THE US state of Arizona, also called The Grand Canyon State, is full of surprises. It’s not just the landscapes, which take in tall mountain ranges, swift rivers, grasslands, sand dunes, and cactus forests. It’s not just the storied past, which reaches back thousands of years. Neither is it just the people, a vibrant blend of cultures and traditions. It is all of these things, and the way they come together, that make a visit to Arizona a truly unforgettable experience.
I visited Arizona last summer, along with my husband and my brother. After a 200 mile drive from Las Vegas, we reached Arizona Indian country in Ganado.
The Arizona Indian country, is the setting of such storied places as the Painted Desert, Canyon de-Chelly and Monument Valley. It’s a land of hot summer days and cold winter nights. Of rattling storms and gentle breezes. And everywhere, a landscape of exceptional beauty.
During the road trip, through land where each horizon opens another, more beautiful still, I did not dare to blink. One is literary enticed to stop the car and step out to enjoy the setting. Of the numerous national parks that Arizona presents, Organ Pipe Cactus and Saguaro National Parks are filled with unique plants. While the Petrified Forest National Park protects ancient trees that date back to the Stone Age. Besides, Grand Canyon, possibly the crown jewel of Arizona’s natural wonders, there are other small canyons as well. Canyon de Chelly, Walnut Canyon and Verde Canyon are some. Canyon de Chelly is a unique natural wonder. Here great stone pillars vault hundreds of feet into the air, flanking sheer white cliffs. These monuments contain more than 800 archaeological sites, ancestral remains of the Pueblo people.
In the Northeastern part of Arizona, almost 25,000 sq miles of the state belongs to the native, Navajo (pronounced Navaho) people. Their capital, Window Rock, is a town that is named for a natural arch in the sandstone cliffs. Proper representation of their culture like the Navajo artwork, textile, jewelry and stone carvings are available for sale here, at historic and modern trading posts, as well as at private outlets of individual artists who maintain small shops and roadside stands.
Our tour began at 9am as we left Ganado. From Chinle, Ganado we travelled south to Meteor Crater. This huge hole in the ground is nearly 50,000 years old. Scientists believe that it was made when a huge asteroid struck earth. The highway took us past Painted Desert. This 660 acre place offers a jaw dropping scenery that has clay formations of red, violet, green and grey laid down by an ancient ocean and carved by the wind. Our next stop was the Petrified Forest National Park. Here, the remains of a lost world full of dinosaurs and giant trees can be found. Scientists say that when the trees fell, they were washed by streams onto the floodplains. Silt, mud and volcanic ash then covered the logs — cutting off oxygen and slowed the logs’ decay. Gradually silica in ground water seeped through the logs and bit by bit replaced the original wood tissues with silica deposits. This led to the crystallization and the logs were preserved as petrified wood. All this happened 225 million years back in the late Triassic Period.
Next we visited Flagstaff Area. This national monument illustrates the rich cultural and natural history of the preserved parks. Twenty minutes drive from Flagstaff is the Walnut Canyon. Here we took a walk on a 0.7 mile paved foot trail called the Rim Trail.
Here, the remains of a civilization that existed more than 800 years back. Dwellings on the cliff faces, sheltered in caves, these used to be the home of the Sinagua people. They made their living by farming, hunting deer, gathering plants and trading. The Spanish named them Sinagua (or ‘without water’) for their ability to turn a relatively dry region into a homeland. Walnut Canyon has an unusual array of biological communities. As we walked, we saw Prickly Pear Cactus, Yucca, Pinyon Pine, Ponderosa Pine Trees, Douglas Fir, Boxelder and the Arizona Black Walnut for which the canyon is named.
We spent the night at Williams. A small town, Williams is the gateway to the Grand Canyon that caters to nearly a million visitors every year. The Grand Canyon itself is the experience of a lifetime. It defies description. When gazing a mile down billions of years of geological history, one feels just a little humbled in the face of such grandeur. Even lifelong residents of the Grand Canyon have trouble coming to grips with just how big it is.
To get a sense of its vastness, we first watched a 34 minute movie in a theatre and then reached South Rim Canyon View. We walked to the edge and looked down at its depths. The visual impact was breath taking. We were impressed by the scenic beauty and quietness of the place. The motionless settings seemed as if no air or life was down there. The world seemed a bigger place.
The Grand Canyon encompasses 277 miles of the Colorado River and adjacent uplands. A walk into the Canyon is a descent through both climate and time. The flora and fauna of the area consisted of wild turkey, mule deer, ponderosa pine and aspen trees. The Canyon depths are home to rattlesnakes and scorpions.
The mile deep, layered walls of rock, of the canyon, are an open geology book of earth’s history. The top layer of Kaibab Limestone, formed of the remains of corals, sponges and other marine animals, is the youngest; about 240 million years old. At the bottom lies the Vishnu Schist — 1.7 billion years old, some of the planet’s oldest rock. The layers between reveal a turbulent history of mountain upheaval, lava deposits, erosion by wind and water, and submersion by shallow seas. Finally the land rose, forming the Colorado Plateau. Five or six million years ago, the young Colorado River began to cut the layers of rock, and the Grand Canyon was born.
We travelled from the South Rim to the North Rim by car, finally stopping at Desert View. Here a 70 foot tall stone watch-tower commands a view of Marble Canyon, the Vermilion Cliffs and the Painted Desert.
Next we went to Sedona. At an elevation of 4500 ft above sea level, this city is nestled between red rocks. Travel journals throughout the world proclaim Sedona as “Arizona’s Scenic Sensation”. Its breathtaking natural beauty also gives Hollywood an ideal location to film. Stunningly beautiful and insulated from urban problems, Sedona offers a tranquil haven for artists. Home to over forty galleries, every imaginable kind of art is available for those who collect and appreciate. It is hard to imagine that any art enthusiast wouldn’t be able to find many items to fall in love with in Sedona.
The art galleries exhibiting a full spectrum of the visual arts, from Western to avant-garde, historical to contemporary, photography, glass; fabric and bronze; poetry, weaving and jewellery. Performing arts include chamber, symphonic and jazz musicians and delightful thespians in community plays and open air theatres. Out of fifty things to do and see in Sedona, therapy on rocks, aerial nature walk by balloon, golfing, rafting, riding and jeep touring are worth mentioning.
The visit has filled us with everlastingmemories. The souvenirs and photographs will be of great help to cherish the memories of places visited.
THE US state of Arizona, also called The Grand Canyon State, is full of surprises. It’s not just the landscapes, which take in tall mountain ranges, swift rivers, grasslands, sand dunes, and cactus forests. It’s not just the storied past, which reaches back thousands of years. Neither is it just the people, a vibrant blend of cultures and traditions. It is all of these things, and the way they come together, that make a visit to Arizona a truly unforgettable experience.
