Friday, July 13, 2012

GRAND CANYON NORTH RIM PART II

July 12th, Thursday

Today was our day to head back into the North Rim and tour the 23 mile Cape Royal Scenic Road. This road is extemely windy, steep, and narrow. It offers some incredible views of the Canyon. We stopped at several places and did short hikes out to the overlooks.

 We learned that the Ancestral Puebloans populated this area as well as the rest of the Canyonlands from Mesa Verde to here. Here they lived in the valley by the Colorado River in winter and moved up to the Plateau in the summer where they grew the same crops of corn and beans. It is amazing to us that these ancient people populated so many areas and grew the same things and had many of the same customs. Was it a nomadic existence or did they all just figure out how to survive on the same human level of survival of the fittest? There are documented dwellings here as there are in the other Canyonlands National Parks but none to the extent of Mesa Verde. The Hopi are said to be the relatives of these people as well as the ones at Mesa Verde. The Navajo say they are "Anasazi" or in other words, "not one of us."


Point Imperial was our first stop.
Mount Hayden
Vista Encantada

Next stop was Roosevelt Point which had a brief .2 miles walk


As Teddy Roosevelt said, "Leave it as it is......" To see the entire quote, double click on this picture.



We crossed the Walhalla Plateau and stopped at the Walhalla Overlook. This is where we saw the Ancestral Pueblan ruins.




And finally, to Cape Royal trail with a round trip of about a mile out to some incredible sights, including the Angel"s Window and the Colorado River.
Angel's Window with View of Colorado River


We finished our day by 2pm and headed back to the RV. We have decided to cancel our reservations in the park and head down to Sedona. This will bring us closer to Phoenix for my flight on Sunday to see my daughter for a week. While I'm away, Tim will be in Coconino National Forest just outside of Sedona where he will hopefully do some "catching."

1 comment:

  1. Beautiful pictures! So glad you are having fun! We were in Coconino about five years ago - it was gorgeous - but they have those hissing creatures there - watch out...I HATE hissing creatures.

    Stay on the path there, Irish man - safe journey to Kate...

    xoxo

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