Southwest Chief

Do you have a while?  This is a long post.  Best suited to retirees or those stuck on a boat with nothing better to do.  Most pics from this trip are posted at this link.   

click pics for link to album

We started Summer 2015 with an eagerly anticipated trip to the Colorado Plateau.  A million thanks to Grandpa Carroll for gifting us train tickets for this awesome journey.  Departure was scheduled for the day after Maya finished 1st Grade.  Good thing there were no snow days added to the end of the school year!

Thursday, June 11
Departed Kalamazoo via "Wolverine" route to Chicago.
Enjoyed a 3-hour layover in Chicago.
Spent the first night on the Amtrak in 2 Sleeper "Roomettes."  Maya bunked with Papa.  Mini, of course, went with Mama.  Genna opted to spend half the night on the bottom (larger) bunk and then switched me half way through.  Not much sleep was had on our first night.  The highlight was dessert!

Friday, June 12
Having passed most of Kansas overnight, the morning brought us into the West and a corner of Colorado where we slowly worked our way over Raton Pass at the New Mexico Border.  A couple volunteer NPS "Rails and Trails" Rangers peppered the Observation Car with commentary of the view for 400 miles this day. We were slightly behind schedule as we rolled into Albuquerque and made the final leg to Flagstaff.  About an hour and a half late, we de-trained after 10pm and hit the hotel.  The Carrolls and Zubkos generously met us at the depot to leave us with Courtney's truck.

Saturday, June 13
We spent a bit of the morning exploring our old haunts around FLG and NAU.  Much of it is unrecognizable and the campus seems quite crowded with buildings, parking garages and new housing.  The traffic is terrible.
Donna and Arni graciously invited us to their summer home in Mund's Park, 20 minutes south of FLG.  This has become a frequent retreat of Courtney and Paula and we'd heard much about it.  It was as nice as advertised.  They even welcomed the Gatson Family to join us for a BBQ so we could make the most of our AZ reunion.  A highlight for the girls was meeting Courtney's dog, Cooper.  He is a relatively big dog and they eventually warmed up to him and gained some much needed confidence in canine company.  By the end of the weekend they were fighting over who could hold his leash.

A drizzly walk in the woods with the Gatsons

Sunday, June 14
The girls checked out the hotel pool with Papa in the morning while I hit the store for some camp provisioning.  In the afternoon we met up with the rest of the Zubkos in Mund's Park again.

I am available for trip routing consultations.

Monday, June 15 (208 driving miles today)
We wanted to leave early to get on the road for our longest milage day of a week-long camping trip "up north".  When we arrived at Peace Surplus to pick up our rental gear (tent, bags, pads, stove), they leisurely accumulated the pieces of our order before we could get on our way up to "The Canyon" as the dude assumed.  Ok, so he was right, but we were merely passing through the GRAND CANYON en route to one of our favorite spots in the area.
Of course the Grand Canyon is amazing and we wanted the girls to see it and check it off their list.  But it can be a little too grand and inaccessible, especially if you can't get away from the crowds and explore below the rim quite a ways.  We're not ashamed to say we did a quick drive by tour, got our stamps, and got on the 64 (AKA Desert View Drive) east towards Cameron.  That is a gorgeous drive with great views of the Little Colorado River Gorge which most visitors to the Park do not use.  It also facilitates a pit stop at the Cameron Trading Post which is a great place for Native jewelry, ice cream, or both!
Our desired destination for the day was Lee's Ferry.  In Marble Canyon, it is the beginning of the Grand Canyon and you can get right down to the river at the confluence of the Paria.  This was the only location we could not pre-reserve a campsite, so we were slightly worried about arriving early for accommodations, but we rolled up to a half empty campground.

As you can see, this is the worst dinner Genna has ever had (Pepperoni Ciabatta Pizza).
I don't know, the view's not that bad.

Tuesday, June 16 (113 driving miles today)
Did you know the sun comes up at 4:30 Arizona Time?  Fun Fact.  So if you don't sleep well while camping, you don't have to wait long for morning!

