Madhumati Ramesh

Dead Horse Point State Park

Next day we left the town of Green River towards the Canyonlands National Park. Just before the park there is another Utah state park called the Dead Horse Point. It is part of the Colorado Plateau, at 6000 ft above the sea level. In the distance one can see the La Sal Mountain which is 12000 ft high. From this we can gauge information about the core of the earth and about the layers of the earth. The Colorado River can be seen flowing 2000 feet below from the plateau. Like the Grand Canyon, this too is the Colorado River Valley.

There is a legend behind the name of this state park. Cowboys used to corral wild mustang horses that used to roam this plateau at this waterless point by fencing off a narrow neck entry point. After putting them through rigorous testing conditions, they chose the best steeds and took them away. Once for some reason horses were left behind stranded inside the fence and died of thirst all the while the mighty Colorado river was flowing 2000 feet below within their eyesight. What a horrible incident!

Goblin Valley State Park

We were driving along scenic byway number 24 to the town of Green River where we were going to spend the night. But we wanted to visit the Goblin Valley State Park which was along the way. It was 24 km off on a side road. It was important to reach there before sunset. Of course we got there on time.

Similar to Bryce there are Hoodoos here – but shorter and shaped like mushrooms. They are 2-3 meters high. This place was discovered by Arthur Chaffin in 1920. He revisited it in 1949, stayed there for many days and undertook detailed photography. He named it Mushroom Valley. Later in 1964, the state of Utah acquired this land to make it into a state park and named it Goblin Valley.

Millions of years ago Entrada sandstone was deposited on the edges of the ocean that occupied this place. After the ocean receded, the stone was eroded in its weaker sections. The stronger upper section eroded less thus forming the mushroom shaped red colored goblins.

In the twilight we walked amongst the goblins and took lots of photo. The valley was glowing red. There is camping facility in the park however there are no hotels or restaurants. Since we had kitchen with us we were able to cook anywhere. We cooked a nice meal and ate it while watching the valley grow dark as the light faded. There were no other visitors except us and the quiet expanse of the valley.

It was going to be late by the time we reached our destination. The road was lonely. There were no villages on the way and it was completely dark. In the headlights we saw some movements on the road, so we reduced the speed. There were brown rabbits running along the road. Perhaps they were not used to the lights so they were scared.

After a while my daughter stopped the car and asked me to come out. I didn’t understand why she was asking me to come out of the car on a dark and lonely road. Did she see an interesting animal? She told me to look up. I have never seen a night sky so beautiful. I was speechless with infinite twinkling diamonds studding the night sky. Our galaxy really looked like a milky river. Stars looked sharp and bright. There were so many stars that I could not recognize any of the usual constellations. She showed me some of them. There was no moon. The stars ruled the sky. I have been to several star parties held by the amateur astronomy club on the outskirts of Pune but I had never seen a sky so beautiful. Goblin Valley State Park used to hold stargazing events. Now they are also held at the Bryce Canyon.

Capitol Reef National Park

That night we stayed in the town of Torrey which is close to the Capitol Reef National Park. This park stretches over a 100 miles north-south. It is relatively narrow. The park was accorded the status of a National Park in 1972. The reason for the name of this park is the dome shaped white rock at its entrance that looks like the Capitol Building in Washington DC. There are many such white domes in the park. Upon entering the park we saw the Chimney Rock, the Panorama Point, and the Twin Rock.

Fremont River in Fruita

Gifford House in Fruita

There used to be a village called Fruita. True to its name, it has 2,500 fruit trees here – apple, peach, pear, cherry, etc. Now these trees belong to the park. Visitors can pick the fruits themselves and eat. They can be purchased for carrying. There were many squirrels, ducks, and deer in this orchard. A tributary of the Colorado river called Fremont flows by this orchard. There is also the historic Gifford Farmhouse in this orchard. Part of this is a museum and part a shop- selling coffee and fresh apple pies made from the fruits of the orchard. We tasted the pie. It was very good.

