People often think of Arizona as being the red-hued arid desert we are all familiar with from the movies. It also bills itself as “The Grand Canyon State” as if that’s all it’s got going for it. Don’t get me wrong, the Grand Canyon is one of the seven natural wonders of the world for a reason, and is next on our hit list as it happens. But come on Arizona, don’t sell yourself short. This incredible state is home to a dazzling array of wild and natural beauty from snow capped mountains, through towering cactus fields, to towering waterfalls. There are no less than six national forests and 31 state parks in Arizona. You could swelter in 40 degree Phoenix heat in the morning, before driving to Flagstaff for an afternoon skiing trip. It would take months to see everything this state has to offer, and to be fair that’s probably true of a lot of places in this enormous country. Unfortunately we don’t have months, we only have a few days, so we’ve gotta try and take in the big hitters. First stop is the inimitable Grand Canyon itself.
We were planning on taking in a few sights on the way from Meteor Crater to our campsite near the Canyon, but unfortunately Hunter wasn’t feeling his best. We had been awoken that morning by the sound of the poor little chap running for the sink and revisiting his grilled cheese from the night before, and he didn’t get much better all day. So instead of pushing him, we stopped for a bite to eat in Flagstaff (while he laid down, looking green) and just headed for the campsite in the hopes he would feel better the next day, because we had an action packed day of canyon fun ahead of us.
The next day, with a slightly less ill Hunter, we made our way to the nearby Grand Canyon Airport for our first bucket-list worthy adventure of the day. I had booked us a scenic helicopter flight over the North Rim of the Canyon. We enjoyed our flight to the top of the glacier in New Zealand so much a few months back that it seemed crazy to not make the most of it while we were here. Kate and I have actually visited the Grand Canyon before, way back in 2012. Before the kids came along we rode a Harley from Vegas out this way before heading for L.A. I remember it being an amazing trip – there’s nothing quite like riding through the desert on an American V-Twin in the summer heat. But I don’t remember taking an awful lot of notice of the Canyon itself. A quick look over the edge in a few places, then back on the bike. So this time, we wanted to see it properly, and we couldn’t wait to get up in the chopper for an aerial view.
Luckily, Hunter was just about feeling well enough, so off we went. What a trip. It’s really hard to grasp the scale of this place from the ground. But from the air it’s an entirely different experience. As we cleared the forest and edged over the canyon itself, the rather appropriate theme tune from “2001: A Space Odyssey” started playing through our headsets, and we were faced with a full 360 degree view of this natural masterpiece. At 277 miles long, 10 miles wide and a mile deep, this is a seriously big hole in the ground. The mighty Colorado river and its tributaries have exposed nearly two billion years of geological history for our viewing pleasure. The myriad multi-hued strata visible in the faces of the rock essentially tell the entire story of the early formation of the North American continent. Some people describe flying over the Grand Canyon as an almost religious experience. I wouldn’t go that far, but it is one of the most awesome sights I have ever personally witnessed. It was hard to muster anything more than an occasional, dumbfounded “wow” as this epic landscape passed beneath us. And just to add to the experience, the soundtrack we were treated to through our headsets alternated between an informative narration of the geological features we were witnessing, and epic American rock anthems.
When we eventually came back to earth (physically and mentally), our Grand Canyon experience continued as we transferred to Buck Wild Adventures for a tour of the south rim viewpoints in the back of a specially converted Hummer. Our knowledgeable guide Tray (yep, it really was spelt like that) showed us several different vistas along the south rim while telling us the history of exploration and tourism around the Canyon. The information Tray gave us around not only the geological formation of the canyon, but also the ancient and modern human history of the area made the tour a much better option than a self drive. Not only that, but the fact it was in an open sided Hummer, made it a much more engaging tour for the kids. I wager Hunter even ended the day looking slightly less green than when he started it!
The next day we left the Grand Canyon and headed into the neighbouring Navajo Nation for our next stop, Monument Valley. Unfortunately, nature had run its predictable course, and whatever evil bug had been ruining Hunter’s mojo had now found its way into Bam. While we had an almost back-to-normal Hunter, we now had an under the weather Bam. So we again planned to have an uneventful drive without any stops, except for a quick food and souvenir stop in Tuba City. As if a vomiting 7 year old wasn’t hard enough in the enclosed space of a small Motorhome, we had one more challenge to deal with before we left. Somehow, we had neglected to empty the waste water tanks for a few days, and the shower (containing our wash bag and a towel) had began to fill up with the contents of the grey water tank. Luckily (for those unseasoned RVers out there), the “grey” tank is the water which has gone down the drains, as opposed to the “black” tank – I’ll leave it to your imaginations what that one contains! Safe to say, it would have been a whole lot worse if we’d been treated to a reappearance of that tank, so thank heavens for small mercies I guess.
So, after an emergency clean down and laundry session, followed by a long drive with a whimpering Bam, we finally made it to Monument Valley. Our campsite was actually just over the state line in Utah, as the Navajo Nation straddles three states, although we would be returning to Arizona in the morning to visit Monument Valley itself. Amazingly Bam had recovered slightly, and managed a quick play on the swings before we all enjoyed a sunset and called it a day, ready for an early start in the morning.
Our tour was due to start at 8:30am, but I couldn’t resist setting the alarm for 5:45am to capture a stunning desert sunrise over the nearby sandstone buttes. I’m glad I did, because it was hands down the best sunrise I’ve ever seen. When the sun eventually peeked over the towering rocks, the field of gorgeous desert flowers lit up in an incredible array of golden tinged colours. Definitely worth the lack of sleep.
