Another foray into the park was on our agenda for today. We got up fairly late, took showers, fed ourselves and drank much fortified coffee prior to hearing a little thunder in the distance. Soon the thunder was not in the distance anymore and we were treated to some impressive but frightful cracks and rips accompanied by big widely-spaced raindrops. That was our clue to get into our beloved Charlotte and head for the park.
We took the gravel road from Kaibab Camper Village to AZ-67 where we turned south into Grand Canyon some 40 miles away. On the way to the park, we passed first through rain and then through something like sleet or snow while getting occasional glimpses of lightning followed shortly by some terrific thunder. As we got closer to the canyon rim, the skies cleared with puffy clouds that looked like they were raining elsewhere.
Yesterday, we went to both the Lodge area overlooks and up a long side road to Cape Royal. We decided this morning that the side road we traveled yesterday offered the views of the canyon we liked best so today we skipped the touristy, more crowded Lodge part. We took the turnoff to what the park maps call Fuller Canyon. The road is quite narrow, particularly for a gigantic F-250 pickup, and there are very sharp curves, some with suggested speed limits of 10 mph. It is not a road for timid drivers afraid to keep their car on their side of the yellow lines despite being confronted with a deadly drop about 4 feet away on the other side. The round trip to see all the viewpoints here is about 35 miles and speed limits are necessarily low so allow at least 3 hours. We even encountered some rental RV drivers unfamiliar with operation of wide vehicles that cheerfully placed two feet of their vehicle in the oncoming lanes as we approached and passed with the right side tires grooming the ditch. There is little wiggle room here.
In spite of the challenging road, along the way the viewpoints into the canyon offer unforgettable vistas. We pulled into paved areas or parking spots at Point Imperial, Vista Encantada, Roosevelt Point, Walhalla Overlook on the way to the end of the road. There, we took a stroll to an enormous arch thingie called Angels Window and a bit further to Cape Royal. Viewing opportunities at Cape Royal are abundant with perspectives of many different canyon aspects. The emerald-colored Colorado River and some rapids can be seen 7 miles laterally and one mile below the viewpoint. We had great views across vast sections of northern Arizona. What a spot.
We headed back home about 6:00 PM after getting some fantastic photo ops and had not been on AZ-67 northbound within the park for 10 minutes when we encountered some gesticulating Rangers and boxy vehicles with many flashing and gaily colored lights alongside the road. It seems one of those drivers incapable of keeping his eyes on the road while texting or talking or thinking had driven his formerly shiny Toyota off the side of the road, across the ditch, into some mostly dirt terrain before coming to rest on some national park logs. The driver looked sheepish as we passed. He appeared to be getting his personal stuff out of the car because it looked like the car would not be going anywhere except onto the back of a tow truck.
A few miles later, we encountered the Grand Canyon bison herd and they were out in numbers, some effectively blocking the road. They are wonderful, shaggy monsters and it is fortunate they are typically docile because if they weren’t, we would be SOL. The adults are car-sized and the calves are cute little rambunctious Bolsheviks. We also spotted not less than 150 plainly visible mule deer on our way north on AZ-67. This place is great in May; we saw abundant wildlife, fantastic canyon views, scenic forest vistas on roads bordered with many types of flowers. I’ll put this place on my repeat list, if I can find it.
We took a few pictures along the way today and you can see them if you click here