SOUTHWEST ROAD TRIP, Part 1, Arizona: Guest Post by Susan Kean

Hotel Monte Vista, Flagstaff, AZ, where we stayed.

My friend Susan Kean and her partner George love to travel and recently did a driving trip from Southern California to Arizona, New Mexico and the Four Corners area of Colorado and Utah. I thank her for sharing her report and wonderful photos with The Intrepid Tourist. Her post will appear in three parts.

Approaching Sedona, Arizona.

The first stop on our adventure of exploring Arizona and New Mexico was Flagstaff. I was expecting a large town like Phoenix! What an interesting place! We stayed one night in a funky hotel, the Hotel Monte Vista. 

Museum inside the old railway station in Flagstaff.

After going to the Visitor’s Center in the old Railway Station and paying our respects to Route 66 we spent a couple of hours at the Museum of Northern Arizona before continuing to the View Hotel in the NavajoTribal Park in Monument Valley. 

Northern Arizona Museum in Flagstaff. Pottery found in adobe dwellings.

View Hotel, Navajo Tribal Park in Monument Valley.

What a glorious place! I’m so glad we chose to stay two nights. 

Buttes. The butte farthest to the left is called the elephant.

We had time to wrap ourselves in the glorious desert scenery and feeling of the presence of an Almighty creator. We are trying to learn as much as possible about our country’s native peoples. 

Buttes.

The sun literally popped up over the horizon.

Part 2 will post next week.

GRAND CANYON: Hike on the South Kaibob Trail, guest post by Tom Scheaffer

On the South Kaibob Trail of the Grand Canyon in Arizona

In early November my brother Tom and two friends took a trip to Northern Arizona and visited the Grand Canyon and Sedona. He has graciously shared a report of his trip and some of his beautiful photos.

View of the Grand Canyon from the South Kaibob Trail

We flew from our  home in San Diego to Phoenix, rented a car, and drove to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, where we stayed overnight in a hotel (the Maisik Lodge.) The next morning we got up before dawn and went to the rim so we could see the sun come up over the canyon. It was a beautifully clear and cold morning. At 7,000 feet altitude the temperature at the rim was below freezing!

View at sunrise from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon

After breakfast back at our hotel, we took a shuttle bus to the trail head for the South Kaibob Trail and set off on our walk.

Looking down the South Kaibob Trail

The first part of the walk consists of steep switchbacks down the cliff face. The views are amazing.
We walked for about two miles into the canyon to a rest stop, where we found a sheltered place behind some rocks and ate our picnic lunch.

Tom at a great view spot on the South Kaibob

We then retraced our steps back to the top, the whole time going up and down–none of the trail was level and much of the trail is steps. Going back was much slower than going down. We were lucky there was no heat to deal with as there is when hiking during the summer. The crisp fall air made perfect hiking weather.

Red rocks of Sedona, Arizona

On our drive back to Phoenix we stopped in the town of Sedona for a night. Our hotel had a beautiful view of the spectacular red rock formations Sedona is famous for. Altogether, we had a short but inspiring trip.

Go the Grand Canyon National Park website for more information about visiting the Grand Canyon.
In the winter of 2014, Tom went another trip to the Grand Canyon, that time with a friend who hiked down the South Kaibob Trail and back up to the rim on the Bright Angel Trail (more than 20 miles round trip!) For Tom's Intrepid Tourist report of that trip, click HERE.