     One of our favorite day hikes is right here in Lee's Ferry.  I think we have done it twice before, sans kids.    Cathedral Wash is a minor drainage to the Colorado River from the north.  We had heard that there had been a lot of rain in this area a week or so before our trip and even flooding of the Paria.  However, due to the ephemeral nature of desert "streams" we figured enough time had passed for things to dry up.  In Cathedral, some full puddles presented minor difficulty, but later into the week, excess leftover water had greater impact on our itinerary.
     In this wash, there are several areas where the canyon narrows at a drop off or a puddle will span wall to wall (maybe 3-4 feet) but will be longer than is possible to jump.  Now, who's afraid of a little puddle?  Well, as they are typically the color of chocolate milk and the lack of vegetation in the area eliminates the option of poking a stick to the bottom - we didn't want to ruin our day by stepping in to discover the phenomena of liquefaction.  Quicksand is REAL, people!  Due to some geological luck in these areas, you can typically find your way past a puddle or even a 2 story choke-stoned drop by skirting the obstacle on a side cliff.  The girls loved this part and did quite well.  Genna's penchant for running EVERYWHERE made some passes unnerving.  Even when everyone is dead tired and dehydrated, the girl needs to be reminded to use her "walking feet".
     The end of the 1.5 mile wash deposits you on the banks of the Colorado River, cold and clear from recently passing under the Glen Canyon Dam.  It is so cold I could hardly step up to my ankles for more than 10 seconds.  But this was a very hot day (honestly hotter than we hoped AZ would be in mid-June.......what were we smoking?) and everyone enjoyed splashing around in the 'Rado and even more so in the light flow that had materialized at the end of Cathedral Wash to be a proper "stream".  Here was a place to properly experiment with the quicksand and find clay in the banks.  We even discovered possible California Condor tracks.  (See pic, compared to size 10 foot).
     The hike out was blistering.  The final puddle jump turned out to be our undoing, as we could not pass it above the way we did on the way in.  Instead we opted for an equally sketchy climb out of a hanging side wash.  Obviously we lived to tell about it.  But this morning heat was doing us in!  Genna and I got some rad elbow rock-rash to show for it.

     We proceded to drive the rest of the afternoon to Zion National Park.  What a lovely drive over the Kaibab Plateau.  I'd never been this way.  The girls were so tired and restless by then and were playing a game called "If you drink it (the water bottle), you will die!" so they missed the awesomeness of the Zion Tunnel.  Finally we arrived at our campsite and collapsed in a nap proceeded to round out the day with burrito making, hacky sack, ranger program, junior ranger swearing-in, and splashing in the creek.  "No rest for the weary" is our motto!

Wednesday, June 17 (105 driving miles today)
     The morning was deceptively cool.  We almost second guessed the idea to take the Park bus north to The Narrows.  We were positively chilly on the 1 mile Riverwalk into Canyon.  When we got to the Virgin River Narrows, we waded across a few knee-deep crossings and then turned back, which was all I suspected we would accomplish.  You can't really get farther without getting quite wet with little people (or cold-adverse people).  By the time we were turning around, mid-morning, it was HOT again.  We had kept an eye on the temps in the weeks leading up to the trip.  They seemed reasonable, in the 90ºs or so.  It's a dry heat, of course (wink, wink).  However, we paid less attention to the forecast, in which this would be the first week of temps rising to 100º.
     On the way to Lake Powell we stopped at the Big Water Ranger Station.  His report on Buckskin Gulch (one jewel in the crown of our week) was that there were waist deep potholes at the confluence, if you could even get through Wire Pass's new large chokestones.  It sounded beyond our means for this trip.  By the time we got to the SHADELESS Wahaweap Marina Campground at Lake Powell we were toast.  It was all we could do to rustle up our bathing suits and high tail it to the complimentary pool at the adjacent hotel-resort.  While there, we thought about revising our itinerary which was supposed to entail Dan and Courtney meeting us the following afternoon so we could do Buckskin on Friday morning, camp a third night here and hike Waterholes Canyon south of Page (another gem we wanted to show off to the Phoenicians) on the way back to FLG on Saturday.
     Faced with Buckskin being out due to conditions and the unbearable heat we threw in the towel.  We could not bring ourselves to have Dan and Courtney drive 4 hours to this shade-forsaken country for a one night stand and morning turn-around for one short (but sweet) slot canyon.  We agreed with them to rendezvous in the Pines and have our campout in Flagstaff.  Tough decisions call for scrapping campsite dinner for a Mexican Restaurant.  (sounds like 2000 LTP staff training trip).