Then we went to the visitor center to get information about the park. As usual we started at the farthest end of the road that goes through the park. The trail at this point is called Capitol Gorge Trail. This trail is 4 km long. It is basically a dry river bed that is rocky. You need to have good shoes to walk on it. Flash floods are possible on this trail if it rains. It is not recommended to enter this trail without knowing the forecast for rain. There is a 7500 ft tall rock along this trail called the Golden Throne – the throne of the Sun God. It is made of a special gold colored stain of the Navajo sandstone. The color stands out prominently golden at sunrise.

Petroglyphs

Pioneer Register

There are some names carved in a rock along this trail. These names were written by the first people who visited this area about 125 years ago. It is called the Pioneer Register. There was a notice written near it stating “Do not write on the walls”. This is the first time we saw such a notice because it is uncommon in America. It is an unfortunate habit of us Indians. You also get to see drawings created by the Native Americans is some places. These are called Petroglyphs.

Snake

At one location high up on a rock there are natural water tanks. I did not go to see them but my daughter did. She took pictures to show me. As usual we had seen many squirrels, birds and deer but on our way back we saw a snake also. Everyone on the trail came to take pictures and videos of it. On our way back we saw the Cassidy Arch and the Hickman Bridge.

A special part of this park is called the Waterpocket Fold. According to geologists it is the world’s largest folded section of ground. It is also called monocline. From a plane one can see this fold stretching for a hundred miles. Just like a fold you will get by pushing two ends of a paper together.

Scenic byway 12 ended at Torrey. We left park on another scenic byway number 24. There is another large Petroglyph panel on this road outside of the park. This panel contains several human and animal depictions.

Scenic Byway 12

Soon we left Bryce Canyon and took the scenic byway 12. This road begins from the Red Canyon and ends up in Torrey. It is 200 kilometers long and much shorter than other roads here. Beginning from pillars in the Red Canyon, the road passes through Dixie National Forest and runs alongside Bryce Canyon and touches several small cities – Tropic, Cannonwheel, and Henrywheel. It then crosses the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.

View of Capitol Reef from US 12

Fall Colors

One can also see the ruins that give an insight into the Native American civilization. The road passes the Boulder standing tall at 11,000 feet offering a panoramic view from this height and culminates at village Torrey. Enroute lies Powell Point and it is from here that one can view the colorful mountain range called Pink Cliff. From here onwards, the colorful mountain ranges paint a breathtaking view – it simply defies description in mere words.

Kiva Koffeehouse

Kiva Exterior

Kiva Interior

Kiva Window

Before Boulder on the highways there is a unique restaurant called Kiva Koffee house. It is at the most beautiful location overlooking a river and its valley. It is worth a stop for the high quality snacks and coffee. Otherwise there are hardly any towns along this road and no restaurants either. The Kiva Koffee house was designed and built by Bradshaw Bowmen in 1990. He collected the material over many years. His friends helped him in this effort. It was completed in 1998. He was 87 years old at that time. Entire tree trunks of the large Ponderosa Pine tree are used at columns in its construction. There are few rooms built for lodging. It is open only from April to October. While travelling anywhere on the Colorado Plateau it is generally a good idea to carry enough food and water with you. Most of the area is protected land in some form so there are not that many towns or shops.

Anasazi State Park Museum

This museum is also on Utah’s scenic byway 12 in the town of Boulder. Anasazi means the ‘ancient one’. The Anasazis lived here before the Pueblos. It was the Pueblos who started calling them Anasazi. In India we refer to them as Adivasi. They lived here during 1 AD to 1300 AD. During excavations the archeology students from the Utah University found ruins of 87 Anasazi homes in the location of this museum. Based on their findings, they rebuilt six houses as exhibits for tourists. They also compiled information about their culture from the clues unearthed during their archeological digs on similar grounds as Mohenjodaro and Harappa.

Reconstructed Anasazi house

Anasazi pottery

Anasazi tools

Archeological excavation

The Pueblos were basically a pastoral community. They were also agriculturists and cultivated corn, pulses / lentils, pumpkin and cotton – so they say based on findings from the excavation. The Pueblos were experts in constructing houses. Ruins indicate that they built two to three storeyed houses. They made good quality clay vessels and woven cane baskets. They painted the clay pots. The painting similar to Warli painting is unique and popular to date. The museum has these on display as well as hundreds of arrowheads and other artifacts. It gives information about their life and the history. One can get copies of these artifacts at a souvenir shop on the premises. These serve as attractive show-pieces in the modern households even today.

