Grand Canyon 1994


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Note: This travelog was written in 2018, so many details have long been forgotten since we took the trip. It is written from Debbie's perspective.

Friday, November 4, 1994: My family was in the Phoenix area for my grandfather's funeral. I hadn't met Tom yet so he isn't featured in this travelog. After visiting with family for a couple of days, my dad, brother, sister-in-law, and I drove north. This picture was taken at the Sunset Point Rest Area, but the several pictures we took all ended up being superimposed on the same section of film. Cool effect though.
It was afternoon by the time we got to the Grand Canyon. We came in from the eastern entrance and our first glimpse of the canyon was at Mather Point. This was Susan's first visit to the Grand Canyon so all eyes were on her as she took in the view for the first time.
I brought my videocamera so many of these photos are screen shots from the video I took. The date in the lower right corner is the giveaway. Well, that and the lower photo quality.
We had packed for a trip to Phoenix in November, so we weren't quite prepared for how cold it was in the higher elevation of the Grand Canyon. Fortunately, I had gloves to wear and later borrowed a shirt from either my dad or my brother.
Here's Mather Point looking west, ...
... and toward the northeast. The afternoon sun and shadows made striking differences in photos depending on the direction of the shot.
There were deer everywhere as we drove to the western overlooks.
This is Trailview Point looking at the start of the Bright Angel Trail and Grand Canyon Village. Yes, that's snow out there. Look for me in the pink shirt on the right.
Here's my dad, ...
... and here are Doug and Susan.
We continued west to Hopi Point.
Here I am at Hopi Point. Some of these photos were taken by my dad, which is why I got to be in some of these shots.
Doug and Susan checked out the Civilian Conservation Corps monument at Hopi Point.
We continued to Mohave Point. There are nice views of the river toward the west, ...
... and looking straight down.
This overlook at Mohave Point is the perfect place to photograph and be photographed. Here's my dad taking in the view.
Here's Doug getting a photo of me getting video of him - one of many photos we've taken of each other over the years.
Next, it was my turn to be photographed at the lookout point, ...
... and then Doug and Susan's turn.
Here they are!
Here's another spot to look out at the beautiful scenery at Mohave Point.
Our next stop was Pima Point. There's the view to the east ...
... toward the northeast, ...
... and to the west.
It was all captured on videotape as well.
There's Granite Rapid down there.
Doug chilled (literally) on some rocks ...
... while I documented where we were.
Hey! Here comes Dad!
He likes the Grand Canyon!
Hermit's Rest is the last stop on the western loop. Here are Doug and Susan having some fun on the left, with me in the background getting more videotape of my favorite place in the world. These pictures prompted me to search for the videotape. It had gone missing for a while and was the only tape in our collection that hadn't been digitized, so we fixed that, and now we have additional photos to tell the story.
When I was done filming the canyon view, I came back to catch Bob ringing the bell.
This was our last stop of the day. We had dinner and did some shopping in the village, then spent the night at Maswik Lodge.

Saturday, November 5, 1994: My dad and I got up really early to catch the sunrise. The lights of Grand Canyon Village twinkled in the early dawn, seen here from Trailview Point.
We went to Maricopa Point first, ...
... then Hopi Point.
We found the perfect the perfect spot to watch the sunrise, with Powell Point in the foreground.
Here it comes.
Wait for it.
Any second now.
Spectacular!
There's the sunshine starting to hit the canyon walls behind us.
By the time we moved on to Powell Point, the sun was really up and the canyon was casting stark shadows.
We headed back to Maswik Lodge to check out and to collect Susan and Doug.
We headed out for more sightseeing, stopping first at Yaki Point.
At different times of day, the position of the sun can drastically change the look. This was still Yaki Point but facing northeast with morning shadows on the buttes.
There was still snow in the canyon at the highest altitudes.
I had gotten this oversized sweatshirt at a gift shop the night before, so I posed in it at Yaki Point, ...
... and again at Grandview Point.
Grandview Point is a gorgeous place, as the name implies.
Dad and Doug did some exploring around the point.
Here's Lipan Point, ...
... and here's my dad.
Lipan Point boasts a view of mighty Hance Rapid in the river a mile below. Each person on this trip would be back in a dozen years to run that very rapid.
Lipan Point has an even better view of the river a little further upstream. In the middle of that S-turn is Unkar Rapid. Just upstream of the rapid is where we camped overnight during our 2006 trip.
I got it all on video. Pretend that you are watching this scroll smoothly from one photo to the next. Here's the view to the west, ...
... and then turn slightly to the north, ...
... and then zoom in on that campsite just upstream from Unkar Rapid (the small outcropping on the far side of the river at the very top of this photo). This is where we camped overnight during our 2006 trip.
Desert Watchtower is visible from Lipan Point. Let's go there next.
It's nice to end a trip to the Grand Canyon with a stop at the Desert Watchtower. It's not pictured here because we didn't take any pictures of its exterior, ...
... but we did soak up the views, ...
... and climb the tower to see more views, ...
... like this one.

There are Doug and Susan on the ground floor of the tower. Buh-bye, Grand Canyon! See you again in two years!

From the Grand Canyon, we headed back to the Phoenix area via Oak Creek Canyon.
We got out to do a little exploring in the creek. Dad was the first one down by the water.
Doug and Susan looked it over, ...
... and Doug headed down the hill too.
This area is just south of the Banjo Bill picnic site on SR-89A.
It was a lovely day to be here, ...
... and my giant videocamera caught some cool effects with the light.
There's the creek, ...
... and my dad, ...
... and my brother, ...
... and the creek again.
Susan ventured down to the water, ...
... and someone got proof that I was there too.
Let's zoom out a bit to prove that I was actually near the water.
We continued south to Sedona, stopping at the Wilson Canyon overlook to take in the view. Let's do a full sweep of the area. Here's the view to the south east, ...
... then the south, ...
... then southwest (that's Sedona in the distance), ...
... then west (that's Midgley Bridge), ...
... and northwest, ...
... and north. This is the parking lot that is always overflowing.
We drove through Sedona.
Here's some more.
South of Sedona is the Church of the Holy Cross.
I visited it in 1978 but we didn't stop this time.
Just south of Sedona, we got out at Little Horse Trailhead to take in more views. Here's Cathedral Rock, ...
... and the rock formations just south of it.
For this Midwesterner, seeing cactus is always interesting.
After exploring a bit, we headed back to the rental car ...
... and drove back to Phoenix. I have no memory of where we stayed or when we went home, so our story ends here.

** THE END **


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