11-18 June

Route: Flagstaff-South Rim-Marble Canyon-South Rim

We now realize the importance of selecting a campground away from a railway line. Every time a train went past it felt and sounded like it was going right through our tent. The good news was, we were up super early, so could enjoy the back road from Flagstaff to South Rim.

We had had a little rain overnight and the temperature had really plummeted, people were walking around Grand Canyon dressed like Eskimos. I finally managed to buy a Tilley hat. Mannie may recall the Canadian we met at Nyika Plateau in Malawi, who showed us his. Apparently, simply the best outdoors hat in the world, or so he said. For $91, it even comes with a 4 page manual & a 2 year full insurance replacement scheme. The shuttle we booked to Marble Canyon, left bang on time. By this stage the wind was blowing a gale, it was freezing.

At 20:00 we met all the river guides and fellow rafters, for a briefing. The guides really looked like a motley crew of hippie, grass smoking beach bums, but turned out to be really good guys & girls, all with university degrees, mostly school teachers, who do this for the summer.

We set off early Sunday in temperatures 30 degrees cooler than normal, which was great ‘til we hit the first rapid. The water at Lees Ferry, not far below the Glen Canyon dam wall is in the 7-8C range, as the water they release via the turbines is taken from about 300 feet below the water surface. Lorna & our new Texan friend, Dawn, nearly froze to death, they were shaking like leaves.

Rafting is a very laid back affair, most of the time we spent quietly floating down the petrol green Colorado, broken every so often with a frenetic adrenaline rush, as we went through the rapids. Most days we do a hike into a side canyon, which are really great.

Red Wall Cavern, is a massive cave that has been eroded into the red wall limestone, it has been estimated that 50000 men could stand in it, today its mostly used by rafters to play baseball etc.

Our guides were all very experienced, KJ the tour leader has been ‘on the river’ for 30 years, & has done more than 100 full 15 day trips. We enjoyed been on the raft with Mark, he is quieter & gave good info about the geology, history of the canyon etc.

Lunches were spent on a sandy beach, normally with some shade, which was welcome as the temps soon started rising to the more normal 38-43C range.

The food was excellent, with any left over’s been thrown away, a great waste. What was rather strange for us, is that all liquid waste, incl soapy water, urine etc is put in the river and only the solid waste is carried out. Apparently as the land receives so little rain and the Colorado being such a high volume river, this is the most environmentally friendly way. They are also paranoid about clean hands, requiring everyone to wash there hands & then apply a sanitizer, before eating. Dishes are washed in 4 bowels, 2 with boiling water and one with a bleach type solution.

The guides do all the work, we were only required to help move the bags, mattresses etc off & on the boats each day & to wash our plate & fork. Each evening they set up a pee bucket for the ladies & a toilet, which is an old metal ammunition case, complete with seat etc, a rather sophisticated bush toilet.

The scenery from the rafts was spectacular, with the upper canyon being relatively wide, while the last day or so we float through sheer cliffs that rise steeply from the river. All in all we raft 87 miles and the river drops about 800 feet. The gradient of the river can easily be seen when you are at water level in the rafts. As we travel further, additional rock layers become visible, with the youngest being about 180 million years old to when we take out at Phantom Ranch were the rocks are 1.8 billion years old. On the 4^th day we pass an area known as The Great Unconformity. Here, 2 layers of rock meet, but there is a difference in age of approximately 1.3 billion years, between the layers. The ‘missing’ rock has been for the most part, eroded away before the newer rock that we see today was deposited. We pass sections that have not been fully eroded, but still there is ‘no rock’ for a period of over 500 million years.

One day we round a bend in the river, before us, a magnificent sight where the turquoise water of the Little Colorado meets the deep green Colorado River. 11 miles up stream, calcium rich water bubbles to the surface at place which is most sacred to the local Native Indian’s, known as The Place of Emergence, giving the water its beautiful colour.

We had a great fun racing down the warm, fast flowing river, wearing our life jackets like nappies, to protect our rears.

At the end of each day, we crept into our sleeping bags, on a tarp laid out on the soft sand, looked up at the clear skies, with a billions stars shining down on us…………………and once again reminded ourselves, how lucky we are.

On our final morning on the mighty Colorado, the early sunlight seemed to accentuate the height of the narrow canyon cliffs, as we drifted the last 2 miles to Piper Creek. We had seen the trail in the distance from North Rim, a week ago & we had been briefed on how best to ascend this grueling, yet beautiful trail. We took our first steps back to the future, from the 1.8 billion year old rocks on the rivers edge to the Bright Angel Hotel which stands 1600 meters, above us.