Towards the end of this road there is a forest. There is also Sagebrush and Pinyon pines. It was Autumn and the hillsides were covered with bright yellow Aspens. We saw a lot of cattle going home in the evening.

Bryce Canyon National Park

After seeing the Zion National Park we re-traced our way back to Mount Carmel Junction. We took the US Highway 89 and headed north. On the way we stumbled upon a German Bakery which is actually run by Germans. We treated ourselves to coffee, cake and potato salad. It should be mentioned that this area in the United States is extremely popular with German tourists.

German Bakery

Leaving Zion – US 89

From US 89 we turned right towards east onto scenic byway 12 for Bryce Canyon National Park. At this junction is the Red Canyon which is a part of the Dixie National Forest. It is called Red Canyon because all around you the rocks and hills are formed of bright red limestone. The red color appears because of the presence of iron oxide in the soil. The road passes through several tunnels that are cut through the red rock.

Red Canyon

US 12 Information at Red Canyon

Red Canyon

We looked forward to taking in the magic of the scene draped in twilight. We were on time to catch the sunset. Some of which we caught on camera. Unfortunately, the clouds played bad sport by veiling the beauty in its folds. We were a bit sad about that.

Now we were hungry. The biggest advantage of having the kitchen with you in the car is that you can eat anywhere. So we ate a nice meal in the parking lot surrounded by beauty. We could not get any hotel booking near Bryce so we drove to Kodachrome Basin State Park where we got booking for a campground. It was 50 km away. We decided that we would come back the next day for sunrise to Bryce.

We drove on Cottonwood canyon road to Kodachrome. It was a beautiful drive. Even in the dark we could see rabbits running on the road in the headlights. We got up at 4 am and came back to Bryce. It was really crowded. Sunset and sunrise are the most amazing times to experience in Bryce. We had to walk from the sunset point all the way up to the sunrise point. We saw the canyon slowly getting lit up in the morning light before sunrise.

Just before sunrise

Sun rising

After sunrise

Arch

Hodoo

Bryce Canyon is not carved by a river. Bryce Canyon is like an amphitheater that is 20 km long, 5 km wide, and 300 m deep. This area is at 8 to 9 thousand feet above sea level. That is why it is usually very cold here. The Mormon people have lived in this area since 1850. They are the first westerners to inhabit this land. One of these pioneers was Ebenezer Bryce after whom this canyon is named. It was declared a national monument in 1923 and then a national park in 1928.

The beauty of the unusually shaped pillars carved thus is a unique feature of this terrain. These are towards the East of the Paunsaugunt plateau. The pillars are called Hoodoo in local dialect. These pillars are made from sedimentary rock. Clad in red, yellow, and orange these rock formations look amazing – especially, in twilight.

Native Americans (Paiute tribe) believe that the Hoodoos are memorials built by the Coyote God in the memory of their spirit ancestors. In the morning they begin to dazzle in the golden rays of the rising sun as if the whole valley is on fire. To see the hoodoos from up close you have to climb down into the canyon using the trails that take you to their base.

The hoodoos are also known as Tent Rock, Fairy Chimney, and Earth Pyramid. They range from 1.5 m to 45 m in height. Over many years the exposure to snow, water, heat, wind, and rain has resulted in chiseling away of the weaker areas of the sedimentary rock which created these oddly shaped pillars. The top layer of this rock is tougher so it erodes less than the portion below. The colors of the pillars are due to the various minerals in the rock. There are many such rocks on the Colorado Plateau. Other cultures refer to the hoodoos by other names such as the French call them ‘ladies with hairdos’, the Serbians call them ‘devil’s town’, the Taiwanese call them ‘queen’s head and in New Zealand they are called ‘Earth Pillars’ (Wairarapa). The year 1859 saw its inclusion in the list of ‘Seven Wonders of the World’!

