In case you haven’t heard, it’s been sizzling hot here in
the Southwest, and Grand Canyon is no exception. Susan and I have been enduring 90, 92, and 93
degree days for about 10 days now. I
know our friends back in Atlanta have been getting rain (and lots of it!)
because our water bill has been running exceptionally low for this time of
year. In a couple of weeks, the Grand
Canyon should also be getting rain in the form of monsoons – intense rains with
a lot of lightning and thunder. That should
make the tours more interesting for sure, running in and out of my bus!
The thing about the heat is that our tiny cabin isn’t air
conditioned. I did have Home Depot send
us a swamp cooler which has helped some.
I can’t imagine what the heat would be like without it. Working at the Hopi House, Susan has AC only upstairs in the gallery; only fans downstairs.
When Mary Jane Colter built the Hopi House in 1905, the Hopi artisans
(weavers, potters, jewelry makers) were actually living upstairs on the 2nd
and 3rd floors. Of course, Colter would never have created a
building with AC anyway. She lived on
the Hopi reservation for several months to learn about their pueblo buildings,
so she could re-create them here for Grand Canyon visitors.
And speaking of Hopi, we went out to Hopi Point for sunset one evening. We can already feel the days are starting to get shorter.
On our day off, we went hunting for some pictographs that one of the drivers told me about. They are out the east entrance road.
Never did find them, but got some interesting plant pictures - Indian Paint Brush and prickly pear cactus. Need to get better instructions and try again!
The swirls in these rocks reveal that this area was once under water. But here we are at 7-thousand feet! Amazing geology with the Colorado Plateau being uplifted by plate tectonics.
We did a short hike down to a place I've been wanting to go to. GREAT name - Ooh Aah Point! It's on the South Kaibab Trail and is about 1.5 miles down into the Canyon. The name says it all.
South Kaibab Trail zig-zags behind us all the way to the Colorado River, another 7 miles from Ooh Ahh Point.
And from Ooh Aah, we can see the rest station below us - Cedar Ridge. That is 3 miles down and the water was out. So we didn't go there.
180 degree panorama at Ooh Aah Point.
Down is optional; up is mandatory. As we started up the South Kaibab Trail, the incredible layers of the Grand Canyon were easy to see.
As you can see, South Kaibab is a very steep trail.
Finding shade along the South Kaibab Trail was at a premium.
Another sunset from Hopi Point.
I'm still trying to decide if Hopi Point or Mohave Point has the best sunset location. Will keep you posted. 😊