Sunrise at Horseshoe Bend

 On Day 4 of Fall Break, my brother had to leave for a conference. We explored Flagstaff in the morning, including a trip to the Humane Society for some Halloween activities. That included riding a mule-pulled wagon. Desert Boy even got a chance to drive the mules.

 Then it was Desert Girl's turn. They both thought that was a lot of fun.

We made a quick stop by C-A-L*Ranch store, where our hay is being sold. It's beautiful isn't it? (By the way, the kids wore their Halloween costumes all day, Desert Girl was a witch and Desert Boy was a ninja).

Then we started heading home. We stopped in Page for the night (the hotel prices had dropped over one-third from the summer prices). The kids did a little trick-or-treating and were delighted. I was happy because they got less candy than usual, which was good because they ate most of it in two days.

I was amazed at how much Page has grown. It has over a dozen nice hotels, lots of restaurants (including Thai), a Wal-mart, and lots more. It has turned into a huge tourist destination, with three main activities: Lake Powell, Antelope Canyon, and Horseshoe Bend. I really wanted to see the Bend. We had passed the parking lot the night before and it had over a hundred cars in it from people who wanted to see the sunset. I was hoping it wouldn't be nearly so busy for the sunrise.

We made the drive in less than ten minutes and found about ten other cars in the parking lot. We made the short, sandy hike with not too much complaining, and then we were there, at the marvelous vista. I had been warned that there are are no guardrails and it's a thousand-foot drop, so I warned the kids to stay away from the edge. 

Although I did have them go to one place I deemed safe so they could be in the photo.

Then I pointed out to them others I didn't think were being safe. In fact, it made me rather uncomfortable, so we moved away.

The kids wanted to play, they didn't want to look at the view. So I let them play in the sand.

Then I found a fun place to climb, and we headed in that direction. The sun was starting to come up and I enjoyed the different perspectives on Horseshoe Bend.

I challenged the kids to find their own way up, and they did.

We goofed around with some timer shots.

One of the things I was fascinated about was the campers down below. Quite a few kayaks were on the beach at the bend, and we could see the tiny people gather around a campfire. We also could see a school of fish in the water and a distant raven fly across the river.

Horseshoe Bend is such an amazing view, just realize you'll be sharing it with a lot of people. Fortunately there's a lot of space, and you can even make room for your own fun, like our selfie shadows doing yoga poses.

The Haunted Observatory Tour--at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff

 After visiting Lava River Cave on Day 3 of our fall break, we went to the Pioneer Museum (they have a great room full of old toys that keep the kids occupied so the adults can actually read the exhibits), the Coconino Center for the Arts (neat fire and night sky exhibits), a delectable sweet shop in downtown Flagstaff (did you know there is such a thing as chocolate covered bacon??), a bike ride on the cool urban trails, and then it was time for the evening's big event: The Haunted Observatory Tour at Lowell Observatory.

The kids really wanted to go to a haunted house. But they're easily scared and when they get scared they don't sleep well and I didn't want that. So I was hoping the Lowell Observatory would be a good fit. Plus, if we dressed like scientists, we got in free, which was a big incentive.

We got there at 5 and joined the Haunted Observatory Tour as our first event, passing the UFO and going to the observatory that houses the telescope used to find Pluto. (That is so cool!)

Our guide told us a story about a mountain lion that kept an astronomer trapped in there all night long. Then the kids got to move the big telescope.

We heard some other stories about people feeling weird things that I have to admit already have departed my limited brain cells, but which impressed the kids. They were thinking the tour was pretty scary. Desert Boy thought something was pushing him and got a little freaked out.

My brother and I helped perpetuate that scary feeling by checking out Mr. Lowell's mausoleum. It was a little strange.

We went to part of an indoor talk and they had some cheesy skeleton images appear on the ceiling from time-to-time. The kids were fascinated. My brother and I pretended that we didn't see them, and it drove the kids crazy. We told them they must be seeing things that adults couldn't. I think they totally bought it.