A 30 km road goes along the top of the amphitheater allowing you to visit various viewpoints of the canyon. The last point on this road is called the Rainbow viewpoint. It is at 9000 ft elevation. From here you can see the Henry Mountain and the Vermillion Cliffs in the distance. All viewpoints as usual have detailed description of what to see. That is how we know where to look to see the Vermillion Cliffs. From Yorimpa viewpoint one can see the Monument Valley in the distance.

Zion National Park

The GPS showed that the US Highway 89A was under construction and the alternative was 89 via Page, which is a much longer detour. However, when we stopped on our way at a gas station at the intersection of 89 and 89A we were told that the road was open. How is that for an interesting twist?

Roadside shops

Cliff Dwellers

89A is a scenic road that goes along the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument. Native americans have shops along the roadside selling handmade jewelry. You can custom order your necklace and they make in front of you. There is an interesting place along this road called the Cliff Dwellers. These are large boulders that are sitting on top of soft soil. Stone houses were built under these boulders for shelter in 1930.

Vermillion Cliffs from west

Vermillion Cliffs from south

Vermillion Cliffs from close

After some miles you have to take 89 again on which you will find the Mt. Carmel Junction where you have to turn left – i.e. west – to enter Zion National Park from the east side. This road, designated as scenic, connects the Zion Canyon with the north rim of the Grand Canyon as well as the Bryce Canyon and Cedar Breaks National Park. This road was constructed from 1927 to 1930. What is special about this road is that the tunnel on this road was the largest tunnel in America during those days. This tunnel is 5600 ft long and has six galleries cut out of sandstone to ventilate the tunnel and for providing light. Since 1987 this road is placed in the National Register of Historic Places. This road goes through the Zion National Park.

Zion Sunset

We reached the eastern entrance of the park at sunset. This was a perfect time for taking pictures of the Checkerboard Mesa. Mesa means a small hill. It is of the size of our Parvati hill in Pune. It is conical, smooth, white with vertical and horizontal lines on it like a checkerboard. Little green shrubs grow in it in a few places.

Finally after a long day of driving we reached the town of Springdale, which is the closest town to the park. It has many hotels and restaurants as well as the shuttle to the park starts here. The two nights of booking that we had made for the campground at the park had been wasted because of our change of route on the first day and now with great difficulty we found a vacancy in a hotel owned by a person of Indian origin.

Zion National Park is spread across 590 square km, 25km long and half a mile wide. It is a long narrow canyon of red and maroon colored Navajo Sandstone. It is at the junction of the Mojave Desert, the Colorado Plateau, and the Great Basin. The highest peak in this park is the Horse Ranch Mountain at 8700 ft high. The river that flows through this canyon is called the Virgin River. It is a tributary of the Colorado River. Placed in a narrow area there is no place for parking vehicles in the park. You are expected to take the park shuttle bus onto the road that goes through this canyon.

Virgin River

Virgin River at Temple of Sinwava

Virgin River

We took the bus to the last viewpoint at the north end of the canyon first. It is called the Temple of Sinawava. Sinawava is the Coyote God of the Paiute Indians. There is no temple at this location. There is a large red rock that is named after the God. From this point a walking trail along the Virgin River continues into the narrow canyon. You can walk 15 kilometers (to and fro) into the narrowing canyon from here. The first viewpoint is after three km. There is a nice place to sit by the river here. We saw several deer, squirrels, and birds on this trail. They are used to the human visitors so they were not running away from us while we took their pictures. Since you are in a really narrow canyon here it is shaded and cool and it was a pleasant walk.

In the Grand Canyon National Park you get to see the canyon created by the Colorado River from the top while in the Zion National Park you get to see the canyon created by the Virgin River from the bottom. We saw other viewpoints such as the Big Bend and the Weeping Rock on our way to Zion Lodge. From here we took the trail to see the Emerald Pool. It was a continuous climb for 3 km but it was beautiful. You see the reflection of the trees in this lake hence it is called the Emerald pool. There are two more lakes ahead of it but we did not go there.

Zion

Zion lodge is a historic heritage place. Historians found that 8,000 years ago humans inhabited this place. There were a few families. They mostly foraged and hunted. About 2,000 years ago, some groups began growing corn and other crops, leading to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Later groups in this period built permanent villages called pueblos. They used to make painted earthen jars and wove baskets.

