Day 4:
This was a surprisingly fun 350 mile run through some beautiful desert from Mesa Verde National Park, CO to Grand Canyon Lodge North Rim, AZ. I found I rather enjoyed the desert. Of course it wasn't ungodly hot when I went through and I enjoyed the scenery a lot. There was also this interesting smell that was a sweet flowery smell that I liked in some parts of the desert. This seemed to correlate with the "red" sand/dirt desert.
So the day started off with a nice little early morning jaunts in Mesa Verde. I am so glad I paid the money to stay at this place. Being able to wake up and explore the park before anyone else was worth the extra cost I spent on getting the room in the park. I beat all the traffic, got to see all the cliff dwellings I wanted without ANY traffic. I was literally the only person on the road til at least 8am mountain time. I was still operating on EST, so I was up and out by 6:30 mountain or so. This park was amazing, I will be back again.
So I left Mesa Verde with a twinge of regret because the park was beautiful and headed on to my next stop in the tour which unfortunately was 4 corners. With the beauty of Mesa Verde still on my mind, 4 corners was simply a dump. Terrible waste of $3. The monument was surrounded by crappy Indian shops. Oh well, I wanted to do it....and this was not be the last or most money I spent on a shitty place...
I continued my trek through the desert and saw all sorts of neat scenery/rock formations. This was beautiful country. I loved the desert. It would be on my mind the whole trip. If I had seen the northern route before the trip, I would of just doubled back over the same area because I enjoyed the lower that much more than the upper part. I think I just had a crappy route for the northern part though, that was mostly to do with what I wanted to see up north.
I did the 40 miles through the forest to the Grand Canyon Lodge. I had a little cabin for the night. It was nice, but having the Grand Canyon as you backyard will make any room seem nice. I crossed off a top 5 item on my bucket list this night. I watched the sunset on the rim of the canyon. It was amazing. I had a big canyon cookie, drinks, cell phone with 3g, and a laptop tethered to the cell phone. LOL! This place exceeded my expectations. I enjoyed the hell out of the night and morning I spent on the canyon. This is a must do item for anyone. I highly highly recommend it and spend the money to stay at the lodge, well worth the cost. Plan ahead and make sure you get a reservation.
Mesa Verde:
Square Tower at Mesa Verde:
Pit House at Mesa Verde:
Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde:
Ride between Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon:
Entering AZ, actually taken on Day 5, but I didn't see it on Day 4:
More Ride between Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon:
