the scene look like a fabulous artwork. At one point on the trail, we saw what appeared to be a bush at the top of a dune. The sign there explained that we actually were standing at the crown of a cottonwood tree that was buried in a dune. As long as some leaves stay above the surface of the dune, the tree can survive. The road that runs the length of the Monument is part paved, part ... sand. When we reached the sand part, we both had the same reaction: we were driving on white sand that looked so much like snow! And we subsequently saw a grader that was grooming the road because it is constantly being covered by the wind with more sand. That grader looked way too much like a snow plow.

The view from the truck. It's NM in October not NH in December!

Such a beautiful and odd place!

The trip from Almogordo to Artesia, NM, where we were staying for the next 2 nights was fascinating. We traveled through such varied landscapes: mountainous to rolling hills decorated with golden cottonwood trees to flat desert open to the horizon. We drove through Hope, NM, a very small town studded with abandoned buildings, a store with a faded sign advertising homemade burritos, and a park designated by a sign and 3 picnic tables under shade shelters. We passed cotton fields, and oil derricks, and a natural gas field.

The KOA at which we are staying is large, clean, and the proprietors are very friendly. Tomorrow: Carlsbad Caverns!

Wind! 10/29/2013

As soon as we headed south towards Tucson, we felt the winds increase. Soon the winds were whipping, and dust was blowing across the desert through which we were driving. The dust was so thick that the distant mountains were obscured. Ray was white-knuckling the steering wheel, as we could feel the truck and trailer rock behind us. This lasted for about 70 miles from Casa Grande to Tucson. Ray did a great job getting us through this stretch. We found out after the fact, that a 19 vehicle pileup occurred on this stretch of road about an hour and a half after we passed through. Timing is everything.

The 400 miles we drove took us past walnut and pecan tree groves, several very long freight trains (100+ cars in some instances), the Continental Divide, many dust storm warning signs, one mountainous area, and several "South of the Border" wannabes. If you've ever driven south on the east coast down I95, you've seen the many billboards along the highway in North Carolina inviting you to stop in. New Mexico has ,"The Thing", "Butterfield Station", and "Continental Divide"(the roadside stop).

We passed a sign for the town of Truth or Consequences, NM, which prompted me to look up the origins of its name. Truly American.

We spent the night in a KOA in Las Cruces, NM--clean, convenient and quiet.

Taking a Break: October 27th and 28th-2013

As we usually do, we took our time packing up and set off for Scottsdale, AZ, where we will visit for a day or so with family. We were surprised at the amount of traffic we encountered as we approached the northern limits of metro Phoenix. Our trip took up through some dramatic desert scenery, and featured a major change in temperature. While the day started in the 30s, by the time we reached Scottsdale, temps were in the warm 80s. Thankfully, we had prepared by wearing t-shirts, shorts and sandals.

We will head towards New Mexico tomorrow.

Exploring Grand Canyon--October 26, 2013

Last night, temps were predicted to go down into the twenties (a 40 degree drop from daytime highs), so Ray unhooked the water hose for the night.  After filling water bottles, packing lunch and snacks, and slathering on sunscreen, we headed toward South Kaibab trail. The trail descends 1000 feet from the rim to the point we determined would be a turnaround spot, Cedar Ridge. As we set out on the trail, I made a promise to myself not to take any photos on the way down. I figured that photo breaks on the way back up would probably be appreciated.

If you enlarge this photo, you can see hikers on the trail up in switchbacks along the hill ahead.

At a breezy Ooh-Aah Point

The trail down was dusty, but as expected, spectacular. One spot on the trailhead been aptly named Ooh-Aah Point, a place on the trail that offered a 270 degree view of the canyon. Wow. We had to carefully watch our steps to avoid rocks and also mule droppings.

As we descended, in the back of my mind, I somewhat dreaded the ascending return. As the Ranger had told us: "Going down is optional, going up is mandatory." But the return from Cedar Ridge was not bad. The fact that temps were in the high 50s really helped. We were amused, amazed, and confounded to see several parents carrying babies and /or toddlers down the trail. We wondered how far would they really go before they realized they had to carry or drag their kids back up.

On our return to the rim from the trail, we set off for a different section of the rim trail, a bit west of where we had walked yesterday. To get to the trailhead we made use of the park buses. What a convenience! They allow you to be dropped off at one point of the rim trail and picked up a few miles down the road. (The shuttle system here at Grand Canyon allowed us to avoid using the truck and all here.) That part of the rim trail was gravel and took us close to the edge of some steep precipices. By the time we took our last steps on the trail,  the sun was casting golden light over the canyon making for an awesome finish to our hike.

By the time we got back to the trailer, it was almost sundown. Before we had left this morning, I'd made beef stew in the crock pot. So dinner was just about done when we returned. Let noone think we are roughing it, in the least. One last treat at Grand Canyon after dinner: another glimpse of the Milky Way.

Truly grand--October 25, 2013

Our expectation was that it would take about 3 1/4 hours to get from Page to Grand Canyon Village. We were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves at the entrance station to the Grand Canyon within 2 hours and 10 minutes. What we hadn't taken into account was that it would, in fact, take another hour to actually get to our campsite in the Grand Canyon Trailer Village. We had forgotten how huge this park is. Luckily, there was not much traffic.