In 1776, some European missionaries come for preaching and discovered this place. John Powell visited Zion Canyon in 1872 and named it Mukuntuweap, under the impression of it being the original Paiute name. Slowly this canyon began to gain popularity because of the paintings, photos and articles about it that started appearing in the news media. In 1901 it was declared a national monument and then in 1917 its name was changed by the director of the national park service from Mukuntuweap to Zion. Zion is a biblical word meaning peaceful place. In 1919 it became a National Park. However, it was not connected well by transport; nor did it have facilities to commute within the park itself. So it was not until 1956 that people started visiting this park. The shuttle bus was introduced in 2000.

Today this is one of the most popular parks in America. Trekking, rock climbing, horse riding, river rafting and camping are some of the popular activities in this park. The ranger talks on the history, geology, and wildlife are also popular.

Grand Canyon National Park

We started early from Williams towards the Grand Canyon. On the way we stopped at the visitor center of the world famous National Geographic magazine. There, we watched a movie on the history and geography of the canyon in a 3-D Imax theater. The movie showed a birds-eye view of the canyon. We purchased an Entry-Pass for the National Park. This pass is for one car irrespective of how many people are in it. It is valid for a year and you can use it in any National Park in the US.

Millions of years ago, a shallow sea covered parts of Utah, Arizona, and Colorado. Erosion of surrounding land deposited multiple layers of soil at the bottom of this sea. Due to upheaval, this bottom was lifted up and became the Colorado Plateau. Rivers, mountains, and meadows were formed on this plateau. One of the rivers is the Colorado River. The river eroded the layers of the deposited sediment and formed the canyon. The presence of a variety of minerals explains the vivid hues that lend the Canyon its multicolored layers. This is not the deepest canyon in the world. That honor goes to the Kali Gandaki Gorge of Nepal in the Himalayas. However, the Grand Canyon is the largest, overwhelming, and most colored of all canyons in the world. It is 450 km long, 30 km wide and 1800 meters deep. The south side of the canyon is 2000 meters above the sea level. The uplift of the Colorado Plateau is uneven, and the Kaibab Plateau that Grand Canyon bisects is over a thousand feet (or 300 m) higher at the North Rim than at the South Rim. The lowest layer in these sedimentary layers is called ‘Vishnu Rock’, which was formed about two lakh years ago when the lava from a volcano surfaced and cooled down. It was named by Dutton, a geologist of world repute. He has also named a tall rock as ‘Temple Rock’ owing to its structural resemblance to the crown (kalash) of a temple. This is a truly amazing fact!

There are many areas in America that are still occupied by the Native Americans. One of the oldest of these people are called the Pueblo. They still live in the Grand Canyon. They are also called the Anasazi. Anasazi means ‘the ancient ones’. This word comes from the Navajo language where ‘jo’ is pronounced as ‘ho’. There are several other tribes that live here. The area on the west side of the canyon was settled by the Cohonia. Out of these, the Yuma, Havasupai, and Walapai people still live here.

According to the records, the first European who discovered this marvel of nature, the Grand Canyon, was Garcia Lopez de Cardenas in 1540. However, it was really brought to light in 1826 by James Ohio Pattie. After that many people travelled this area by land and by the river. Travelogues penned by them are available for reference. The most famous was John Powell. John Powell set off on a voyage with four boats manned by a crew of nine. The geologist Clarence Dutton was also on this team. With provisions for ten months, they set sail on the Green river (Wyoming state) on 24^th May. The Green river meets the Colorado river in the town of Moab. From there, they travelled down the Colorado. It was an extremely treacherous journey. The story of this is shown in the film at the visitor center. It was Powell who named it ‘the Grand Canyon’. In 1903, President Roosevelt visited the canyon. It was designated as a National Monument in 1908 and was then made into a National Park by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919.

