Day 10

This morning we left Page, Arizona headed for the Grand Canyon! As we traveled down Arizona highway 64, I wondered if we had made the wrong turn. There were no advertisements or billboards anywhere. It was nothing but miles and miles of flat, brown plains with occasional brown, rock formations. After a look at the map, we realized we were on the Navajo Indian Reservation. The drive was 138 miles untill we saw the grand entrance (I was thrilled to see it but knew we had to backtrack down those same 138 miles to get back to Utah.)



The first view of the Grand Canyon can be seen here from the Watchtower Point. It was breathtaking, to say the least, but with a temperature of 99 degrees, everything looked hazy. It reminded me a faintly painted backdrop on a Hollywood set. The pictures cannot take in the huge panoramic views of the canyon. They do not do it justice.





Here is a shot from the Moran Point overlook. This was not as scary as it looks. There was still about 10 feet of the ledge behind me that you cannot see.
















The Grandview Point was probably my favorite. The canyon is 1 mile deep. From this view, we could see the beautiful Colorado River winding its' way through the rock outcroppings.




Once we left the park, Matthew droved back to Tropic, Utah. From there, I got behind the wheel for the last stretch headed toward Torrey, Utah. I had no idea what I was in for. For approximately 90 miles we were subjected to 8-9,ooo foot elevations, hairpin curves with no guardrails and animals all over the highway. We ran out of daylight with about 40 miles to go on this treacherous road (UT SR 14).
This is free-range country so we came around one curve and there in our headlights was a 2,000 lb. angus bull! Not to mention the countless mule deer we encountered. This drive was beautiful, but you know when a stretch of the road is named "Hell's Backbone", you're in for it.

Needless to say we were wore out when we finally reached Torrey. I slept like a rock, white knuckles and all!

~Amy