More Utah travels, September 2020 - Central TX; Petrified Forest NP; North Rim - Grand Canyon NP

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Grand Canyon, sunset

Since I last posted we have relocated from NM to central TX.  We are enjoying our time here, happy we made the move.

Back in early-March we started thinking about a trip to Greece when the pandemic hit.  As time went on we knew Greece was out of the question so we started looking at revisiting southern Utah catching some of the areas we missed in April, 2019. 

Our Utah trip kept getting revised over the past couple weeks; mostly related to the pandemic.  We planned on making several stops in the Navajo Nation.  We kept watching the virus updates up to the week before we departed hoping it would reopen, it didn’t happen.  National park camp sites always seem to be full especially in southern Utah.  I visited the recreation.gov site many times hoping for a site to open.  I struck it big finding a site in Zion NP for four nights; it even fit our schedule.  I grabbed that one, happy with our luck.  Our other big change was bypassing Albuquerque, missing out on visiting our friends.  NM has a 14-day quarantine in effect for any out of state visitor.  The rules didn’t change when we passed through the state and again on our way home.  We will catch up with them next time.

We are taking our cooler filled with meals for four weeks instead of the seven we did for Alaska.  While the plan worked well we want to improve our technique.  Dry ice and packing the meals with better organization are my main focus.  We want to keep our premade meals: chicken fajitas, chicken ala king, eggplant parmesan, and salmon, among others, frozen until we want them.   It’s quite nice to pull out a prepared dinner; reheat it, add a salad then dine.  In addition we have several prepared vegetables and breakfasts.  As it turns out we ate out only three or four times during our trip.  Our only challenge was to find dry ice along our route.

Very Large Array

We are ready for a break from the 100° heat we have been experiencing in central TX the past several weeks.

We depart with dark rain clouds on the horizon.  For the first half of the day we drive through light rain, heavy rain and no rain.  By midafternoon, in western TX, the clouds have disappeared and mid 90’s have returned.  The green of the hill country becomes a little more brown and with the flat land agriculture appears; sorghum, cotton and pecan groves.  Along with the agriculture we see oil being pumped, and along ridges, wind farms are producing electricity.  We also notice the uniquely ornate courthouses passing through several small towns.

Very Large Array

Mesas make their appearance as we cross into NM.  Scrub brush covers the land and the sky opens with wide views.  We drop into the Rio Hondo river valley outside of Roswell on our way to Capitan, home of Smokey Bear.  Unfortunately this is Labor Day weekend so the place is packed with visitors and campers.  We have to leave the cool forest of Capitan dropping into the valley near Carrizozo to stay for the night.  Finding an RV park next to a motel we setup under a tree and relax, a breeze making the afternoon very comfortable.  After dinner we walk from one end of Carrizozo to the other.  As the sun sets, wildlife comes alive.  We spot and hear a great horned owl perching on posts and in trees, alert for dinner.  The only drawback to this location is the 5 – 6 trains that passed by throughout the night on the tracks on the opposite side of the road.

Petrified Forest National Park

Being back in NM we hear the call of a breakfast burrito.  We stop at Sofia’s Kitchen in Socorro to appease our appetite.  Egg, bacon and cheese with hot green chile; we are satisfied.  An hour later we spot the radio antennas of the Very Large Array on the Plains of San Augustin.  The visitor center is closed but we are able to stop along the road for some photos of the antennas.  Continuing west we climb higher, traveling through forest land.  We come to Pie Town, which has been home to pie shops since the 1920’s, the Gatherin’ Place is the only one open today.  They have a selection of at least a dozen pies; we decide on the blueberry/peach.  We have to wait, they will be out of the oven in 15 minutes.  People are constantly coming and going; coming empty handed, going with smiles and pies.  The single serving pie is delicious, but we have the will power to eat only half of it to start.  The road continues west through the mountains finally dropping to lower elevation as we approach Petrified Forest National Park.

Petrified Forest National Park

The park has two entrances making it a drive through park.  The road through is 20+ miles long with many viewpoints and trailheads.  The park is only open during daylight hours.  We arrive shortly before closing so we hit the Giant Logs trail near the south visitor center.  The shop inside the visitor center is open but the exhibits are closed.  A park ranger located outside answers any questions we have about the park supplying us with suggestions regarding the best trails and viewpoints given the limited time we have.  We find that all the National Parks on this trip operate the same way; shops open, exhibits closed, and a ranger to answer questions.  Talking with one of the park personnel we find visitation here has been about 40% of normal.

