Arizona Trip

 


The trip began with a 90-mile drive northward
from Phoenix to Sedona. What a gorgeous setting
for this artistic community! The surrounding red
rock cliffs, buttes, and mesas are dramatic.
At an elevation of 4500 feet, the climate is
temperate .

 

 

 

There are surrounding residential communities
on the rolling landscape. These homes
must have great evening views from their decks.

 

While in Sedona I stayed in the Southwest Inn, a very nice accommodation, but if I were to return with
plans to linger in luxury, I'd stay in the Enchantment Resort. It's located in a beautiful canyon at the
edge of town. The approaching road gives you a preview of the resort's setting.

 

Short walks in the Sedona area reward you with opportunities to picnic, stretch out in the sun,


pray to ancestral gods,

 

 

 


or worship more "conventionally."





The winding highway north from Sedona rises to
7,000 feet at Flagstaff. As the road continues
northwest of Flagstaff toward the South Rim of
the Grand Canyon, the scenic drive passes the
San Francisco Peaks, the remnant of an ancient
volcano. Mt. Humphreys, the peak on the left,
at 12,600 feet is the highest point in Arizona.

 

 

May was clearly a good month for this trip.
The weather was ideal, and facilities were not yet
crowded with summer tourists. I was able to get
a room in the El Tovar Hotel right on the South
Rim of the Grand Canyon with only a day's notice.
This old, elegant hotel offers reasonable room
rates, fine dining, and unbeatable convenience
for visiting the Canyon.

 



The Canyon is most dramatic at sunrise and
especially at sunset, when the shadows and colors
on the Canyon walls rapidly change. The sunset
pictures to the right and below illustrate these
changing patterns of light.

There is a path along the edge of the South Canyon rim for several miles. The next morning after a nice breakfast at the El Tovar, I walked a few miles along this path, then drove east along the South Rim road
on my way out of the park and back to Phoenix. The following four pictures were taken during that morning. The last of these is a picture of the Little Colorado River Canyon taken outside of the park.