From the river you gain altitude rapidly on the 13km long Bright Angel trail, via the section of the known as The Corkscrew, after about 7 k’s we reach the first water point, Indian Gardens. We stop for a snack and relax for a few minutes under the shady Cottonwood trees. We traverse the relatively flat Indian Gardens plateau, the temperature having risen to over 40C sap our energy and our packs seem to bore into our backs. The gentle incline soon changes into long, dusty switchbacks, finally we rise up above the 500 foot high Red Wall Sandstone cliffs we had rafted next to for 2 days. Lorna feeling stronger today, led the way, stopping every now again in a patch of shade, to rest & admire the beauty around us. Drawing on our reserves and the promise of a bowl of ice cream, we finally ‘summit’, 5hrs20minutes after leaving the river. Exhausted but elated………what a week!

12 June

Route : North Rim – Marble Arch – Flagstaff


With little anticipation of what to expect on the 196mile drive to Flagstaff we rolled out of our down filled beds and got underway. Not even 2 miles along the road Marc screeches to Lorna to stop……. A Kaibab squirrel.


Now this is no ordinary squirrel, it is large, bigger than our ground squirrel, grey with a wide rust coloured back running up onto his ears, with a white bushy tail. It also has tufted ears, and only occurs in this small section of sub-alpine forest, on the north rim.



Just beyond Marble Canyon, Navajo bridge crosses the Colorado just after Lees Ferry. Sightings of the California Condor have been made here so we decide it is an excellent place to stop for breakfast. As you can now see luck is on our side and there perched on a rafter on the bridge is California Condor No. 70.



In 1983 there were 22 CC’s left in the world, a captive breeding programme was started and in 1995, when only 9 survived in the world, a decision was taken to capture all the remaining birds in a last ditch attempt to save this magnificent species.



Today there are 366 birds in the world of which 186 have been re-released. While we were eating our breakfast we looked up into the sky and there 4 of these black birds, with apricot bare skinned faces, that only a mother could love were soaring on their 9.5 foot wingspan, in the thermals above.

10 June

Route: Page-Marble Canyon-Grand Canyon, North Rim.

Our biological clocks have not reset, so we wake at 4:30, Arizona time. We decide to get going as we anticipate a long day, knowing that the camp ground is full, means we will have to still drive to Flagstaff after our visit. Just after the road crosses the Colorado, near Lees Ferry, we pass Marble Arch, where we will be staying the night before our rafting trip. The road parallels the Vermillion Mtns, which have been said “seem to radiate the light, rather than reflect it”. The colour of the 1500-foot high cliff is reddish, orangy, purply, pink, even on this overcast day. They must be awesome when the morning sun hits them. We pass through a series of hairpin bends, which takes us to an elevation of 7000+ feet, immediately the temperature drops and the vegetation changes to a mixed conifer forest. The

Kainab NF, which forms a buffer to the Grand Canyon, consists of short grassy meadows, with small open pans surrounded by Aspen and conifers.

Past management practice when fires were suppressed has resulted in encroachment of the forest into these meadows as well as the reduction in the amount of Aspen. Now days the areas are burnt every three to five years resulting in healthier Aspen population as they re-grow from the roots.

We overheard two conversations today, the first was a women speaking to a hotel staff person asking how do you get a reservation and whether there was ever any cancellations. His reply, “you have a one in a million chance”. The second was in the reception of the hotel with someone cancelling his night’s stay. Like Jack flash, so quick that the receptionist could not believe our question, we had a night in the grand old “Grand Canyon Hotel”. Not only did we get a room, but we also got one of only five that overlooks the canyon rim. You can work out the odds, there are 450 rooms in the hotel!

From the sun porch of the hotel built in 1928, rebuilt after a fire in 1932, we took the path to “Bright Angel point”. This narrow path with absolutely no barriers takes you out on a buttress 2000ft above the canyon floor.

From the viewpoint at the end of the trail, we could see a path that we would have to take when we exit the canyon after our rafting. We are not sure whether this scares us more or the terrifying drops around us!

We did the scenic drives that takes you to Cape Royal Point and Angel’s Window. Angel’s Window, named as this is the only place on the north rim where the Colorado river can be seen, this through an opening in the rock buttress.

You may be able to just make ot the Colorado, in the window. Also note the people on top.

I ventured onto the buttress with much trepidation, what with the height, extremely high winds and a 600 wide “bridge” to cross I would be lying if I didn’t say I was petrified.

The view from our rocking chairs on our patio was an apt way to end another awe-inspiring day.

9 June

Route: Bluff-Valley of the Gods-Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park-Page-Glen Canyon Dam.

Up before the sunrise, we drive out to Valley of the Gods. Described as a smaller, less known Monument valley with towering sandstone formations, just like in the old cowboy movies. Lit by the morning sun, with scrubby green growth in the valleys, made for some excellent photo opportunities.

You know how it is with some tourist attractions, they just do not live up to the hype, well Monument valley is one. This area belongs to Navajo Indians, who very much like Africans, all set up stalls selling the same cheap tourist items, along the roadside. The main feature of the park, is the iconic Mittens, a pair of Buttes, each with a single spire, making them appear like a pair of hands clad in mittens.

