fun in the desert
We got up at 6AM, and moved superfast in eating breakfast, showering, and packing up our stuff. We were on the road at 7AM, before the sun came up. As we drove east on I-40, the temperature slowly dropped, and fell to 26F on a few occasions, but also climbed into the 40s a few times.
We made excellent time and got to Sunset Crator National Monument just after 9AM. The park ranger at the visitor's center was super-friendly, and gave us an excellent overview of the park, as well as the area. A couple miles down the road we walked the Lava Flow Trail, which was a mile long trail through, yes, a lava flow. David had a good time looking at the different lava formations, pine cones, and some frost. Two distant mountain peaks actually had snow on them. After that trail, I hiked to the top of Lenox Crator, which was a very steep half mile hike. It was rather disapointing, as I couldn't see much of anything from the top, as it had alot of trees at the summit. Afterwards, we drove north on the loop road to Wupatki National Monument, which has alot of ancient (800+ year old) pueblo ruins. THe views across the painted desert were nothing short of amazing. David really liked exploring the pueblos, and Denise & I had a good time too. I hiked up to the top of Doney Mountain which was another cinder cone, and the views were incredible. I could see for miles in every direction,
and took some great pictures. One of the highlights was this butte (Montezuma's Chair) about 75 miles away. Next we drove up to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. I had been once before over a decade ago, and was really looking forward to going back. We stopped off at the visitor's center, and then drove to the motel (Maswick Lodge). So far, this place seems like a huge improvement over Motel6. We went to dinner at the Arizona Room of Bright Angel Lodge. I liked the architecture & decorations of Bright Angel Lodge, it was very rustic. The dinner was quite good. I'm exhausted after a long, but good & fun day. Tomorrow we explore the entire south rim.