Adventure 317: South Rim Grand Canyon/Post F

We spent our last day cleaning (It's all part of the fun). We scrubbed the floor, the toilet, and did the laundry. We also packed for Hawaii, our next adventure, but since Fric and Frac can't swim nor fly, this will be our last post until we resume our adventures next January. .

But since it's Halloween, let's get scary. Suppose America decides to call Donald Trump, Mr. President. OK, let the groping begin. The first outcome of deporting the criminals will be riots like we've never seen before (Sound familiar?) Brown, Black, White, Red, and Yellows will start pointing things  at each other. Fires will start, which will melt the already fragile social fabric. Jobs will not return (It will hurt profits). The climate will be so toxic, everyone's attention will be diverted to survival. Civil wars will ensue. America's own internal battles and chaos will send the world into a economic spiral. The world economy will disintegrate. The chaos, believe me, will be worse than the Great Depression. Hackers and other evil doers will crash what's left of confidence, and despots all over the world flex their muscles in an effort to replace America's greatness. Putin will lash out in Europe. China will attempt domination of the East. The Arab states will bubble and boil. North Korea will enter the fray like spoiled child with a poisonous snake. These not so petty power grabs escalate into the inevitable world war. Everyone will retaliate, and sadly, we will all fry like fritters. Trick of Treat.

OK, nobody liked that. I know I didn't. It's why I avoid horror movies. Let's hope none of these horrors occur. Meanwhile, back to reality as we know it.  After our house cleaning, we took the shuttle to Yaki Point, which means we've experienced every view from the South Rim. We walked back just to get some steps in, and also to enjoy the ever changing view along the rim trail. The Grand Canyon is much like Utah in that there is so much to see. When we spent time in Utah, I began by thinking that once you've seen one red rock, you've seen them all. I learned that was not the case. The same is true here. Every marked sight is worth seeing, and there are just as many unmarked sights worthy of discovering, too. We've enjoyed our time here, and if you have never been, this place is a must see. It puts things into perspective, and from our perspective (Despite my Halloween diatribe), life is good, so make life good, especially today.

 The view West from Yaki point.

 The view East from Yaki Point. That pointed peak in the distance is called Vishnu. The early explorers felt the canyon structures looked like temples, so they began giving them names of gods.

 Let's not get drastic. The 2016 election results won't last forever.

 If we were a little younger, we may have acquired a permit to  hike rim to rim.

Art shot of the day: Don't hurt the snakes.

Adventure 316: South Rim Grand Canyon/Post E

Mary Colter's Desert View Tower

Waiting for the World Series to begin, I'm posting from the Yavapai Lodge in the Grand Canyon Market Place because they have WIFi.  On the big screen, broadcasting in its fair and balanced way is Fox News (We are in Arizona after all). The current host, Brett Bauer, is busy, along with his panel of "experts", vilifying Hillary for the latest unsubstantiated e-mail bombshell lobbed by Director Comey of the FBI. That's not what interests me. What interests me is the gaggle of gabbing gooses (About eight of my fellow Americans) who are scratching and squawking like they're fighting for the last speck of Havasupai corn meal. One comment, "There is a God! Lock her up!" Another, "Most men talk like that. I don't hold that against him, but If my husband had done what Bill did to Hillary, they'd find him in the Bay (San Francisco). Another, "Finally, the powers of justice have overrun the Corrupt Clinton machine." The talk ratcheted up like a shark feeding frenzy until the same guy repeated as he walked out, "There is a God; keep believing!" I can appreciate a difference of opinion, but I'm at a loss when people jump to conclusions. If I'm not mistaken, the FBI found no cause for criminal prosecution in July, and what's more, any conclusions from this latest vacuous disclosure by Director Comey is premature. He hasn't even had time to read the e-mails on Weiner's machine, much less validate and determine consequence. Why then do my fellow Americans think it's OK to convict Hillary on the face of it? How is it even conscionable that the Republican nominee can equate this "News" as the greatest scandal since Watergate. I stand amazed. It's especially stark in contrast to the way our spirits were nourished today. We drove East, viewed every way point we could stop, and stood awestruck once again at this awesome natural spectacle. Our favorite stop of the day was a building designed by Mary Colter, the architect responsible for several of the buildings in the park, and it's worth noting one of the few female architects of her time. Once again, it's clear that she not only respected the indigenous peoples, but she studied their culture, and paid homage to their contribution. Her Desert View Tower is more of a cathedral than anything else. When I entered, I felt as if I'd been transported back in time. As my hands gripped the worn leather wrapping on the worn scrub oak handrails, I gazed upward, looking, I suppose, for something greater than myself. I love Colter's appreciation of other humans. She knew none of them; she wasn't one of them; yet, she captured the essence of their dignity, as humans worthy of respect. It's a stark contrast to this belching babble of brazenly brackish bile (I guess it's safe to say I'm not one of them).  But where has our respect for each other gone? What about innocent until proven guilty? Have we really been reduced to this mirky mud? Are others really less because they are not us? I hope not. I hope the better angels in us prevail. I pray that we give others the consideration we'd like to be given. I'm a firm believer in prayer, so I continue to pray that Mary Colter's attitude will take hold in all of us: Study others. Respect differences. Revere. Make life good, especially today.

