Captains Log: 23 July 2014.
4:30 p.m.I forgot to mention that the entrance fee for
Grand Canyon National Park is $25 per vehicle, good for 7 days. With that, our annual pass has now saved us $93, so it has officially paid for itself.
Were inside the main visitor center at Mather Point. Its actually one of several buildings here including several shops, park ranger headquarters, etc. The visitor center is a large building, but inside there arent actually very many exhibits. So we end up not spending a whole lot of time here. One exhibit that is pretty cool is a large globe on which they show a 10-minute film covering the geology of the canyon.
If youd like to know more about the different geographic layers of rock lining the Grand Canyon but cant bear the thought of skipping a Disney trip in order to visit, you can head to the Wilderness Lodge. The huge fireplace in the lobby was built in layers to represent the same sedimentary rock youd find here. Theres even a small exhibit at the Wilderness Lodge that explains it in depth.
4:40 p.m.Enough of that learning crap. Lets see some pretty pictures! Even with the haze and cloud cover, a few rays of sun are peeking through once we reach the Mather Point overlook. You can start to see the gorgeous colors in the canyon here.
Drews-Eye-View:
I like this one a lot:
I also like taking pictures like this, where you can see people at the overlook. This really gives you a sense of the scale of the Grand Canyon. Keep in mind that the accessible portion of the park is just a piece of the entire canyon.
Its just mesmerizing to stand there and soak it in. One of the most striking aspects of standing at the rim of the canyon is the eerie stillness and silence of the vast space below. It never fails to amaze mestanding there, able to see for miles, soaking in this incredible sight, and the only sound coming from this seemingly infinite space is an occasional gust of wind. It reminds me of the stillness you feel in the air just before a snowstorm.
4:47 p.m.The stillness is momentarily broken by the arrival of a California condor, which happens to swoop in for a landing right in front of Julie and her camera. He then proceeds to pose for a photo shoot.
Good-looking fella, aint he?
Ok, maybe they look better when theyre soaring through the air. At a distance.
Anyway, where were we? Oh, right, mesmerizing views:
And selfies.
5:10 p.m.We head back to the van and drive a short distance over to Market Plaza, part of the Grand Canyon Village. For the next two nights, we will be staying at the
Yavapai Lodge, which is part of the group of hotels available inside the park. Given how late I had planned the trip, we were lucky to be here.
When I had first researched this trip, I went straight to the reservations page for the Grand Canyon lodges, knowing that space would be limited and I was getting a late start on booking. When I found a room here for 2 nights, I immediately grabbed it and the planned the rest of the trip around those dates.
The Yavapai wasnt my first choice, but it is one of the more affordable rooms in the park. On our previous trips, Julie and I had been fortunate enough to rent a cabin at the Bright Angel Lodgeour front door was only about 50 feet from the rim. Very cool.
The Yavapai Lodge doesnt have that same location. Its just set in the woods near the market plaza. Rooms here are very basic2 beds and a bathroom. Cinder block walls. You get a TV, but it barely gets any channels. Wi-fi? Forget it. Nothing fancy here. In other words, it worked just fine for us.
The hotel lobby is actually in the same building as the cafeteria, so we figured wed grab dinner once we had checked in. Like the rooms, the cafeteria here is nothing fancy. But they have a nice variety on the menu, so youre not stuck with burgers or chicken strips if you want something different. Ive read complaints about the food, but come on, peopleyoure out in the wilderness. Youre expecting Wolfgang Puck?
We find the food surprisingly decent and even more surprisingly affordable. I go with chicken parmesan, and Julie gets a bread bowl filled with chili.
Meanwhile, Baby Drew sits on the floor next to our table (couldnt find a high chair) and makes weird noises while we eat. Which means its a normal night.
I forget what the kids ate, but I do know that for dessert Dave got a cinnamon roll as big as his face.
6:32 p.m.After dinner, we wander the gift shop a bit. And then Dave happens.
And then Scotty happens.
If youd like to know what exactly theyre doing, well
so would I. Honestly, I dont know where they get that from.
7:27 p.m.Weve driven over to our hotel room (the lodge consists of several out-buildings), dumped our bags, and then driven back to the Visitor Center. Although Arizona is on Mountain Time, they dont follow Daylight Savings Time, which means we traveled back in time by an hour when we crossed the border from Utah. So even though Arizona officially claims to be on Mountain Time, in the summer theyre actually the same as Pacific Time. Got that?
Anyway, it gets hard to keep track of important appointments when youre constantly traveling backwards and forwards in time, but Id made a note that sunset over the Grand Canyon would be at 7:45 p.m. Mountain/Pacifuh, Arizona Time. So were in a bit of a hurry. Naturally, the walk from the parking lot to Mather Point is about 87 miles (give or take 86.5). Naturally, the baby wants to nurse. And naturally, the place is packed with people who want to see the sunset.
7:32 p.m.Somehow, the kids and I speed-walk to the overlook and manage to find a halfway-decent viewpoint. It helps that theres a big rock in the center of the point that we can climb on. Julie takes a few precious minutes to nurse the baby and shut him up so everyone can enjoy the sunset.
7:40 p.m.Sadly, theres still quite a bit of cloud cover. One of the best parts of sunset at the Grand Canyon is that when the sun gets low in the sky, it hits the rock walls of the canyon and makes them blaze with color, while also creating some amazing shadows along the valleys and crevasses. The cloud cover means we dont get as spectacular a light show as we might have seen otherwise. But theres a little bit of sun peeking through, so we at least get a little taste of the Grand Canyons majesty.
We keep playing with the settings on the camera to try and get different shades of color. The clouds may be muting the sun, but its not all bad news. The lower the sun gets, the more the clouds light up with color above.
Some people look at the Grand Canyon and see the forces of erosion taking their toll, as the Colorado River has slowly and relentlessly worked at carving its way through the desert over millions of years. I think its more than that, though. I look at this place and see the hand of an artist at work. Its one of my favorite places, as awe-inspiring now as it was the first time I ever laid eyes on it.
Coming Up Next: Rope Drop in the park. Andhey, is that a family picture that actually turned out well?
So excited to go visit it someday. And how cool that you had a condor cameo!
