Honeymoon6 - ARIZONA: The Grand Canyon State

UNKNOWN WONDERS....or almost!

.................continues from UTAH............

After Kanab, driving along the 89A we enter Arizona and immediately the landscape becomes that familiar one, already experienced and seen so many times on TV, which, together with everything else, makes us love this country to death. Before us, miles and miles of road, a ribbon of asphalt whose end you cannot see in the middle of nowhere. But right here is all the charm that cannot be described, but must be experienced. Then the landscape changes again, we go back into the mountains, crossing the Kaibab forest and the entrance to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. More road still and we descend again: before us once more desert and the beginning of the canyon area. We stop near Marble Canyon, and the service area is an authentic leap back in time. We are enthused. Our next stop is at Navajo Bridge for a first fleeting glimpse of the Colorado River.

We continue, increasingly electrified, towards Page, determined to find and visit Horseshoe Bend. The directions we looked up in Italy are correct, and keeping our eyes wide open, we spot the sign indicating it (once on the 89 from the 89A and continuing towards Lake Powell). There is a parking lot and from there you start walking... the signs say 1.8 miles and remind you to bring water with you. It is truly NECESSARY. We tackle the route along the sandy trail, downhill (on the way there), which winds across the flat and apparently unremarkable plateau until you reach the edge of the wall....... the spectacle catches you by surprise even though you know what to expect. The chasm is a scene with proportions you don't expect. The Colorado River flows placidly down there, and here (and only here) it is a clear colour between green and blue.

Its course makes almost a 360-degree turn around this great rock, a horseshoe indeed. The contrast of colours is exhilarating. If you suffer from vertigo, be ready to feel your head spin. The return is rather tiring... also because for us it is almost one o'clock. The car seems like a mirage and the air conditioning a divine gift. But we have to pull ourselves together quickly; the attraction that brought us here and that we don't want to miss is just a few miles away: Antelope Canyon. Let's say right away that the bill for the visit is quite steep, too much I'd say, but you have to say it's absolutely worth it. 12 USD is just for parking access, the canyon tour, which must be done with a Navajo guide (4x4 to the canyon entrance and then on foot), is 25 USD per person. It's not necessary to book the tour, which runs about every 1 hour 40 minutes, but the tours from 11:00 to 2:00 p.m.

are crowded, considering that the light is the most beautiful for the canyon interior. The only sore point is precisely the crowd, which inside the canyon doesn't allow you to fully enjoy it. The place is absolutely fantastic. Just over a mile long, just over a metre wide and about 200 metres deep, it is a true masterpiece produced by the channelling of water and wind. You walk on a soft layer of red sand, spotlessly clean and very fine. The shapes created have been named by the Indians according to the resemblances that can be found by looking from a thousand points of view. Everything seems unreal, fantastic and almost psychedelic. Not in size and grandeur, but this little treasure truly rivals the giants and far more famous parks of the southwest area. The visit lasts about an hour and a half.

Once the visit is over, hunger starts to make itself felt, so we stop at a small market on the outskirts of Page; this too becomes an attraction for its abandonment, its old signs and its owner with boots and hat who seems to have stepped out of a Tex Willer comic! We set off again, the day doesn't end here. Our destination, where we will stay overnight, is Monument Valley. More breathtaking panoramas await us along the road. With the crossing of the town of Kayenta, rather sad to tell the truth, we say goodbye to Arizona, where we will return in a week!

................continues in UTAH...............

CANYON DE CHELLY

........continues from COLORADO.......

Driving along I-40 and some stretches of the legendary Route 66, we cross the border with Arizona again. In reality, the legendary Route 66 has been replaced by the Interstate that now stands in its place. Only a few stretches have been kept in their original state, on what is called Historic 66. For the most part these stretches are found in or near the towns encountered, where old motels, service stations, garages are visible. For anyone who has read Kerouac, it will be easy to find yourself here "on his road", and even what might seem abandoned and meaningless takes on a particular charm here. Turning north again, we enjoy our "on the road" day, heading to Chinle, to visit Canyon de Chelly. Once we arrive at our destination, we go to settle into our hotel, the HolidayInn Canyon de Chelly near the park entrance.

The hotel is very nice, enormous rooms, bright, clean, but the staff and organisation are best forgotten. The town of Chinle is a place we could call spectral.... if Kayenta strikes you for its abandonment and filth, arriving in Chinle you get the impression that it is 100 times worse. Scattered houses, abandoned cars, piles of rubbish and tyres everywhere, stray dogs, trailers.... in short, a nomad camp called a city. As soon as we've dropped our things off, we enter the park. The weather has turned bad, in the distance a downpour is raging, dust and sand are rising, the wind howls in the canyon. There are no people. Maybe it's a shame for the colours, but we don't mind at all the atmosphere surrounding us at the various observation points. It's very beautiful; here too old Indian settlements are visible in the rock. The canyon floor is very green. Beautiful, truly beautiful.

The most famous point is the view over Spider Rock, and it doesn't disappoint expectations. There are numerous Indian dwellings still present in the canyon and within what is considered the park. This place strikes us for its naturalness, and more than in any other place the Indian presence seems like real life and not built around tourism. We get to converse with some of them, leaning against cars looking for someone interested in their artefacts for sale. Interesting. We return to the hotel when it's almost dark; the storm has arrived here too. We make use of the hotel restaurant and then a long, restorative sleep.

PETRIFIED FOREST &............

