New Mexico April 2013: Grand Canyon to Kanab, Utah

Another spectacular day! 80 degrees, not a cloud, virtually no wind! We spent the morning taking in the views from the Canyon's South Rim (The North Rim doesn't open until May 15th - 9000 feet up, they get lots of snow). This is a great time of year to be there; we couldn't imagine what it would be like with large summer crowds. Last evening we had visited Bright Angel Lodge, the "original" hotel built in the '20s by Fred Harvey Co. Interesting story about Mary Colton, an architect (interestingly female) who designed all the stuff that Fred Harvey built over a period of some 50 years! At the East end of the South Rim one finds a place called "Desert View", another hotel built by Harvey/Colton and a wonderful Watchtower, built in 1923, providing a commanding view.

From Grand Canyon we headed north to the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. Spectacular purple colored cliffs - cheapy camera can't do it justice! We crossed the Colorado River on the Navajo Bridge at 3500 feet elevation, then headed backup and over the ridge to 8000 feet before dropping down into Kanab, Utah where we stopped for the day. An interesting side trip from there took us to Pipe Springs Nat'l Monument and a restored "fort" built by the Mormons in 1870. One of the few real springs around created a virtual oasis in the desert, complete with Cottonwoods!

While we were in New Mexico and Arizona we spent a lot of time driving through various Navajo reservations. It is very disappointing to see the apparent poverty they live in and to realize they live on Godforsaken land forced on them by the US Gov't. (Most agree that we should be ashamed of our Indian policy) And, most of the small towns in those states that we visited looked pretty sad and forlorn. Kanab, Utah, however looked totally different! Clean, seemingly open for business. Furthermore, to visit the Mormon "Fort" you go on the Piaute Reservation - they looked downright prosperous!

We got this pretty nice Best Western in Kanab through Priceline for $45.00 (deal!); dinner up the street at Spurs Cafe was excellent!