Out of compassion for the bandwidth-deprived among us, I have changed my blog page to include only the links to photos instead of the actual images. I can understand how it could be pretty slow after a while for dial up users... My bad!! *slaps self*

Anyway, I thought I'd drop a couple more pics from the AZ trip here...

As we went down the river, we saw quite a few little falls and cascades, but these are a few of the notable ones...

The is Elves Chasm. It was just a short hike in, and it is not a spectacular fall, but it is very beautiful and lush nonetheless. Really the picture does not do it justice as you really don't get the almost magic feel of the place.

On the first or second day, we passed by a spot called Vasey's Paradise. This was named by John Wesley Powell on his first (and THE first) running of the Colorado through the Grand Canyon. Gorgeous.

This is Deer Creek Falls, which we saw on the fourth day of the trip. It was the tallest fall that we saw and very spectacular. Some folks actually climbed up the trail to see the top of the falls, but we decided that we would just take it easy and relax on the rocks near the bottom.

On our second to last day, we stopped at Havasu Canyon, which is very beautiful (the word almost becomes redundant describing the Grand Canyon "well, it's, uh, beautiful!!") This is the area where my friend sprained his ankle, putting a damper on the rest of his trip. There are many falls and cascades here, and the water is tinted a turquoise blue by the minerals in it.

A Day in the Woods

This post really is nothing to do with my GC trip, but I thought I'd post about it anyway - Yesterday, I took my parents four-wheeling in my Jeep to a place on the coast called Martin Head. The trail to get to it is technically a "road", but you sure would never be able to take a car down it. There were many places especially toward the end, where there were huge puddles (ponds, really) covering the road, washouts, large rocks sticking up, etc. I got a chance to use my Jeep in the way it was meant to be used! And, through all of it, the Jeep worked perfectly - even when going up or down steep, gravelly, washed out sections, never did we even slip a wheel. We went over that stuff like most cars would go over a speed bump. Did I mention I love my Jeep? Well, I do!! :) Also, I think my parents really enjoyed it, since they really don't get out to do much stuff like that (although even in their early 80's, they are pretty good health and are very mobile) Unforunately, I didn't get pictures of the worst stretches of road, since I was kind of occupied at those times navigating between the rocks, but I did get a few that are kind of cool... well, actually my Dad took most of these with his digital camera...

This is looking out the back window at some of the ATVers that were driving down the road behind us.

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Unfortunately, we were caught in a "traffic jam", because some other yahoos going down this road decided to take a detour into the muddy ditch and got stuck - these pictures are him and his buddies trying to get him out of the mudhole... The road itself here was actually in pretty good shape, but for some reason, he decided to try mudding it again. He was sunk in right to the floorboards of his truck...

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Nearing the beach, we did pass the intersection of the Fundy Footpath hiking trail, which I've mentioned many a time to people. Some friends of mine & I did this hike a couple of years ago and hope to go again this Summer. This subtly marked (notice the blaze on the tree beside the trail) marks the continuation of the trail as it crosses the road. This is where we plan to start our hike next time around.

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Finally, after a big drop down, we got to Martin Head beach. This is me with Martin Head behind me. The water was very calm which is unusual for the Bay of Fundy. It had been sunny but was clouding over at this point, making it a little cool.

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A view down the coast...

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After we got back out, we went to Adair's Wilderness Lodge for lunch. It was pretty good and has a great rustic atmosphere. Here's a final pic of me with my Jeep with its mud splatter. The "Toys for Big Boys" trailer behind me was not really intentional, that's where we happened to park. The lodge was having a big ATV poker run event there that day, and a dealer had brought a bunch of new machines to view.

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Anyway, it was a fun day!!

Route 66 to the Grand Canyon

On our way to the Grand Canyon South Rim, we drove along historic Route 66. Here's the spot where we stopped to have lunch. The food was actually not that bad, despite the name!!

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On we went to Grand Canyon South Rim, where we stayed a couple of days. We spent part of one day doing a day hike down the South Kaibab Trail to "Skeleton Point" which is about 3 miles down. It was a great hike and not TOO strenuous. It was getting a little warm by midday though. Here's a good shot looking West in the canyon from Skeleton Point.

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After our dayhike, we went along the West Rim Drive to a spot called Hermit's Rest. Back in the early 1900's a fellow by the name of Louis Boucher (the "hermit" in question) actually operated some accomodations down in the Canyon, which could be accessed by mule. However, after returning to the rim, clients would often stay an extra night there to recuperate from the rough trip up, thus the name. This is a building which was designed by the Architect Mary Coulter, who around 1900 was quite active in designing buildings around the area. It was particularly remarkable in that at the time, there were very few women in the profession. She was one of the first to break with the traditional European style and actually incorporate natural and native elements into her designs. This particular structure at Hermit's Rest is built of local stone and completely blends into its immediate surroundings. I should note that Coulter's style was later adopted by the National Parks Service for much of their buildings and signage and is referred to as "National Parks Rustic".

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Anyway, we after our dayhike and a little touring we did some gift shopping and the next day headed East toward Page, AZ and the beginning of our rafting trip. Yahoo!!

The Best Dam Blog Entry Ever

Well, FINALLY I am updating my blog - yes I know it's been a while and all of you have been waiting with baited breath to see my trip pictures. (ZZZZzzzzzz....) What's that? Wake up!! Anyway, I thought I would give a kind of a chronological account of the trip and the accompanying pics. Some of it is from memory though, so a completely accurate retelling may not be possible!!

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Here is a picture of our first major stop - Hoover Dam. It really is a remarkable piece of engineering, especially for during the depression. It was built from around 1932-36, below budget and ahead of schedule. We went on the tour there and it was quite interesting. What is really cool about it is that despite its practical purpose, the designers and builders put in many nice artistic touches throughout. Even down in the generator area, the floors are marble tiled with Navajo Indian patterns. Many areas (even the dam's intake towers, visible in the picture) are in the clean Art Deco style.

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This is the downstream side of the dam - about 700ft or so down to the bottom. There are many interesting facts about the construction of the dam - the workers were paid up to 3 times the national average wage at the time, but the conditions were bad and the work very dangerous. Many lost their lives during its construction.

After leaving Hoover Dam, we headed east into Arizona. The other folks on the trip had never driven on the famous Route 66 before so we headed along there.

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There's not much of the old Route 66 left - it's been replaced mostly by the interstate(s), but there are a few interesting spots left - real "Americana" type places. I'll post more on that next time, as well as our Grand Canyon day hike shots...