Thursday, June 18 (140 driving miles today)
     In the relative cool of the morning we could handle a few excursions on our way out of town.  First stop was the Hanging Gardens Trail north of the Dam.  A nice short slickrock trail lead to a shady moist oasis.  On the way back, we stopped to discover life in some temporary potholes.  Our guess was horseshoe crabs.  It took 3 staff persons at the Dam Visitor Center to tell us the same.

When we got home, we got out this kit Maya had been saving for warm weather.  The creatures, TRIOPS, are exactly what we observed in the potholes at Lake Powell.  NOT Horseshoe Crabs. 

    A nearby sign and Ranger alerted us to the fact that there was lake access further up the driveway, so we made a unplanned stop to check it out.  We hadn't been to the Lake yet and the whole reason we chose this area to camp was because swimming is such a perk for the girls.  The area, known as "The Chains".  It was a nice little swimming area with a slickrock beach.  We even found a piece of shade that lasted the morning.  Surprisingly the water temperature was even tolerable to ME!  It nearly made us re-think bailing on Page.
     But alas, we were on the road back to FLG.  The girls were promised a return visit to Cameron Trading Post, but we rushed them through for popsicles and earrings and aimed towards the Peaks.   We met up with Dan and Courtney, did some restocking of the cooler and found a site in the Coconino National Forest near the Lava Tubes, and tucked in for a very chilly night. (Be careful what you wish for!)

Friday, June 19
     In the morning, everyone but me went off down the road to explore the Lava Tubes.  I sat out due to our limited flashlight supply.  After an hour Jeff called to say Dan cut his head badly and would swing by for me to check it out on the way to the ER.  According to Maya it was bad.  Obviously I was not about to check it out.  The boys went into town for some scalp gluing and the girls stayed behind for card games in the dust.  The forest made crunching sounds as you walked around.  Everything is parched.
     When the guys returned we all motored over to Snowbowl to consider a sky ride and have ice cream.  Sky ride was a no-go, but Dan and I got to stay behind for a pleasant hike while the others killed some time at a playground downhill.

Saturday, June 20
This concludes the camping portion of our journey.  Lessons learned:
-It is super hot in Arizona (and Utah) in June.  Don't kid yourself.
-Slot Canyons are a fickle plaything.  When is a more stable time to visit them?  Maybe October?
-When trip planning, try not to include 100-200 miles of driving EVERY DAY.  While it is historically Carroll-travel 101, in reality it is tedious.
-Bring your own shade to Lake Powell.
-Bring sleeping pills.  I'm getting too old for sleeping on the ground.
-La Fonda is very busy for lunch on Saturdays.
-Next trip is Moab.  Who's in?

Saturday evening we had a lovely reunion with many Flagstaff friends and their children.  So good to see the Turkos, Coopers, and Joe.  I am pretty sure Jeff told them all we are retiring there in 13 years (immediately after Genna's H.S. Graduation Party) so I guess that is our next planned reunion. 

Sunday, June 21
We celebrated Father's Day by taking ourselves down Oak Creek Canyon to Slide Rock State Park.  Scratch that, we were the first car in line to be turned away due to a full parking lot.  So GRASSHOPPER POINT for the save!  There is a little and big cliff there to jump in to the creek and  Maya was the brave soul among us who went for it (off the little cliff) into the ice cold creek.  After that it was back to Mund's Park for a pleasant dinner with the Zubkos and Carrolls (minus Genna, who slept through dinner).




Monday, June 22
Set our alarms for 4:00am to catch the good old Southwest Chief out of town.  Once again the Kansas leg was mostly overnight and I think everyone slept better.  Sadly they were out of ice cream.

Tuesday, June 23
We arrived back in Kalamazoo around 9:30pm.  Genna and Maya thought they had forgotten what our house looked like.  Upon our return the biggest perk has been that the girls sleep in till 8 or 9am.  AND.... we did get home in time for mulberries and blackberries!



Thank you again to Grandpa and Courtney!  Your help was invaluable!  Love you!!!!