Another Wonder of the world
Trip Start
Jul 26, 2010
1
5
27
Trip End
Aug 23, 2010
Where I stayed
Kanab, Utah
Friday, July 30, 2010
Another Wonder of the World
A leisurely start and a picturesque drive up through Zion Canyon and out via a mountain tunnel down towards Mt. Carmel. Another beautiful day so far, but much cooler as we climbed away from Zion. We had been used to temperatures in the 100s so far, but as we moved east, it became much more pleasant, only in the 80s!!
Down into Kanab mid-morning where we stopped off at a small J C Penney's store where there was a special discount promotion on Levi jeans! Steph’s jeans had finally given up the ghost during the move to Syresham, i.e. the threaded kneecaps gave way and left her with a very cheap form of designer jeans. We had time to kill on our "rest day", so opted to drive the 80+ miles to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, mainly to check out the trailhead and confirm our booking for Phantom Ranch, at the bottom of the canyon. Kanab is famous as a Western film location: “The greatest earth on show”, as the town sign says. Typical Western film scenery – flat plains, mesas, buttes – didn’t see any tumbleweed, however. The drive to the North Rim took us through desert plains and then we climbed up into the North Kaibab Forest and beyond, over 8000 feet up. The temperature had been in the 100s in Zion, but by the time we hit the road to the Grand Canyon National Park entrance, it had fallen to 58 degrees – quite a contrast. The TV had predicted thunder storms for today and the clouds were heavy. We did have a few heavy bursts of rain, but seemed to be avoiding the worst of the storms.
We confirmed our hike down into the canyon and walked along to Bright Angel point for stunning views of the Canyon. It is very hard to describe the scale and grandeur of the Canyon. The rains had cleared the skies a little, so that the usual Canyon haze had cleared a little to help with taking clearer photos. It is so easy to become blasé about the scale of this awesome sight. We strolled around the rim taking in the various views, our thoughts on tomorrow’s trek down and more so on Sunday’s trek back up the canyon!
As we drove back to Kanab, the first stages of the storms set in and worsened as we approached our motel. Then finally the heavens opened – torrential downpours, thunder and lightning – the works! Having checked in to the motel, the TV informed us of the severity of the storms for the rest of the day and the prospects for Saturday and Sunday were no better. We could see the headlines already: “Shock! Horror! Two English tourists frazzled by lightning on the North Rim!”
We’ve at last realised that neither of us can finish a whole portion of a dish in American diners and asked to share our Chicken pasta alfredo – now we are beginning to feel like 2 OAPs! I’m even tempted to ask for the “Seniors” discount, but the pride is still strong! One of the waitresses – tall, leggy blonde (nice!) was sporting a holster in true Western tradition. When she turned round, the holster revealed a very dangerous collection of straws for the obligatory glass of iced water!
The TV weather station was showing shots of floods, then wild fires in LA and reports of unusually cool temperatures on the Pacific Coast – more global confusion than global warming.