We leave Chinle with another intense day ahead of us. Driving along Hwy 77 we head back south until we meet I-40 again near Holbrook. Here we drive another historic stretch of Route 66. The most beautiful. We then take the 180 until we reach the south entrance of Petrified Forest National Park. The park turns out to be a real surprise. We drive through all of it, exiting at the north access near the Painted Desert. The panoramas that accompany us in the park are varied and all very particular. From the expanses of crystallised logs, to the extremely colourful desert spaces, to the psychedelic formations of the Blue Mesa and The Tepees. Here there is a certain resemblance to Death Valley, but with less oppressive heat! And still driving through the park you come across the highly photographed car carcass, positioned where the 66 used to run.

Beautiful are the viewpoints over the painted desert, unfortunately a bit too far away. Once out of the park we take I-40 again heading west until the town of Flagstaff, homeland of the nostalgics of the beat generation and of Harley riders. Here we take a bit of time for a walk and an ice-cold Budweiser near the station. Now we are close to our final destination, the last park but the one that more than any other pushed us to return. The Grand Canyon. We set off again, this time north, until we reach the last frontier before the park, Tusayan. We settle into our hotel, the Grand Canyon Plaza Resort, which has very little of a resort about it. Another typical motel, without infamy and without praise. They had made a mess... and in exchange for our king premium room they offered us a small and not very bright room, apologising with a complimentary dinner....

better than nothing! Right on time as predicted, we arrive at the Grand Canyon in time to admire the sunset over the canyon. I really believe that in its own way this place is magical. Despite there being a large crowd of tourists along the south rim, a religious silence reigns. Everyone has chosen a pullout, a boulder, a tree from which to enjoy Mother Nature's show, and everyone is alone before what can only be called "immensity". Strange, surreal. The colours change rapidly, the tones go from soft to more vivid, the haze penetrated by light brings out the profiles in the distance. And this time too, watching all this, tears come to your eyes. We return to Tusayan when it's already night, and have dinner at the excellent steak house in the village. Tomorrow we'll have the park for a whole day to ourselves....

GRAND CANYON

By now used to early alarms, by 8:00 we are already at the park; the day is gorgeous, and at this hour a crisp and pleasant air welcomes us. We are equipped with water and food to spend the whole day out and about. We drive as far as the village, where our adventure on foot begins. Following the trail overlooking the canyon, we go as far as Hermits Rest, then using the bus to come back. Hopi Point, Mojave Point..every inch of road travelled is pure spectacle. It's impossible to look away from the chasm that at every bend and every mile seems to change colour and appearance, playing hide-and-seek with the Colorado, which from here looks like an insignificant trickle of water. It's truly impossible to describe the Grand Canyon, impossible to convey sensations and emotions. Not even with images. No photo and no video can truly reproduce what it is.

It can be shot from a thousand angles, but looking at those images again you realise that none of them is reproducing reality. It must only be seen, experienced. In the late afternoon we get back in the car and finish the tour of the viewpoints, following the road as far as Desert View. It goes without saying that we would never want to leave. We return when it's dark, and still not satisfied we use the after-dinner time to go see the Imax film on the history of the canyon. Well made, good meaning, good message. Goodbye Grand Canyon.

The long crossing!

It's early morning when we leave Tusayan. Today almost 1000 kilometres await us. Tonight we have to be in San Diego, we're going back to California. But the road ahead is still long. We turn south, along I-17, but we don't miss the detour along the scenic 89A for a walk and breakfast in the town of Sedona. Homeland of the new age and of nostalgic hippies, it's really lovely and nestled in a setting of rare beauty. By 9 in the morning it's already 38 degrees. The impression is that, compared to the surrounding areas, a certain prosperity reigns here. Beautiful houses, luxury boutiques, stone shops that look like little lounges, gardens and plants meticulously cared for despite the scorching climate. Our schedule forces us not to stop too long, so we set off again. Next stop Phoenix. As we approach the city, saguaros begin to appear, becoming more and more numerous.

There are so many, so very many, and tall. We'd like to stop here too, but time is pressing. In Phoenix too we decide not to stop; the outside temperature is nothing short of prohibitive; the thermometer reads 48 and opening the window is as if they had taken away the oxygen. We take I-10 and then immediately turn south along the 85, to reach I-8, which will take us to San Diego, running alongside the Mexican border. The 85 is deserted. In every sense. The road seems almost abandoned, in the middle of the desert, only scattered saguaros in the nothingness. Lined only by the old wooden pylons of the power line. Cars and trucks are rare; we are wrapped in a blanket of heat that the air conditioning seems unable to cool. In the distance, every now and then, you see tiny dust devils forming, like mini tornadoes. It's unreal. Like a film.

Honestly, we can't enjoy these 200 miles; the mere thought that you could have a problem here...makes us smile but at the same time we can't wait to reach the interstate.... The end of the nothingness begins in the town of Gila Bend. Here the border with Mexico is three miles away, but it feels like we've already crossed it. We have lunch in a fast food place; it's impossible to stay outside the car, the ground literally burns under your feet. From here to the California border we cross only desert, we see only cacti. Beside us, the railway with old trains, kilometres long, heading east. There's a frontier atmosphere in the air. Every now and then we encounter police roadblocks, they check cars, passports, whether you have agricultural products on board...and all around still desert. It could really be monotonous if it weren't that today is the last day of America on the road.

We want to arrive, and yet it's as if every mile brings a bit of nostalgia for the imminent end of the adventure. We finally arrive in Yuma. California is just around the corner. Here we stop for a quick visit to the sand dunes. Another spectacular sight. And it is here that we say goodbye to Arizona. They call it the Grand Canyon State...but despite everything, that's still an understatement!!

...........continues in CALIFORNIA...........