Our campsite has full hookups, meaning it has water, sewer, and electric. (What? No cable???) For a National Park campsite, though, it really is luxurious. Another bonus is that it is within an easy walk to the canyon rim. After setting up, we took a short (about a mile) walk on a paved path to the Visitor Center. Temps were in the high 50s, low 60s, and very comfortable. From the Visitor Center, we walked about 2 miles along the Rim Trail, which, as the name suggests follows the South rim of the canyon. Expansive views of the canyon spread before us every step of the way.

A big difference now, from previous times we have been here, is that for most of the year, you cannot drive the main park road that goes out to Hermit"s Rest at the westernmost point of the South Rim. The park service runs natural gas powered buses on a 15 minute schedule. So we were able to walk along the rim, and then take the shuttle back to the campground.

One big surprise was that there is cell service and 3G (thank you, Verizon) here. Because the nightly temperatures fall into the 20s, we unhooked our water line for the night. It would not be nice to wake up to a burst water hose.

After dinner, we went out for a short walk away from the lights, and got the best show of the day: in the cold, clear, dry night, the Milky Way spread out in the sky before us. Spectacular!!

OMG! Antelope Canyon 10/24/2013

We were able to get a reservation for the 9:30 tour of Antelope Canyon, so we took it. Antelope canyon is a slot canyon near Page Arizona. It is located on Navajo land, and so access is via a tour offered by Navajo concessioners. We arrived early to check in, and thankfully so, because we discovered that we had come to the wrong concessioner. Our transportation to the canyon was an open air conveyance, something like picnic table benches attached to the back of a pickup truck, where you sit facing out. The ride on the pavement wasn't bad, but once we hit the sandy river bed, things got much bumpier. When we departed, it was about 45 degrees, and cloudy, making for a chilly ride.

But OMG!! We have traveled all over, and never seen anything like this. Our guide, Ardin (not sure of the spelling), was wonderful. He explained that originally the canyon was open to the public, but the Navajos would have to regularly go out and clean up trash and graffiti. So they made access only through these tours to preserve this wonder.

There were ten people in our group, and Ardin walked us through the canyon pointing out places where a particularly effective photo shot could be taken, and explaining why certain twists of rock looked the way they did.
It was amazing to hear that flash floods carry silt from the dry river bed we drove in on, and fill the canyon up, many places by up to 10 feet in depth from one flood. That same silt may be Water has sculpted the rock into fantastic twists, turns, and corkscrews, with swirls and patterns that are enhanced by the shadowy light that filters in from up above. To walk through Antelope Canyon is to walk through a miraculous art gallery.

After our trek out to Antelope Canyon, we returned to the trailer for lunch. We set out for Glen Canyon Recreation area, where we checked out the lodge and marina. A large party boat was being removed from the lake (Powell), and towed away by a tractor that was dwarfed by the enormous boat. I walked out onto the bridge that spans the Colorado River and got some great shots. Vertigo got the better of Ray when a few large tractor trailers came whizzing by and caused movement of the bridge.

Then it was time for more mundane pursuits, i.e. laundry.

A sleeping horse and a horseshoe 10/24/2013

Our destination today was Page, Arizona, located in northeastern Arizona, about a three hour drive from Cannonville (our camping spot for the last 3 nights). We drove south on route 89, which took us through some interesting country. We traveled through small towns, desert and fantastic scenery. We saw a horse completely prone on the ground in his corral, and learned that this is not unusual for horses. We passed a gas station with the highest price we've seen yet for unleaded gas $4.349 per gallon. And we passed through Red Rock Canyon-- beautiful. Shortly after we crossed the Utah-Arizona border, we arrived at Glen Canyon Dam. Construction of this dam was started in 1956. It regulates the flow of water in the Colorado River and created LakePowell behind it.

We stopped at the visitor center and took the tour into and onto the dam. The young lady who led the tour did a superb job explaining both the history and function of the dam. We learned that the town of Page was created to house workers constructing the dam. Prior to the dam construction, the area was wilderness. Its 17 square mile site was obtained from the Navajo tribe in exchange for other land they wanted. Great tour from the top of the dam down to the generator room.

After the tour, we decided to check in at our campground. It turned out to be a great deal. It's clean, quiet, and the site is level. We ate lunch, and then took off to check out Horseshoe Bend, a horseshoe-shaped meander of the Colorado River just a few miles south of Page.

From the parking area off Route 89, we followed the sandy trail down to the lookout point that stands

1000 feet above the river. So beautiful!

Our next stop was one of utility. Low on groceries, we shopped at the local Safeway, then returned to the trailer where we relaxed outside with a glass of wine. A trailer pulled in and set up a few sites away from ours, and the travelers then set their chairs up for evening beverages as well. While I set off to snap a few pictures of the gorgeous sunset, Ray engaged the newly arrived couple in conversation. It turns out that one of the woman's sisters went to BC, one to Regis, and she had gone to Boston State (Ray and  I both took classes at Boston State). Small world!