America 2015: Part 2 of 4


To the Grand Canyon

After the two very fine observing nights we left Anderson Mesa on Tuesday with the goal Grand Canyon, again with
a stop in Flagstaff. The road leads into the mountains, and bypasses the San Francisco Peaks (3850 m) on the West.

San Francisco Peaks (Image: Julian)

On the camping ground in Tusayan

Tom told us that the Grand Canyon is a very dark area, and therefore excellently suited for observing. But the weather prospects were
not good for next two days, so that we could concentrate on our touristic program without additional observing stress ;-). Before using
the camping ground in Tusayan - a bit south of the Canyon - for the night, we drove to the "South Rim", and had a first view of the
tremendous scenery. In the evening sun with sharp contours and beautiful colors. Terrific !

The Grand Canyon in evening light seen from the "South Rim" (Image: Julian)

Two tourists from Munich

Next forenoon: Ravens at Lipan's Point

The plateau above the Grand Canyon has an altitude of 2000 meters, and the nights were still cold. Therefore it was important that we had
taken along good sleeping bags. There was ample room for the two of us to sleep in the van, on mattresses, and below was enough storage
space for our food, always including several gallons of drinking water we constantly replenished in various supermarkets.

Wednesday, March 18: On forenoon we returned to the South Rim, and continued on the road to the East. Thereby we stopped at some of
the scenic viewpoints to have a spectacular look down into the gorge. At some points you could see the Colorado river directly, such as from
where one of the wildest rapids of the canyon can be discerned.


View from "Desert View" (Image: Julian)

Deep down is the Colorado river (Image: Julian)

The side canyon of the Little Colorado

After leaving the southern rim of the Grand Canyon we came along the gorge of the Little Colorado, a southern tributary.
The landscape became still more barren and remote, and we set out for the quite long way to the ...

Monument Valley

Crossing barren lands ...

... and conspicuous rock fortresses ...

... we eventually came to the famous "Butte Mittens" in the Monument Valley (Image: Julian)

That was really impressive ! This majestic scenery is well known, not least from several Western films. It is part of the Navajo Indian Reservation,
and was one the highlights of our trip. There is tourist infrastructure and a camping ground on the soft ridge; here we sat high in the bleachers to
have a spectacular view on the "Butte Mittens". It was mostly cloudy when we arrived, so prospects for night images were not so good. But it
cleared up a bit, enough for some images; despite of the remoteness of the site some brighter light sources show on the pictures.

Under the night sky

View to Southwest

Sunrise
Thursday, March 19: In the morning I made a trip down the dusty road, but it's not permitted to leave the road, so I couldn't hike directly to the
mittens. I only saw one other hiker, the others either used the car or took part in a guided tour in a jeep - thereby some other parts of the park
can be reached which are otherwise not accessible.

In the morning light

View from the valley bottom


On continuing to the Northeast we had a view back to Monument Valley (Image: Julian)


Soon we come into some heavy rain


 We continued to the Northeast for nearly another 50 miles, until shortly
before Bluff, and then turned South, a long and remote 150 miles drive
along Route 191. Shortly before we reached the highway from
Albuquerque to Flagstaff, we came into some heavy rain - that's
also necessary here from time to time.

Arizona Meteor Crater

After the long drive we were too late for a visit to the Meteor Krater. Therefore we returned to Flagstaff to stay on a camping
ground, and made good for it the next morning. The craters rim is already quite conspicuous from several miles away, and the
direct view down to the crater's bottom is a rare impression. Now we have seen this part of our guided show with our own eyes:
The "Barringer Krater" has a diameter of 1200 meters, is 180 meters deep and about 50000 years old.

Arizona Meteor Crater (Image: Julian)

The craters rim is clearly standing out

On the camping ground in Flagstaff


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