The Grand Canyon

Our friend Liz came to visit this week and she wanted to go to the Grand Canyon.  I had never seen it, so I was excited.  We did some research and decided it would be best to make it a two-day trip.  So after school on Friday, Liz and I picked up Stephen at work and we drove to Flagstaff, AZ, where we had hotel reservations.  We had dinner at a truck stop in Grants, NM, and got the the hotel around 9:30 PM.  Here is what our drive looked like.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then set off for the Grand Canyon, another hour and a half away.  On the way, I saw a scenic overlook at the Gorge at the Little Colorado River and asked if we could stop and take some pictures.  All along the route there were Navajo jewelery and craft stands that looked like the makeshift vegetable stands in upstate NY.  They were just setting up when we arrived.

We didn't spend a lot of time here, but we stretched our legs, took some pictures, and used the rest rooms.

We had searched the web for the best way to see the Grand Canyon in a day, and we had a plan.  But before we got to the trail we were headed for, we saw a sign, "First View of the Grand Canyon," and just had to stop.  We were really glad we did, because there was this amazing watchtower to climb:

 Stephen called it "the Navajo Guggenheim" because the stairs and walkways wound around as we went up, and there was art on all the walls. And here is our first view of the Grand Canyon.

It was quite cold and windy at the watchtower, and we all donned all the warm clothes we brought with us.  Our plan was to find the Kaibab trailhead and do a 3 mile round-trip hike.  We hadn't counted on there being snow at the Grand Canyon (who knew?) so none of us brought boots.  But we continued on to the trail head anyway, figuring we'd make a decision when we got there.  We found the road to the trail head without any problem, but the road was closed except to shuttle buses!  So we had to drive to the visitor's center, figure out which shuttle bus route went where we wanted to go, and wait for a bus.  Stephen is not a fan of shuttle buses because he is not the one driving.  But we didn't have a better plan, so off we went.
From the web search I did, I had gotten the impression that we would have to walk a mile and a half to get to the rim of the canyon.  But no -- it turned out that the shuttle dropped us off at the rim and the trail went a mile and a half DOWN INTO the canyon!  Awesome, except for the sign that said, "Icy Trail. Crampons Required."  We were wearing sneakers, and not even trail runners, just basic walking shoes.  We looked down at the trail.

We decided to go down a little ways and see how slippery it was.  I said that whoever got uncomfortable first should speak up and we'd turn around.  Notice there are absolutely no railings on this trail!  Every time we got to a corner, I thought I wouldn't go around the next corner, but then it wasn't so bad.

 

Liz went ahead of us and clowned around.

And the whole time, we had this view.

I decided to climb back up just to see how difficult it was going to be.  It wasn't bad, so I turned to go back down, and saw the mules coming up!  Stephen and Liz were on their way up too, having decided to turn around.  We let the mules pass us so we could stop to take pictures.  The poor mules were pretty hot and sweaty.  I felt bad because it wasn't their choice to take that hike, particularly with big heavy people on their backs.

When we got back up to the rim, I showed Stephen and Liz an overlook.  I decided to see if I could get to it through the snow.  There was a little drop-off to slide down, but I made it.  By this time, it was no longer windy and the sun was quite warm.  We decided to eat our lunch on the rock outcropping overlooking the canyon. 

Stephen stayed a little farther back from the edge and took pictures.

After lunch we got back on the shuttle bus.  We got off at the next stop, the highest elevation look-out on the South Rim.  We walked around and took pictures for 15 minutes until the next bus came.

We left the Visitor's Center around 3 PM to go back to Abq.  With one stop for gas and one for dinner, we made it home by 9:30 PM.  Great day!

Snowy Walk

On Saturday morning, our first day of Christmas vacation, we awoke to snow.  We decided to go for a walk in the open space behind our house.   It was about 40 degrees and the snow was melting, but it was quite windy, so we needed our jackets and hats.

When we got to to the top of a hill, we could see that the snow stopped right in the middle of our development!  The East Mountain area must have had quite a bit of snow, but the city and the West side had nothing.  It was so strange to see the line where the snow ended.

