Day 9 - June 9th - Travel to Grand Canyon North Rim

Today is our longest travel day at 351 miles.  The driving time between all the other parks was between 2 and 4 hours so it gave a lot of time to stop and sightsee along the way; however, today we had 6 hours of straight driving, so it didn't leave much wiggle room for side trips and still make it to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon by dinner time.  We were up by 6:15 and on the road by 7:00, hit the McDonald's in Cortez for a little breakfast and back on the road by 8:15.

Just on the outskirts of Cortez, on US Highway 160, a bird flew in front of our car and Terry yells "That's a Phainopepla".  "A what?" I said.  "A Phainopepla, it's unmistakable!!"  And there you have it, Terry had just added another bird to his life list, and thanks to him, so did I (although I don't officially have a life list, I've just been content to follow along and see what he sees).  It was all about to change, though (more on that later).

A few miles down the road we ran into some roadwork that held us up for about 15 minutes. We used the time to chat with the flag man, a very friendly guy.  He gave us a tip that if we were in the market for some Indian handicrafts that the best place to get them was at Four Corners Monument. They have the most reasonable prices. As luck would have it, we were heading there anyway so when we got there, after taking the requisite pictures of the monument, we checked out the Indian artwork, pottery, jewelry and crafts.  There were so many beautiful things to choose from that I had a very hard time making a decision.  We finally settled on a Wedding Vase.  The two necks represent the two individuals in the marriage united as one.

This stop at Four Corners was one of Terry's favorite stops.  He loved interacting with the Indians and talking to them about their art.  I think we will have to be making another trip back there because he really wanted an arrow and has regretted not buying one while he was there.

After Four Corners we headed out for Monument Valley.  Unfortunately we didn't have time (we thought - will explain later) to actually go into the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park to take the 17 mile dirt road self-guided tour.  We figured it would take at least 2 hours with all the stops for photo taking, besides the Ptarmigan was shuddering at the thought of another dirt road after it's experience on the Cottonwood Canyon Road (see Day 3 of our adventure).  So we viewed whatever we could see from the highway and drove back into Kayenta, ate some lunch at the Burger King and were off again for Grand Canyon.  

After Kayenta we continued along Hwy 160 for another 90 miles to Tuba City.  After looking at the map and then looking at the gas gauge, I was sure we needed to stop and fill up our gas tank as the prospects didn't look good between Tuba City and the Grand Canyon.  Well, after much, let's say, "discussion" about whether or not it was necessary to get gas, he accommodated my request.  Unfortunately, the pumps were down at the first station we tried.  We went across the street and they also had a problem, but this was with the "pay at the pump" system, so Terry went inside and paid for the gas, we pumped, and we were on the way.

A few miles outside of Tuba City we turned north on US Hwy 89 towards Page for another 42 miles.  There was absolutely nothing along this road except for one lonely gas station in a place on the map called The Gap.  The station actually looked like it had only recently been built.  So once again, Terry was right, there were other places to get gas, but I'd much rather be safe than sorry.

We turned off of Hwy 89 onto Alt 89 and crossed the Colorado River at Lee's Ferry/Marble Canyon.  We stopped and got out to take pictures.  At this stop there as a huge pedestrian bridge across the canyon.  We ventured out onto it, far enough for me to take a picture of the rafters in the river far, far below.  As I was standing there on the bridge, with the wind blowing, thousands of feet in the air, I suddenly felt vulnerable.  I couldn't help but think "this would be a terrible time for an earthquake".

 

  Moving on, pushing steadily towards the Grand Canyon, the road followed alongside the Vermillion Cliffs for miles and miles.

We finally reached Jacob Lake and turned south through the Kaibab Plateau toward Grand Canyon.  We finally arrived at our destination at 4:45 with plenty of time to rest up before dinner.  

Immediately upon parking the car, Terry made a beeline towards the canyon edge.  I was really hoping that he would go directly to the lodge because I had heard the view from the lodge looking out into the canyon was jaw dropping, an "Oh my God" experience for people who had never seen the canyon before.  So much for that idea.  Anyway, just as we reached the edge of the canyon I spotted a beautiful blue bird that Terry advised me was a Stellar's Jay (another first for me).  I tried to photograph it, but found out quickly that birds are not very cooperative.  But that gave me the idea that maybe I should use the video camera to try to photograph birds and wildlife, that way I would have more frames in which to catch them on film.

Moving on from the canyon edge we headed to the lodge to check in.  Upon checking in we got a big surprise when we found out that Arizona was on a different time zone from Colorado and that it was actually 3:45.  We would have had time to do Monument Valley Tribal Park after all.  Oh, well.  Another reason to return to the southwest.

We sent the rest of the afternoon hiking the trails around the lodge, working up a big appetite for the wonderful dinner that awaited us.