We stay at the free campground for the night, next to the Crystal Forest Gift Shop.  There are  no facilities, but there is a picnic table so we enjoy our dinner outside.  It turns out we are the only ones staying the night.  Once the National Park closes and the gift shop closes it gets very quiet, and dark.  We stay up, taking advantage of the dark skies photographing the Milky Way.

I have seen petrified wood before but never with the wide range of colors seen here.  Sizes range from small shards resembling wood chips to cross sections of trees.  The trees grew here during the Late Triassic Period.  They died, or were knocked down, washed down riverbeds and covered by sediment.  The tree cells absorbed the ground water and silica and over millions of years turning it to quartz.  Different minerals create the different colors.  Some areas of the park are filled with petrified wood, others are devoid of it; still buried under the sand.

Blue Mesa

In addition to the petrified wood, concentrated towards the south end of the park there are; fossils, petroglyphs from prehistoric peoples, and a pueblo from recent native Americans.  Blue mesa is another area to be seen.  The road winds in an out of the blue/purple bentonite clay hills.  A one mile hiking trail puts you up close and personal with the hills.  Continuing north we see the painted desert.  This is a wild area accessible by the main park road, or by foot.  Blowing dust and hazy conditions force us to save this part of the park for another time.

Painted Desert

The wind persists through the night and into the next day as we depart Holbrook for the north rim of the Grand Canyon.  Many of the people at the RV park pulling trailers or driving large motorhomes decline to battle the wind.  Winds have never bothered us given the small profile of our popup camper.  We cannot tell where the haze ends and the blowing dust begins as we travel north of Flagstaff.  Once we cross the Colorado River just south of Page, AZ, the mountains near Flagstaff are shadows against the hazy sky.  Passing the Vermillion Cliffs then climbing up the Kaibab Plateau we are back into forest.  Forest roads leading north of 89A are closed, we find out later that the area was evacuated just over a month ago due to wild fires.  Jacob Lake campground was only recently reopened.  Our reservation for the north rim campground was cancelled only a few weeks earlier due to failure of one of the water pumps bringing water to the north rim.  We are not certain if and what camping we will find.  After speaking with the camp host at Jacob Lake, about 30 miles from the North Rim entrance we find out there are open sites at Demotte campground only five miles from the park entrance.  Demotte campground is nice, we find a site, set up, and have eggplant parmesan for dinner.  The wind is still blowing as we walk the campground.  We find maps of the north rim, and study them intently figuring out tomorrow’s plan of action.  Cold temperatures are expected overnight; mid 20’s.  We zip together our two sleeping bags adding a fleece blanket in preparation for the cold.

Grand Canyon National Park – North Rim

Point Imperial

It sure is nice being able to reach from the bed to turn on the furnace.  Within five minutes the camper is warm enough to get out of bed, first - coffee…

Angel's Window

The truck thermometer says 33.  Heading off to the Grand Canyon we notice the wind has stopped.  The road to the park passes through open meadows, pine forests and skeletons of pine trees still  standing after a long ago wildfire.   Once in the park we take the turnoff to Point Imperial and Cape Royal, 15+ miles from the main road.  The view from Point Imperial is amazing.  We are able to see the Vermillion Cliffs rise above the valley, these are the same cliffs we had driven along to get here.  We see a long narrow gash in the  earth widening as it flows to the southwest, the start of the Grand Canyon.  We were told the view from the north rim is very different than the south rim.  The north rim is a long way from the Colorado River so we see many feeder canyons leading to the Colorado.  From the south there is more of a vertical drop from the rim to the Colorado.  It is quiet here; no vehicle noise, no jet noise, people stand in awe of what they are seeing not able to talk.  It is not crowded; we see maybe 20 people the time we are here.

Cape Royal

The views from Cape Royal are equally stunning, with different formations to contemplate.  We get a small glimpse of the Colorado River a small blue-green stripe at the bottom of the canyon surrounded by miles of red rock.