Our house.

Things Are Different Here -- Christmas Tree!

If you want a real tree in ABQ, you can go to a big-box store, or you can go to one of the Christmas tree places that spring up in empty lots in the desert around the end of November.  Actually, there were also a couple of folks selling trees out of the backs of pickup trucks on the side of the road.  You can also buy pinions and chiles from these roadside pick-up trucks, but I haven't had the nerve to try it yet.
I wanted to get our tree at the same place as last year because they were nice to me when I went by myself.  So we drove up to the Northeast near our old apartment and found the same guys.

For 21 consecutive Christmases, Stephen and I argued (negotiated) over the size of the tree.  He always wanted a huge tree and I thought that since he is allergic to them, and we always lived in tiny houses, that we should get a tiny tree.  Then last year we had a big space with high ceilings, but I only had a borrowed truck with a 6' bed, so I got a 6' tree!  This year I told Stephen he could go wild and get whatever tree he wanted.  Much to his disappointment, they didn't have any REALLY tall trees, so he settled for getting the biggest one they had.

 The trees came from Oregon, the proprietor told us.  They have the rows of trees tied to temporary fencing, as you can see above.  The RV, canopy, and a storage trailer make up the rest of the place.

For the first time in many years, I had room to put up every one of my ornaments!

Sumner Lake

Stephen has an excellent sense of direction.  It's sort of an internal GPS with a map and a compass right in his brain.  In the Northeast, he navigates using this sixth sense and when he gets off track, he just takes the next left or right to correct course.  This works really well in the NE where roads connect to other roads every couple of miles.  It can be slightly more problematic out here in the Wild West, where (as we discovered yesterday) if you miss your turn and decide to "take the next left," you can add 100 miles to your trip. 
Our intended destination was Sumner Lake, created by a dam built in 1937 for the purpose of irrigation.  There was a lot of empty land on the way, with long straight roads featuring just enough elevation change so that you could see 5 or 6 miles ahead before cresting the next gentle rise.  We stopped at this dry lake bed because it was the only variation in the landscape we had seen in an hour.

Apparently the locals thought that using the sign for target practice was the point of interest.

  I actually have no idea what happened to extend the trip; I just know that I fell asleep and when I woke up Stephen said he had missed a turn but he knew approximately where we were and we would take the next left.  20 miles later, the next left appeared, with a sign that said "Fort Sumner - 54 miles." 
The thing is, we hadn't really had lunch, which was OK with me but not quite as awesome for Stephen, although I had packed snacks and water and we bought more snacks at a gas station.  Earlier, around lunch time, we had driven through Encino, NM.  This is what the town looked like:

So we bought gas and trail mix and kept going. 
When we finally reached Fort Sumner, Stephen thought he might get his lunch at long last, but even though it was a Saturday afternoon, the ENTIRE TOWN was closed.  Tourist info: closed.  Billy the Kid Museum: closed.  Restaurants: closed.  Stores: closed.  It was actually a little spooky.  We drove through town twice to double-check, then left town to find the lake, about 7 miles away.
Lake Sumner is a state park with a boat launch, camp sites, ranger station, etc.  It was all closed, and there was no one around.  That was OK with us, so we parked at the scenic overlook and walked the Discovery Trail, then along the shore.  It had gotten very cloudy by then, with moody lighting in the late afternoon.

The rock is very porous.  Stephen thought it looked volcanic. 

Close-up of a weirdly eroded rock.

Stephen got some of the local vegetation in his shoe.  Not nice.

 When we had explored as much as we chose, we set my GPS (not the one in Stephen's head) for the fastest route back to ABQ.  When we got to I-40, we finally found some restaurants, and Stephen FINALLY got his meal at a Mexican-American place by the freeway.  I drove the rest of the way home, in the dark, to give him a break.  We did see some pretty cool places, and had a nice day.  Neither of us got bent out of shape by the unexpected detour, and we were fairly well prepared.  But for those of you used to NY and New England, here's some advice.  Always bring water and snacks, and never pass up the opportunity to fill the car with gas!