 Her art oozes from the rock.

The ceiling rafters intertwine; perhaps a metaphor for human existence.

 Native art hangs like stations of the cross in a Catholic church.

 Paintings climb the walls to the ceilings.

 Murals tell stories of a distant time.

 God forms represent native truth.

The remains of a  Kiva, or family residence, at the Tusuyan ruins near the East Portal of the Grand Canyon. 

 Selfie of the Day: A view from the tower.

Even as the sun began to set, we felt glad to be alive.

Adventure 315: South Rim Grand Canyon/Post D

Six Millions Years plus 1 Day

We rousted ourselves a little before sunrise, hopped on Papa, and made it to Mather Point just as the rosy fingers of dawn stretched herself across the sky. We enjoyed the view with a hundred or so of our newest friends. We all strived to capture the grandeur. Some with our amazing smart phones, many with quick snap cameras, and a few with elaborate Nikon equipment. None succeeded. God's grandeur just can't be captured, as least not by puny humans. We all still try. We strive to understand. We define truth through what we perceive. I started to wonder about the Genesis account. Seven days! What's up with that. Oh, I know about the compressed time symbology, and I know that my feeble mind can't perceive God's majesty, but Seven Days? The signs around here say the canyon was carved in six billion years, which by simple math is 6,000,000,000 years X 365 days =219,000,000,000 days. Now I know our Lord is patient, but holy moly. No wonder philosophers talk in circles. The Havasupai Indians have lived in this area for over 8 centuries. They survived by hunting and gathering for centuries before the rush of white entrepreneurs invaded. Somewhere around 1908, Theodore Roosevelt met with the tribe elders in Indian Gardens and informed them that they would have to leave because the place was becoming a park. The Havasupai were forced out sometime after February 26, 1919 when the Grand Canyon received its National Park designation. The tribe sought justice in terms of getting some of its ancestral lands back. In the seventies they won a court case that returned 185,000 acres plus some extra shared use land with the federal government. Now, back to God for a moment. I'm one who believes that God has a plan and that things turn out as they are supposed to and that He is all knowing, and that He promises eternal life to those who follow. But I do wonder (God gave me the power of reason) at injustice. I do wonder at suffering. I do wonder how long any one group must wander in the wilderness. I also wonder how long it will be that those in power will be allowed to exploit the weak and the disenfranchised. I also wonder whose God is in charge. The Havasupai believed that before there were any people on earth there were two gods: Tochapa of goodness and Hokomata of evil. Tochapa had a daughter (Pukekuh) who he hoped would become mother of all living. Hokomata determined not to allow this, so he covered the world with a great flood. Tochapa, to save his daughter, felled a great tree, hollowed it out, and placed her inside so she was secure. Finally, the flood waters receded. Pukekuh came forth under a great sun, gave birth to a daughter whom she called Havsupai. The daughter multiplied and lived in great peace for at least eight centuries. One thing for sure. Regardless of whose god is in charge, we do have beauty in the world, and we do have evil. Like Pukekuh, I'm voting for the great peace (and maybe a little justice). Like I said yesterday. This place lends itself to the metaphysical. Don't even get me started on the notion that half the world has never heard of Jesus Christ. No matter. I have, and I continue to believe patiently and presently that life is good, especially today.