Unfortunately, a square, concrete hotel, has been ‘plonked’ insensitively on the plateau right in front of the famous landmark. The roads in the park are in an extremely poor state, so we decided to leave this sad. touristy place, after about half an hour.

As we traverse the last mount of the road to Page, in front of us lies the huge expanse of blue green water of Lake Powell, so out of place in this vast arid desert.

Construction of the 712 foot high arched Glen Canyon Dam wall, commenced in 1956, amidst much controversy.

425000 buckets of concrete, each larger than a normal concrete truck were poured, using uncrushed local stone. The mighty Colorado, backs up 185 miles and covers more than a million acres, and is known as Lake Powell. We took the 45 minute ranger lead tour of the dam wall.

The highly informative insight into the mammoth task of constructing, first the town of Page, the bridge over the canyon, the coffer dam, deviation tunnels, access facilities, the wall itself and the 1200 megawatt hydro-electric plant, was definitely the highlight of the day.

Eight 27m-diameter turbines, driven by the force of the water falling 45 metres, each generates 150 megawatts of power.

The Colorado is dammed in 26 places along its course, the other big one being the Hoover Dam.

7-8 June

Route: Moab-Canyonlands NP, Needles section. You always seem to waste a lot of time when you go into a town. We managed to leave at about 10, immediately heading south towards Canyonlands NP, Needles section. Canyonlands is a vast area, divided into 3 separate areas. The northern, Island in the Sky, high on the mesa, overlooking the incised valley of the Colorado River, the Maze, which is entered from the east of the park and Needles in the South. On route we visited Newspaper Rock, a cliff face covered with pre-historic and historic rock art, thought to represent about 2000 years of mans history.


We arrived at Sqaw Flats campsite in the heat of the day. The dry oppressive heat forced us to linger in the visitors centre long enough for them to suspect we were up to no good.



We had our first ‘braai’, 6 delicious Bratwors, which we took with us when we went done to the canyon, to try to get a good shot of the golden glow of the sun as it turned the rocks a rich autumn in colour. As the sky started to fade from the rich oranges to grey, we had a picnic supper, high on a ridge overlooking the vast rocky plains.

8 June

Route: Canyonlands NP-Manti-La Sal NF-Montecello-Blanding-Natural Bridges NP-Moki Dugway-Gooseneks SP-Mexican Hat-Bluff.

Another 10 k’s by 10 o’clock day, this time over sliprock paths, that meandered through huge dome shaped beige and pinky rust boulders. Massive cliffs dwarf us, their height further exaggerated, when the path lead us between rock faces so narrow, you can only pass, sideways.

Along the way, we see first hand how, Biological soil, stabilizers the sand so other plants can survive. We have seen this type of crusty looking soil, through out Utah.

When viewed under a microscope, you can see the fine treads, like spiders web, that starts the process, taking hundred’s of years to develop into a crusty black soil, that allows other forms of life a habitat to develop.

The final ascent through a saddle between cliff faces opens up to reveal an open grassy plain with horizontally striped, needle shaped rocks, as a backdrop………. Chesler Park.

A quick, ‘top & tail’ wash, and we are on our way, continuing S via the La Sal Mountains, this scenic route passes through the Manti-La Sal NF. Tree covered slopes, still with the odd patch of snow, are showing off their spring best. Along the way, a fisheries truck was restocking one of the many, crystal clear, icy cold lakes of the area. Fast flowing streams cross the road, which becomes impassable during the winter months.

We had hoped to spend the night at Natural Bridges NP, unfortunately it was full, but we did learn the difference between a rock bridge and an arch.

A bridge forms when a river erodes through a wall of rock to form a arch, whereas an arch, forms due to the action of gravity plus water & temperature, causing chunks of softer rock to break off, resulting in a bridge. The Americans have a wonderful way of showing their natural splendor, and Natural Bridges is no exception. An interpretive self-drive one-way route, allows excellent views of 3 natural bridges.

Ever S we go, this time we take a route not recommended for the feint hearted. A gravel switch-backed road, plunges down to the valley below. Known as Moki Dugway, built in the 1950’s during the uranium boom, has a gradient of 13% and the tightest corners, we’ve ever had to negotiate.

A quicker, but shorter descent than Leba Pass, in Angola.

Time was marching and we still had no digs for the night and nearby Mexican Hat a mining towns, only reasonable motel was full.

We decided to try Goosenecks SP. What it lacked in camping facilities, it made up for with the most spectacular viewpoint, I have ever seen.

Described as the longest entrenched river meander in N America, the San Juan River, twists & turns 6 mile, while only advancing 2. We gaze down at the 1500 feet, canyon in absolute awe.

We finally get a place for the night, 34 miles back in Bluff.