It was time to head into the park. Our Navajo guide, Carol, picked us up at 8:30 sharp in the open backed 4×4 and we headed off to the tribal entrance. Poor old Bam really was not feeling well at all, and it was all she could do to hold back the tears. She would have only been lying down and feeling awful in the RV though, so it didn’t make any sense for anyone else to miss out on the tour – she might as well lie down and feel awful in the back of a truck in Monument Valley, right! And bless her, but that’s exactly what she did for the entire three and a half hours. So if you’re looking through the photos and can’t find any of Bam, that’s the reason why!
Monument Valley is like visiting another planet, it’s that different to everything else I’ve ever seen. The only reason it seems familiar at all is because of the film and TV industry. It’s red dirt, orange sands and looming sandstone buttes and plateaus are essentially what several generations of movie buffs think of as the epitome of the Wild West. This valley has featured in dozens of westerns, including nine directed by the master himself, John Ford. Advertising campaigns from American powerhouses like Marlboro and Chevrolet also favour the “authenticity” of this landscape. And, perhaps most bizarrely, Metallica actually filmed a music video atop one of these 1000 foot tall columns of rock.
We had paid for the extended version of the tour, meaning Carol took us to parts of the park only accessible with a Navajo guide. She showed us all the natural features, the ancient Anasazi petroglyphs and introduced us to a local family selling their wares from a traditional Hogan mud house. Amazingly we also ran into another Navajo guide who happened to have a drum with him, and we were treated to several renditions of traditional songs, including a beautiful mothers lullaby sung by Carol herself.
Blown away by the overwhelming natural beauty around us, later on in the afternoon Hunter and I decided to embrace our inner cowboys and take a horse ride across the valley. It was such a shame Bam still wasn’t feeling right, because she would have loved it. There was a brilliant, and mildly terrifying, total lack of introduction or health and safety for either of us. Hunter was plonked on a horse, shown which rein goes left, which goes right, and where the accelerator was, then he was released into the desert with the guide in front and me bringing up the rear. What a great way to end the day, channeling your inner John Wayne in your very own western.
Time for one more stop in Arizona, and the following day we packed up and headed off for another canyon. We had lost around 5 days of school this week due to this pesky bug the kids picked up. So, unfortunately for them, our first afternoon at Lake Powell was spent catching up on a bit of homework, so we could enjoy our tour through the nearby Antelope Canyon the following day.
The Grand Canyon earned its name by being so, well, grand! But in terms of pure, unadulterated beauty, Antelope Canyon has to take the crown. This place is an instagrammer’s dream. We’ve all seen pictures of Antelope Canyon, perhaps without even realising it, and I guarantee you that it does actually look like that. There are actually six separate slot canyon sections comprising Antelope Canyon, but we were on our way to visit the most popular Upper Canyon section. The first thing we had to do was make sure we turned up at the correct time. Sounds easy right? Well, it’s more complicated than you might think around here, and you can’t trust Google’s automatic time zones either. Arizona is located within the Mountain Time Zone, but unlike everywhere else in the US, Arizona doesn’t observe daylight savings. But this canyon is located in the Navajo Nation, and they DO observe daylight savings. Why can’t everyone just agree?!
Anyway, we made sure we set our watches to the correct time, and grabbed a bite to eat in Page. We had half an hour to spare, so we checked out the nearby Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River. This huge arch-gravity dam is actually bigger than the more famous Hoover Dam, and is the reason there is a Lake Powell at all. It was built in the sixties due to a need for new water supplies in the southern states, and these days maintains one of the largest reservoirs on the continent, as well as producing over 4 billion kilowatt hours of hydroelectricity every year. Pretty impressive figures. The steps down to the viewing point seemed to prove too much for poor old Bam. We thought she was back fighting fit, but alas we had the delight of witnessing the return of her first solid meal in four days on the walk down. I guess she wasn’t quite as well as we had thought. It seemed though, that this tactical vomit was all she needed, and she carried on perfectly happily after that.
We made our way to Antelope Canyon, and eagerly awaited the start of our tour. Our Navajo guide for the next hour and a half was Lemoigne, and after rattling off a short and somewhat lacklustre welcome speech, we headed off through the bumpy sand wash towards the canyon entrance in the back of his 4×4.
We then spent the next hour wandering the corridors of this incredible, undulating sandstone marvel. It’s a one way system, so you’ve plenty of time to take some good shots and really get inside the nooks and crannies of this natural art installation. Lemoigne had plenty of tips for where to take the best pictures, and from which angles. It felt a little like a golden oldie iPhone photography lesson to begin with, as he wowed our fellow (slightly more vintage) guests with his knowledge of filters and exposure etc. I think they were very impressed. While I do enjoy quietly taking my own photos, he did point out some useful spots, as well as my personal tour guide favourite – rocks that vaguely resemble things. There were all sorts of vague, passing resemblances you might be able to recognise (if you suspend disbelief, and squint, a lot), from dead presidents, through animal shapes, to dragon eyes.
It really is a wonderful place though, and well worth the extortionate tribal entrance fee. It’s worth checking the weather as well, as flash flooding is a pretty serious thing here. As recently as 1997, 11 people were killed in Lower Antelope Canyon by flash flooding. No chance on our visit though, not a cloud in sight.
That was it for Arizona for us. The next day we were off to neighbouring Nevada for a couple of days respite from van-life in an actual hotel. Sin City here we come…