Then came a talk about Scary Astronomy: galactic cannabalism (Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies colliding), black holes, and dark matter. It kept our attention. Then we went outside and saw Highway 66 running through Flagstaff. Flagstaff isn't all that bright, as it's been designated as the first International Dark Sky City.


They opened the large observatory and we went over to take a look. (Well, I had to play around with a night sky photo too!) The Milky Way is not super bright because of the city, but it was definitely observable.  Lowell Observatory uses most of the Mars campus (where we were) as an educational and money-making tool to support research in more distant observatories located in darker areas.


Inside the observatory we got to look through this huge telescope at a globular star cluster in the constellation Pegasus. Everything was red so that our night vision wasn't affected.

We finished the evening with Freaky Physics, which was a fun display of various physics tricks. The best was the last, putting boiling water into liquid nitrogen, which made a huge cloud.

And what were our costumes? I totally forgot to take photos of them. My brother and I are already scientists in real life, so our costumes were pretty lame. Desert Girl wore her caving helmet and kneepads from earlier in the day and was a speleologist. Desert Boy wore a USGS shirt that looked like a lab coat and developed his persona: a USGS lab scientist who studies bats and white-nose syndrome. It made me proud.

When we got back to my brother's house, the kids decided they didn't want to sleep in a room by themselves. They had been sufficiently scared that they wanted to sleep in the same room as mom. It's a good thing we skipped the haunted house!

It Finally Snowed!

 And we interrupt the regularly scheduled trip report for the weather report: SNOW! It finally snowed on November 4. We usually get our first snow in October, but October was unseasonably warm. I am so glad to see the snow, it's another great reason to slow down and take time to refresh, renew, and re-energize. Plus it's so beautiful!

I had to pull over on my way home from work and take some photos of the beautiful snow-covered terrain. It would have been a cold drive in that old vehicle!

Earlier in the day I walked with the kids and our dog to school. It was fun making footprints in the snow!

Then we had a little impromptu snowball fight.

Time to get mom!

The flakes were still flying as we found a nice supply of snow--and nearly depleted it from the picnic table in our ensuing snowball fight.

We're crossing our fingers that El Nino will deliver lots of snow to our area, but we're right on the line of where we may or may not see any effects. We've had several below average snow years, so it would be nice to have an average or even above average one for a change. So now I've written that--let's see if I feel the same way come February!

Lava River Cave near Flagstaff

For day 3 of our Fall Break (Day 1, Day 2), we headed to the Lava River Cave near Flagstaff (directions in the link). My brother warned me that this was a very popular destination, but I figured since it was a weekday and raining, there wouldn't be many people there. Wrong! We saw about 30 other people in the lava tube. And apparently that's a tiny amount, the parking lot is enormous.

The trail is signed and near the cave is a sign telling folks to bring headlamps and not to leave graffiti. Since I'm a caver, I thought the cave conservation and caver safety messages could be beefed up quite a bit.

We navigated the puddles to take a look at the map of the .75 mile long cave and the entrance. The map was pretty simple, it's one tube that goes in nearly a straight line. There's one place with an obstruction in the middle.

We put on our gear, which included not only headlamps, but also helmets and kneepads, and descended into the dark.

Actually there was quite a bit of algae growing on the lava near the entrance. It looked kind of cool and eerie at the same time.

What we found down below was a lot of walking passage, but the floor was often jagged and uneven.

Sometimes the ceiling was really high.

And sometimes it was kind of low (this is the right fork of the obstruction).

I had my good camera with me and enjoyed trying to take some cave photos that showed how large the passage was. I was a bit surprised at all the coloration, I was definitely expecting more dark lava color.

I also thought there might be some lavacicles, but I didn't see any lava tube formations except a bit of moonmilk.

We stopped to try and take a group photo, but it came out a little blurry.

Then we heard voices, lots of voices. It turned out a school group of 20 kids was in the cave with us. We stopped so they could pass and we could enjoy a quieter visit. They all had lights, but none had helmets. Some had some really inappropriate footwear that made me wince.

