Apologies for posting this entry late. The cell service on the North Rim is weak, and the wi-if, which isn’t much better, is only available at the general store a mile from our cabin. Uploading photos was painful.
Today is going to be mostly about driving again. We’re off to the North Rim for two days. We thought we’d stop along the way since it’s only a two-and-half-hour drive.
We planned to lunch at the Thunderbird Restaurant and have a slice of the pie they’re famous for, but we were disappointed to find that they’re closed on Wednesday and Thursday. Maybe we’ll find pie further up the road.
We made a shortish detour to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. I’m not sure why they’re called “pink” or “coral”; the sand was neither. Rather it resembled a more tannish version of the red clay you find in Georgia or Oklahoma. I suppose that in different light it looks pinker. The dunes did have a certain appeal, though.
The drive into the park was beautiful but also fascinating. We drove through areas—large areas—that had clearly burned recently and badly and were peopled with burned up trees. Other areas had burned recently but not badly; the pine trees were brown about five feet up but green above that, and charred pines punctuated the acres. And then there were areas that had burned ten or twenty years ago and were in recovery. Those were filled with aspens yellowing in the early autumn.
We even saw a couple of coyotes in the distance. They’re very small in the photo.
We got settled into our rustic cabins and walked the Bright Angel trail. Short, but lovely.
