Road Trippin' - Arizona

Arizona is red. Very red. Actually parts of it are very like the red centre of Australia.  But rather than the odd big rock in the midst of the vast tracts of red dust Arizona has the opposite. Large, deep scars in the earth that make for amazing vistas. Canyon de Chelly near Chinle is one such canyon. Lesser known than the big one everyone visits, it is no less beautiful; just a little less grand. Mum and I hiked from the rim to the canyon floor to see some ancient Anasazi tribal ruins. Like all things in a desert they were remarkably well preserved. Wall petroglyphs were also still in sharp relief. It is interesting to think that native Americans were communicating via rock paintings in much the same manner as the aborigines despite their distinct origins and disparate modes of survival.

Canyon de Chelly

Mum going down....

Me coming up (mum abandoned me earlier!)

 

The canyon was definitely the high point of Chinle. For dinner I ate grey lamb stew with carrots (complete with bite marks from the previous recipient) and potato in hot water. Mum tried to eat roast beef but after eventually getting a corner of the beef off and into her mouth she got a 20 minute jaw work out. Eventually giving up she spat the beef out and it looked completely unchanged. So, trail mix and york mints for dinner it was.

In addition to the canyons, Arizona is rich in sharp weathered rock formations - mesas and buttes that rear up out of the dust in remarkable patterns. Monument valley is quite incredible. We were lucky enough to arrive in the late afternoon and organise a private jeep trip amongst the rock formations for sunset. Note the particularly rare Arizonian wombat behind the petrified tree.

 

And, it seems, Oklahoma follows me wherever I go....

 

We finished our foray into Arizona at the biggest hole in the earth and it was just as grand as it was when Jude and I visited 12 years ago. Only this time I was not trapped on a Japanese tour. Visiting in fall was spectacular – fewer tourists and beautiful colours. However, we did run into some inclement weather. I convinced mum that a light, 12 mile stroll along the rim was a good idea. It was cold but we had all the gear so she acquiesced. Just prior to setting out I decided a toilet stop was necessary. I returned to the deck 3 mins later to find mum looking forlornly out into a snowstorm. A bit early in the season but a decent swirling snowfall. She looks around at me and says in a resigned tone “I suppose we are still going on our walk?” I conceded that we could wait out the snow in the lobby by the fire. Still, we set off half an hour later to an improving skyline. Well that didn’t last and I dragged poor mum along the rim in the snow, hail and sleet with rather repetitive canyon vistas of white cloud. After 4 miles and in a torrential downpour we succumbed to flagging the shuttle and holed up in Hermits rest to drink hot choc by the fire. After a while we started off again but a further 2 miles down the trail mum wisely decided the monotony of the dense cloud was defeating the purpose and caught the shuttle back to the village. Not to be dissuaded I carried on and was rewarded by an eventual late afternoon break in the weather and a very clean, sparkly canyon resplendent with a full rainbow.

 

 

The following morning at sunrise we found 6 female elk grazing on the lodge lawn. They were soon joined by an eager male and decided to move on out of his clutches. We finished our last half day with separate hikes – me down into the canyon (only some of the way as it takes nearly a full day to get to the canyon floor) and mum along the best rim section she had missed the day before. All in all, a grand canyon experience. Thank you Arizona!