We try our best to capture the truth around us.

The experience is best shared.

Understanding often seems quite far in the distance.

Sometimes it's too close to see.

Regardless, humanity stretches itself to the very precipice.

In God's good time, we'll be folded and melted into a form He desires.

Adventure 314: South Rim Grand Canyon/Post C

Our morning's hike

A place like this lends itself to the metaphysical. After a mile and a half trek down the Bright Angel Trail, the first thing I heard was a woman explaining her belief system to a man who very politely indulged her, though he didn't look like he subscribed to her new age philosophy. She related, "I see each of us as a raindrop. As we fall through the sky and waver with the winds, our final resting place merges us with all the other droplets. We are, even as we live life as individuals, part of the greater pool of life." He didn't appear convinced, but I didn't hear his reply. It did make me think about the power of water. It's especially interesting given the fact that it took the Colorado River six million years to carve the Grand Canyon. Water, much stronger than rock over time, cannot be denied. It demonstrates infinite patience. We traversed some of that patient carving as we delved part way into the canyon (We travelled at least 1,000,000 years through geological time). None the worse for wear after we climbed back out, we chose to walk another three miles along part of the rim trail of the canyon. Signs declared that the earth is 4,560 million years old, and that people have lived in the canyon for 10,000 years. At least nine tribes claim the canyon, and some artifacts have been carbon dated as 4,000 years old (Pottery and twig figures). It's amazing since the Colorado River, with its swirling currents, sandpaper silt, and relentless pressure only carves the thickness of an ordinary piece of notebook paper each year. John Wesley Powell, in 1867, led the first geological exploration down the river in what appear to be suicide vessels: 16' long narrow wooden row boats. Other white men, mainly railroad tycoons tried to use this vast place as a means of commerce. Even to them, it must have been stunning to realize that before the dinosaurs were extinct, the Rocky Mountains were already rising, as was the great plateau of the Grand Canyon. 245 million years ago when the supercontinent, Pangea, broke up, and the islands from the vast pacific ocean collided with this land mass, the beginnings of the Grand Canyon appeared. As I said, a place like this lends itself to the metaphysical. Think in terms of God's time: Years-your birthday; Decades-your generation; Centuries-U.S. History; Millennia-ancient peoples; 10,000s-changing climate; 100,000s-earthquakes and volcanoes; Millions-a six million old Grand Canyon; Billions-the oldest rocks in Grand Canyon. It makes a guy wonder if God is finished polishing his rocks or digging his holes. I can tell you this. Today, I felt like a small pebble with sharp edges. I've a long way to go before I'm polished, so I hope there will be a tomorrow. Regardless, life is good, especially today.

 Look at this fresh bunny ready to descend.

 Way over there under that gray cloud is the North rim. Some people traverse rim to rim.

 The layers of Bright Angel sandstone is about 370,000 years old.

 Selfie of the day: Fresh as daisies on the climb out.

 The trail is quite steep and quite rugged. Lots of ankle turning possibilities.

 I feel like a miner. I found two heart shaped rocks to add to my friend, Liz Ulmen's collection.

 Steady as she goes.

 Art shot of the day:  "God, Polishing Rocks".

Way down in the notch, the Colorado is still carving away.

Adventure 313: South Rim Grand Canyon/Post B

We didn't even think about catching this shuttle.

Mother Nature has a way of talking a man's pride away. I love her dearly, but she is truly dispassionate. She doesn't care about man's mighty intellect, or his mighty accomplishments, or even his dreams. If a man goes out in the rain without a coat, she wets all over him. If a man goes out in the cold, she tingles his fingers and toes. If a man is so brazen as to challenge her, she can quite literally swipes him off of her planet like a bread crumb off a table. It's best to be prepared because, frankly, she just doesn't care. We prepared with great reverence this morning. We had food, water, rain gear, tools, tubes, a pump, and two pressurized air canisters, and we had confidence that we could ride twenty plus miles. And that we did. Mother Nature, and her boss (God) blessed us with favorable warm weather, a bright morning, a smooth road, and a truly sublime patch of greenway to ride on. It delighted us, even though we felt a bit small every time we stopped at a view point to peer into the canyon. Truth be told, I'm a bit tired, but I think that is altitude related rather than the mileage ridden. Judy held up well, though she got a little fatigued by the end. Tomorrow we plan to descend into the canyon along the Bright Angel Trail. We'll play it by ear in terms of how far down we go because as anyone whose ever hiked a little knows, what goes down must come back up. Stay tuned. On another note, I  haven't reported the shenanigans of the Wiley Cager lately. She's still up to her old tricks: moving her front peg, snatching the turn card, counting her crib twice, and now she's even started trash talking. This morning, after I had a particularly satisfying run of pegging (Out thinking her as it were), she exclaimed, "You dog! I just out thinked myself". Her noxious comments did her little good as I beat her handily (Once agin--although truth be told, she has been on a win streak lately). It's fun. We start our morning playing a game while we eat our breakfast. We say a prayer thanking the Lord for the food, our good fortune,  and we ask Him to bless others, and then we say, "Game on!" It is what we call the good life, and each morning we thankfully remember that life IS good, especially today.

