Day 54 - North Rim

Wednesday September 30th 2009. Woke up at 6am to watch the sunrise over the canyon, escaped the horrible Grand Canyon Village and set off east, stopped at The Cameron Trading Post in a Navajo reservation, continued around the eastern end of Grand Canyon through a sweltering desert, drove west past the Vermillion Cliffs and enormous red plateaus, turned south to climb through montane forest and praries to reach the north rim of Grand Canyon at dusk, drove past many mule deer and a herd of buffalo, parked at 8000' / 2440m, were amazed to go from desert heat to sub-freezing temperatures in one afternoon.

Day 53 - South Rim

Tuesday September 29th 2009. Went to the Chapel of the Holy Cross in the morning (when it was actually open this time), continued north, climbed a few thousand feet, paused at Oak Creek Canyon, which was high enough to be forested, passed through forests and plains to reach the south rim of Grand Canyon at 7000' /2130m, very disappointed by the mass of tarmac and millions of loud tourists but managed to find a secluded spot to watch a lovely sunset over the canyon, spent a fitful night sleeping in the car while police arrested other people in the carpark.

Day 52 - Red Rocks

Monday September 28th 2009. Morning swim in the pool, went on a tour around Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West, drove north through saguaro cactus covered hills, entered Sedona just in time to see the red rocks illuminated by sunset, saw the exterior of the Chapel of the Holy Cross but were too late to go inside, stayed in a skunk infested campground, ate dinner in the car.

Day 51 - HOT

Sunday September 27th 2009. Woke up early thanks to a bee alert, did a short hike to Barker Dam, saw petroglyphs, walked to Arch Rock, drove out of Joshua Tree National Park and onto the interstate, entered Arizona (drove in our swimsuits because of the heat - about 42° C / 108° F), stayed in a motel in Phoenix, swam in the pool watching the sunset over the desert.