Bright Angel Point

The visitor center at Bright Angel Point is closed.  A park employee gives us a small piece of paper with the date and ‘official’ Grand Canyon cancellation stamp.  No Grand Canyon stickers for our passport books are available, we have order them online.  We order food at a bar/restaurant picking it up at a take-out window across the courtyard.  Only 1/3 of the many tourist cabins are available, the pandemic and water pump issue mentioned earlier limiting the occupancy.  Even with these limitations we see a few hundred people enjoying the views, picnicking and hiking.  We can see where the main channel of the Grand Canyon is but there are too many formations blocking our view of the river itself.  The haze comes and goes, but there is always some haze present.  We drive to the Widforss trailhead, a possible hike enabling us to see the Grand Canyon from yet another viewpoint.  We spot a sign for Point Sublime.  I have read of Point Sublime in my research but did not pursue it, thinking it is a point far removed from the main park.  Finding this piques our interest for another off-road adventure.

Bright Angel Point

Entering the park the next day we inquire about Point Sublime.  The ranger has never been there; it is a great view, a high clearance 4WD vehicle is needed to get there, and she has maps.  Everything we need.  Another park employee suggests we speak with park security for better information on road conditions since someone from security goes out there each day.  A security volunteer highly suggests we do the trip.  There are two ways out there, he suggests the forest roads which run very close to the Demotte campground, where we are staying.  It is a 28 mile drive and we should expect it to take us two plus hours to get there.  Our plan for tomorrow is set.

Angel's Window

Bright Angel Trail -
lower portion of image

Cape Royal

Cape Royal

Cape Royal

Today we visit the same points we did yesterday but in reverse order.  Being photographers we want different lighting conditions.  Features from the canyon that were in shadow yesterday stand out with the sun coming from a different direction.  We bring our long lenses for finding individual features in the canyon.  We also hike a few of the short trails near each of the viewpoints seeing other aspects of the park.  We stop at Cape Royal to take in the sunset, there we witness shadows from one set of formations crawl across the next set.  The communion of people sit silently witnessing the sun slide below the distant horizon.

Cape Royal

Our return drive takes almost an hour.  Many deer are out having dinner.  By the time we arrive the Milky Way is out, easily spotted with the naked eye under the dark skies.

Point Sublime

The next morning we study the map for Point Sublime, we reread the instructions with mile markers called out for turns and splits in the road.  We have two Garmin GPS units.  One for the truck and the one for emergencies.  Both have displays so we have a good idea of roads and turns.  The first several miles are gravel forest roads in various conditions.  Continuing further the road becomes a two track with very few turnouts making us wonder what we will do when we come upon someone traveling the opposite direction.  The unnerving part came when both of the GPS units went blank - no roads.  They are still tracking us but on a blank screen.  After 20 minutes of blank screens roads start reappearing with names of the roads we are expecting.  Almost two hours into our trip, about a half mile from our destination we see the first people since we started our expedition.  Fortunately the road is wide so we can easily pass.  They were awestruck by the view “It was worth the drive”.  Five minutes later we arrive at Point Sublime.

Point Sublime

We step out of the truck to a spectacular view of the canyon.  We cross to the opposite side of the point seeing an equally spectacular but totally different view.  Then we walk out to the point putting everything together, a 270° panorama of the Grand Canyon.  It is breathtaking.  There are only a handful of people here to view this spectacle.  We shoot images, stop to take in the view then shoot some more.  We spot a small piece of the Colorado River.  Two families are camping up here.  To camp one needs a backwoods pass, and a reservation.  From their description it is not something one easily obtains.  After the excitement of viewing the canyon from this viewpoint we settle down for lunch, enjoying the view.  We face the inevitable, we have to go back.  We are thrilled at finding this place; first - that we even found out about it and, second - that we are able to make it here.  A return trip with an overnight stay is definitely on our list of things to do.

We meet two other vehicles during our two hour return.

Cape Royal

Cape Royal

Finding a dispersed campsite for the night we make ourselves comfortable.  The next morning we have an emergency;  I am not able to light the stove, our handheld lighter doesn’t want to light.  We try our tricks of holding it by the furnace outlet to warm it, but no luck…  Coffee is a necessity.  We are a long way from a coffee shop so I have to come up with something.  I hear the water heater burner heating the water so I look around for some cardboard then head outside.  After two or three tries I am able to light and keep the cardboard lit long enough to get back inside the camper then light the stove.  I’m thankful it isn’t windy!  Disaster averted.  BTW we bought an additional lighter, and matches just in case…

Thank you for stopping by,

Mark