Uncategorized – Page 4 – Staying Salty On The Road

A Failure and a Find

Yesterday we decided to look for small adventures around Page, AZ. A fellow camper had told us about a great bike “path” that goes around the rim of the mesa that Page occupies. The “path” turned out to be a singled track off road trail. I quickly found out I am not a mountain biker! We made it about 3/4 mile and then turned around.

It was time to find a different adventure and find one we did! We drove to the Beehive Campground which is about 2 miles from Wahweap, where we are staying. We wanted to check it out as it looked like a boondocker site. Lucky us, as it led us to a most amazing rock formation just up the gravel road to the left. We decided to get out and rock scramble a little. We happened upon a trail, marked by carefully laid out rocks, that circumvented the entire formation. What a thrill! It turns out that the trail has the unofficial name of “The New Wave”. I had read about the wave and had seen pictures of it. It felt like we were there! Thank goodness for the “failure” or we would not have discovered our “find”!

Exhilaration and Exhaustion

Thursday morning we woke up to a very breezy, very chilly day (40*). It was the day we had planned to ride Hermit Road out to Hermit’s Rest. We were tempted to just stay put in our warm and cozy home away from home, but we were scheduled to leave on Friday so the question loomed… ”If not now, when?”. So, we dressed in layers and headed out. The ride was magnificent! Only park shuttle buses and bikes are allowed on Hermit Road so we practically had the entire road to ourselves. The road rolls along the western end of the south rim and the vistas were breathtaking. “Rolls” is a key term because we ended up riding a total of 1200 feet of elevation gain. That’s a lot for us flat landers! It was a tough, 20 mile round trip ride but worth ever pedal stroke. My crystal ball sees Electric bikes under our Christmas tree😉.

Hermit’s Rest, itself, was a charming historic building designed by Mary Colter. She was also the architect of the Dessert View Tower which we were able to visit on Friday as we headed to Page, Arizona. She had an amazing ability to design buildings that seemed to grow out of the landscape.

Oh my, I almost forgot to mention that along the road we came across an Elk bull and his harem. He was bugling and looking very protective of his group of females so we did not linger long!

Bright Angel… Hiney Num-Nums be Damned!

Yesterday we hiked down to the first rest house of the Bright Angel Trail. It is 1&1/2 miles down with a 1200 foot drop in elevation. The views were stunning and changed at each switchback. To say this was a stretch for this height adverse being is an understatement. The hiney num-nums, a term we use to fondly described my physical reaction to heights, only kicked in a few times. I was too busy looking down to make sure I didn’t stumble. Well, what goes down must come up. We trekked back up that 1200 feet like champs! It was another accomplishment that made me very thankful for my bionic knees.

Oh Grand Canyon, It took me 64 years, but you did not dissapoint!

After an hour long wait in line to enter the Grand Canyon National Park, we arrived at our camp site in Trailer Village. We ate a quick lunch and then practically ran to the rim trail. Ed kept saying “slow down” but I could not stand the wait any longer. My first look was everything I had imagined and more. The grandeur was breathtaking and moved me to tears. This response has happened to me a few other times, when first viewing Monet’s water lilies, and when being caught by surprise of the magnificence of Klempt’s ”The Kiss”. This time though, it was God’s work, and he out did himself. We walked a four mile loop from the campsite along the rim trail and each view was as impressive as the next. It had snowed the night before and the temperatures remained chilly enough that the snow in the woods at our campsite did not melt. The Outland Firepit came in handy as wood fires are not allowed here. It was the perfect setting for a celebratory drink!

Our Final Day in Sedona

After a windy and chilly night, the skies began to clear for our last day in Sedona. We attempted to do the Bell Rock hike but the parking lot was a zoo scene. Lucky us though, we instead did the Little Horse trail, which was beautiful and much less crowded. The rock formations around Sedona are astonishing. Unfortunately, so is the traffic. It seems we aren’t the only ones seeking it’s wonder. We ended our stay in Sedona with a delicious meal at the very popular Elote. The first course was Elote, which is an off the cobb version of Street Corn. For our main course I had Lamb Shank in Adobo sauce and Ed had Buffalo Short ribs braised in poblano mole sauce. There might have been a Prickly Pear Margarita or two on the bill too! We are off to the Grand Canyon where it was 19* this morning!

