No early departure today. Tom and I got to sleep in since we didn’t need to leave until Michele’s flight arrived (expected around 11:30am). Her flight arrived early and she called at around 11am. Tom and I made the short ride over to the Phoenix airport, picked up Michele and headed north out of Phoenix leaving behind the 98F heat. Like we discovered in Albuquerque, NM, the city does a nice job of decorating the highway overpasses and structures. Too bad the Beltway at home doesn’t look like this.
Approximately 90 miles north of Phoenix we had climbed to around 5k feet in elevation and were seeing temperatures in the high 70s. We stopped for a late lunch and then continued on the remaining140 miles to the Grand Canyon.
With Michele on board, I can now share some in route photographs. In addition to the cooler temperatures that came with the increased elevation, the scenery and plant life also changed. Cacti in the lower arid desert were traded for pine trees on the high plains.
Approximately 90 miles north of Phoenix we had climbed to around 5k feet in elevation and were seeing temperatures in the high 70s. We stopped for a late lunch and then continued on the remaining140 miles to the Grand Canyon.
With Michele on board, I can now share some in route photographs. In addition to the cooler temperatures that came with the increased elevation, the scenery and plant life also changed. Cacti in the lower arid desert were traded for pine trees on the high plains.
We also watched Humphrey Mountain, whose shadow Flagstaff, AZ sits in, grow larger in its dominance of the skyline. Snow still covered the top of the high peak (12,600 ft) providing a stunning landscape.
We arrived at the Grand Canyon National Park at approximately 4pm local time. The temperatures had settled to a very comfortable 75F.
We arrived at the Grand Canyon National Park at approximately 4pm local time. The temperatures had settled to a very comfortable 75F.
We all got checked in to our cabins and then headed out for dinner at Bright Angel’s Arizona Room restaurant. After dinner we walked up to the historic El Tovar lodge, which was uncharacteristically designed to look like a Norwegian chalet.
Tomorrow we’ll spend all day in the park playing tourist, hopefully getting an early start for the best morning light.
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