We parked our van at Mather campground. In Grand Canyon, it is not possible to view tourist spots by your car. One has to take an environmentally friendly low emission bus to visit the different viewpoints on the rim of the canyon. There is no ticket for this bus. The buses run every 7 to 8 minutes and are very convenient. The buses that go to the west side, the east side, and the campgrounds are color-coded. The visitor center provides you with maps and pamphlets and all of the information needed to visit and experience the park. These maps and pamphlets are so accurate that it is very hard to get lost in the park.

Walking trails also connect all of the viewpoints. The distance between each viewpoint is given in the map. One can stroll down the footpaths, clicking photographs at a leisurely pace or hop on to a bus in case one is tired. We initiated our tour by hopping on to a bus headed West – colored Red. The last viewpoint on this route is 40 km away. After visiting the Trail Viewpoint and Powell point by bus we walked to the Hopi point. After that we visited Mohave point, Pima point, and in the end the last point called the Hermit’s Rest. From all these viewpoints we saw the canyon in many different angles in changing light conditions and a multitude of colors. The Colorado river in azure blue was flowing deep in the canyon, the slopes tinted fiery red, fresh green, golden yellow, topped by milky white, the mesmerizing view defies words to describe this view.

Hermits Rest

View from Hermits Rest

There is a small restaurant at Hermit’s Rest Point. Architect – Mary Colter built it here in 1914. We had a steaming hot cup of coffee there. The interiors reflect a Native American style of decor. Having refreshed ourselves thus we headed to Bright Angel Trailhead to watch the sun dipping down the flaming orange horizon – a visual treat indeed! The east side of the canyon was soaked in hues of red color that became even brighter.

Petrified Wood

We also saw petrified wood at this location. In Greek language ‘petro’ means ‘rock’, so these are ancient woods that are converted into rocks. Such transformation takes place when minerals seep into the root system of the plant, gradually converting it to stone. Mary Colter has built a Hopi House in this location. She has built a total of five shelters as per Hopi design in the Grand Canyon.

We spent the night at Mather campground. There was a bed in the campervan for us to sleep. Some other campers had brought tents with them or they were living in large RVs. The campgrounds in this country can be very large. The campsites are neatly arranged and numbered. Close by are located toilets and facilities for showers, dish washing, etc. for public use. There is a battery charging station, hosepipes for filling water and drainage facility for big RV’s.

We could not sleep well in the campervan. Since this is a high altitude desert, the days were hot but the nights were very cold. We had just one blanket each provided by the rental van company that was not enough.

Despite the lack of sleep we got up at six in the morning to see the sunrise. As we were on the way to eastbound US Highway 89 and the sunrise point lay on our route, we didn’t have to go out of our way. After having seen a colorful sunset on the west facing walls of the canyon on the previous night, in the morning we saw the east facing walls of canyon light up in a dazzling golden light.

There is only one viewpoint on the east, the Desert View Watchtower, also designed by Mary Colter. This was built in 1932 and it is 70ft tall. This is the highest viewpoint on the south rim of the canyon. The construction is typical of the Anasazi style. The building itself and the paintings on the interior walls are beautiful. These are painted by Fred Kabotie. One can see a section of the Painted Desert from this tower.

Desert view watchtower

Paintings inside the tower

Desert view watchtower

We also saw a Mountain Goat here. It was bluish in color and slightly larger than the usual goats. There are many types of deer, squirrels and other animals and birds in the Grand Canyon. Some of these you will see on your visit there. They offer plenty of photo opportunities.

Many activities are popular in the canyon such as trekking, river rafting, marathon, etc. One of them is the 126 km ‘Ultra Marathon” to be done in 24 hours. There are many trails that will take you down into the valley. There are campgrounds on the valley floor too. The most popular of these trails is the Bright Angel Trail. You have to carry everything you need on these trails down and then back up. You are not allowed to leave behind absolutely any kind of garbage. You have to carry all of your garbage back with you. All relevant information and guidance to make your trail activities an enjoyable and memorable one, is available at the Visitor’s Center.

There are ranger programs for bird watching, Elk trail and Fossil discovery. Children as well as adults get to learn in these programs. You can also see the Grand Canyon from a helicopter. They show the southern, northern, and western part of the canyon on these rides. Of course it is very expensive.