 Tomorrow's challenge, the switch backs down the Bright Angel Trail.

 A view from Maricopa Point.

 A view from Pima Point.

 There's that Wiley Cager.

 Papa took a rest at every view point.

 A view from Hermit's Rest, an amazing building designed by Mary Colter, one of the few female architects of her time.

 Art shot of the day. One of Mary's "shelves" inside Hermit's Rest.

 Art shot two: I'm just fascinated how the twisted branches claw themselves out of this arid ground.

 The mighty Colorado River.

 This spine formation probable has a name as well.

We hope to catch this view at sunset sometime this week. When we do, we will catch the shuttle.

Adventure 312: South Rim of the Grand Canyon/Post A

Home for Now

Yesterday, I felt a little like a returning service vet suffering from battle fatigue, and that was just from the election stress. Thankfully, I've recovered. We left Panguitch, Utah around 8:30 A.M. under the bright blue skies I love so much. Our drive was uneventful, except for the seventy mile patch through the Navajo Indian Reservation where the rough road buckled and heaved, causing Fric and Frac to swing and sway a bit from side to side. Disconcerting as it was, I merely slowed down a bit and endured the dismal scenery of speckled desert with poor clapboard houses and single wides sprinkled like sage brush throughout. The average annual salary of a Navajo male is around $11,000; the average for females is a little higher at $14,000. Nothing I can see from the road promises a future any brighter. We came down off the bluff to catch our first view of Lake Powell, which is about half full (24 million acre feet is considered full). The dam at Glen Canyon is a wonder of human engineering, and the service town next to it, Page, catches as many tourists as it can trap. We took our lunch at a small walk up called Navajo Cuisine, where we met Alicia, clearly one of the best humans I've had the pleasure of meeting. She talked us into two of the Navajo Tacos, one traditional and one with pork. Both were served on fresh made fry bread. Alicia, who grew up in Page, said she has lived there all her life, except for four years in Flagstaff when she was in school to be a care giver. She beamed with genuine friendliness, and although she made sure we knew that even though she didn't look like it, she was part German on her grandfather's side. It is so refreshing to talk with people who have a positive outlook. She said there wasn't much work in the care giving field in Page, so she decided to make a living in the restaurant business. Right now, I'm typing away in the lodge on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon because they have wifi, and besides the World Series is on. We'll spend six nights here. We plan to peek at the canyon from every marked overlook, take a serious hike down into the canyon, and find places to ride the bike. Frac is nestled nicely into the Trailer Village RV Park with about two hundred of his newest friends, but we have power, water, and a sewer hook up. Ain't America Great! I do feel a bit nonplussed because here I am a stone's throw from one of the greatest natural wonders on the planet, and what am I doing? I'm hooked to a device like a tethered dog. But not to worry, I'll keep my addiction under control, taking as much fresh air medicine and wondrous nature serum as I can each day. in any event, I'll continue to count my blessings in the full knowledge that life is good, especially today.

 Driving right along.

 You must visit for yourself. Photos out the window do no  justice.

 And don't you believe that all red rocks look alike.

 Lake Powell.

 A down view of the Glen Canyon Dam.

 Selfie of the day.

 Alicia, the best human of the day.

 Traditional Navajo Taco on Fry Bread. Quite yummy!

 Here, we're still seventy some miles from the Grand Canyon.

Hey, Amigo! It's all good.