Sedona, land of red rock and vortexes.

We’ve had a busy couple days getting to know the Sedona area. We drove the spectacular Oak Creek Scenic Road which had beautiful scenery and some great National Forest Campgrounds. Next up we fit in a 2 mile hike on the Adobe Jack Trail before we met our guide for a sunset jeep tour. The scenery is breathtaking. We started on an off road trail called the Bear Wallow, but it became to much for this old spine of mine. Scott, our guide, picked up on our intrigue with vortexes and took us to a most amazing spot. It is Columbus Day weekend and the crowds in Sedona show it, but he took us to Rachel’s Knob. It is know for its spiritual energy. Thankfully, we had the place to ourselves. We used devinig rods to locate the zones of highest energy. Ed and I both felt it! I said a quiet prayer of thanksgiving for this amazing earth we inhabit. The trip back to the tour’s home base was stunning with the red rock formations illuminated by the setting sun.

Today we arose early to try to score one of 13 parking spaces to access the Soldiers Pass hiking trail. The lot opened at 8:00 AM sharp and there was actually a policeman to monitor the situation. We were successful! The hike was about 4.5 miles of stunning scenery. We visited the Seven Sacred Pools. They were low on water but you got the sense of how important this water source was to the Native American tribes who inhabited this region long ago. It was a fantastic hike. Afterwards we rewarded ourselves with a nice long nap after a couple of very busy days.

We May Have Gotten a Little Muddy!

It was such fun meeting up with friends from Bellingham that have now settled in the Phoenix area for the winter. We went ATVing in the BLM land north of Phoenix. The land was vast, the trails a bit technical, and Travis succeeded in finding one of the few mud puddles in the whole region! What a blast!

Standing on a Corner in Winslow, Arizona!

On the way from Santa Fe to Sedona we just had to stop for the night at Homolovi State Park, outside of Winslow. Along the way we drove the The Petrified Forest National Park. It was interesting but there was hardly any RV parking and what was there was being used by cars. So, off we went to set up the RV in what turned out to be a well equiped and user friendly campsite. Then it was off to stand on the for-mentioned corner, which for some reason, was important to me. It was a happy place. We had a delicious dinner at The Turquoise Room, turned in early, then awoke to this gorgeous sunrise. Life is good and I am thankful.

If Not Now, When?

Yesterday was one if those days when you really feel like you are living right. Monday the ground winds were too high to fly safely. Today we woke up to rain and a 4:30 AM text from Lisa saying they weren’t flying due possible rain and a wet field. Yesterday, the day we were on scheduled to fly in Pix, there was perfect flying conditions. Light lower level winds and upper level North winds taking us over less developed land for landing purposes. Jim and Lisa, owners of Pix, have been good friends since we met them at our wine tasting group in Texas. Ed had crewed for them a number of times when they flew locally. He had also gotten to fly a number of times but I was too worried about my fear of heights to join them. This time, when the amazing opportunity presented itself, I forced myself to overcome this fear. If not now, when, right? It was incredible, like floating over humanity in a world filled with wonder and beauty; so very peaceful! I didn’t even get the hiney-num-nums! The other thing that was so remarkable was the volunteers who come from around the country to help. They were all as happy as we were. It is a day I will never forget❤️!

Albuquerque Balloon Feista, Day 1

It was a beautiful day to start our Balloon Feista experience. The bright blue skies were only outmatched by the riot color of provided by the balloons. Jim Williams, our pilot, was concerned about the speed of the wind at ground level and chose not to fly. Good choice, the news reported 3 balloons hit electrical wires while attempting to land. We are scheduled to fly in Pix today, winds permitting! Fingers crossed… stay tuned!