We continued on, but the back of the lava tube was nasty with a weird odor, plus a dirty diaper. We didn't want to stay there. So we headed back out.

I took a few more photos on the way out, enjoying the colors again.

The kids did great, this was an easy cave for them. I think they wanted a little more challenge. So we went into a little hole on the other side of the entrance and squirmed around in crawling passages for ten minutes in the collapsed part of the lava tube. If there's a way to the big one, we didn't find it, but we still appreciated a little crawling time. Maybe it makes me feel like a kid again.

One of the best things about leaving the lava tube is that the sun had come out. It was so beautiful in the ponderosa pine forest!

Did I mention it was beautiful?

We had a picnic lunch and goofed around. Then we got cold and decided it was time to head to our next adventures.

If you decide to visit Lava River Cave, I recommend good headlamps, backup lights, and a helmet. Kneepads really aren't necessary. Also be prepared for a lot of people. The cave was pretty clean, but it wouldn't hurt to take in a small trash bag and leave the cave a little cleaner than you find it.

Biking the Grand Canyon: The Hermit Road

 On our fall break trip, after our Cathedral Wash hike, we drove into the quickly descending darkness to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, where we stayed with my brother Ed. The next day our big plan was to go bike riding, as I figured the kids would like a change from hiking. The day dawned cloudy and cool (but Desert Girl still insisted on wearing shorts). Ed guided us to the start of the Hermit Road, a road that is open only to shuttle buses, bicyclists, and those who get special permits (like backpackers). You can find more about Grand Canyon's bicycling policies here. And there's a great guide to biking the road that provides lots more info here.

The first part of the road was uphill and entailed some tears. But eventually we got to the first pullout,  where we stopped briefly, then Maricopa Point, where we hiked to an overlook. We could see the Bright Angel trail descending through many switchbacks.

Desert Girl having some fun with her uncle.

We could see the rain clouds moving in. We didn't see any other bicyclists. We saw a few other people, primarily getting on and off the shuttle bus, and also a few walkers.

We stopped at every big pullover and read the interpretive signs. The last 2.5 miles has a greenway, where we could bike on a paved multi-use path. That was great.

The rain came and went, and fortunately towards the end of the ride stayed mostly away. The views were spectacular.

One of our games we played was spotting the Colorado River. It was very muddy looking, which I appreciated since that's why it was given its name. It was also very far away.

We also played a few other games.

The kids seemed to gain energy as they knew we were close to Hermit's Rest, the end of the road and our turnaround. They were especially happy when we said we would have snacks there.

Hermit's Rest was a welcome stop. It has no running water; all the water that is used there is brought in daily by a water truck.

Inside the gift shop we found a beautiful area and hot drinks! They were very nice and let us stay in the warmth to partake of our beverages. Then we walked to the Hermit trailhead and walked a few minutes down the trail. This used to be a very popular trail, in big competition with the Bright Angel Trail. Nowadays it's not used so much, which is part of its appeal.

Our plan now was to take the shuttle bus back 7.1 miles to the beginning of the Hermit Road. I was feeling restless so took off on my bike, with the plan to meet my brother and kids at the transfer station. My bike wasn't shifting correctly, so I was kind of slow (and a bit out of biking shape), so several buses passed me. I was hoping they weren't getting too bored waiting for me. But when I got to the transfer station, they weren't there. I figured maybe they had gone ahead for lunch at the Maswik Lodge, but they weren't there either. I wandered around awhile, and then I saw them biking down the road!

"What happened?" I asked my brother.

"My bike tires were too big and wouldn't fit in the bike carrier," he responded. "So we rode back. The kids were troopers, they hardly complained."

They were all drenched, Desert Boy's shirt was even wet under his coat.

"Why are you so wet?" I asked.

"We got caught in a hailstorm," Desert Boy responded. 

I was proud of all of them. Fourteen miles was Desert Girl's longest bike ride, and part of that was through a hailstorm. Yikes. We went and celebrated with pizza.