After seeing the Desert View Watchtower we headed north on the US highway 89. US 89 is a scenic drive. Very soon we left the state of Arizona and entered Utah. Utah state is famous for having many national parks. There are five of them – Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches, and Canyonlands. Besides, it has 43 state parks and 7 national monuments.

Large portion of Utah is desert. We caught the mesmerizing view of the Painted Desert, Marble Canyon, and Vermillion Cliff National Monument on our way. Painted desert, as the name suggests, consists of hills of various different colors. It’s as if the creator took a brush and painted them with various colors on a canvas. The top of a hill is white while the lower part is red or the top is yellow and lower is gray, the top is light red and the bottom is dark red or green. I have never seen such colorful landscapes. Just a glimpse left me spellbound. There were many viewpoints on this road. At some of these we stopped to take pictures. All viewpoints have parking, toilets, and drinking water even though there was no one living anywhere in sight. The facilities were clean and well maintained. Will it be too difficult to have these kinds of facilities in India? Other than the facilities, the viewpoints also had information in text and pictures of the history and geography of the region. There is no need of a tourist guide anywhere.

The Campervan

Our journey started off with a series of delays. First, we reached Las Vegas an hour late due to flight delay. We, finally, got a taxi after waiting in line for thirty minutes further adding to the delay. At the office of Juicy Campervan, the girl at the counter was talkative and enthusiastic and ended up further delaying us. As we did not like the car allotted to us, getting a replacement caused yet some more delay.

Two stoves, sink, refrigerator, pots, pans. cutlery

Full size bed in the back.

At Jucy’s Office

The model we rented was a Dodge mini-van – large enough for my daughter and me. The van had a bed, sheets, blankets, pillows, a kitchen complete with pots and pans, plates and cups, cutlery, two stoves, a fridge, a table and two folding chairs.

We first drove to Trader Joe’s to buy tea, coffee, sugar, milk, eggs, bread, butter, water, and pre-cooked Indian food. After putting the supplies into the back of the van, we were, finally, all set to go late in the evening.

Our first destination was Zion National Park. We had booked a campground there for the night. Switching on the GPS we learned that the Interstate-15 route we were to take was blocked. The I-15 had succumbed to a landslide due to a heavy downpour a couple of days back. Therefore, the GPS was recommending a much longer alternative route. The longer route would have meant that we reached Zion at mid-night which was too late. And there was a likelihood that we would get stuck on that alternative route if it was backed up. And thus our original plan collapsed.

Instead of visiting Zion, we decided to start our journey with the Grand Canyon. We decided to stay in a hotel in a town called Williams – about 3 hours drive from Las Vegas – near the south rim of the Grand Canyon National Park. Both of us had seen this marvel of nature before separately and in this road trip, the north rim of the Grand Canyon was our last destination. Now in our modified plan we decided to visit our last destination first.

We had just experienced the saying ‘God does everything for our own good.’ We were glad that the GPS in the mobile phone detected the road stoppage and showed us the modified route due to which we changed our plans. Had it instead shown us the expected route via I-15, we might have become stranded somewhere on the smaller roads due to the detour and backed up traffic. It is so nice that the GPS in the US works on up-to-date road information.

Las Vegas is in the state of Nevada while the Grand Canyon is in Arizona. Arizona greeted us with the view of multi-colored mountain ranges all along the route -red, white and green. On the border of these two states is the world famous Hoover Dam built across the Colorado river. As we had visited this dam before and it was getting late, we did not stop at the dam. It is, however, worth a visit not only because of its impressive size but especially because it is well maintained. You will not find shrubs and trees growing out of cracks in the dam, unlike in India.

We had planned to take in as many sunrises and sunsets on this trip at the beautiful locations. That was the reason we had rented a campervan. So that we could stay at campgrounds close to the national parks. This plan was not going to materialize on our first night itself. Grand canyon was still 60 miles from the town of Williams. So we could not have reached there for the sunrise. We had an option though. We could try to get a parking slot for our van the next night in the Grand Canyon camping ground and thus take in the orange hues of the dipping evening sun first and then watch the golden orb rising on the horizon, the following morning. Fortunately, we succeeded in getting the booking as desired.