Kaibab National Forest Boondocking - Grand Canyon

Monday we left Winslow, AZ and traveled to Tusayan, AZ which is about 5 miles from the entrance to the Grand Canyon.  We are boondocking in the Kaibab National Forest just South of Tusayan.  Boondocking is allowed on most of the forest roads in the National Forest.  We are in a large, fairly open area about 1000 feet from the road with no close neighbors.  

Our Route

Our Campsite

View Out Our Windows

View looking back toward the forest road (it is about as far back as you can see the trees)

We went to the Grand Canyon twice since we have been here.  The first day we took Darby but he was a little overwhelmed with all the people on the narrow trails so we left him in the camper the second day.  We hiked several miles on the Rim Trail the first day and about 5 miles on the Hermits Rest Trail the second day.   

Lots of elk wandering around in Grand Canyon Village

Views of the canyon - photographs do not do it justice

Telephoto glimpse of the Colorado River about 1 mile down and several miles away 

View of Grand Canyon Village from the Hermits Rest Trail

The Bright Angel trail - a  switchback trail used by hikers and the mules to descend into the canyon

Telephoto close-up of one of the many formations

Wide angle - click to enlarge

One of the many Grand Canyon Railroad locomotives that travel from Williams, AZ to the Grand Canyon several times a day

Some of the mules that are used to carry people down the steep trail into the canyon

The mule barn in Grand Canyon Village

We have been here 5 days and are leaving for Utah in the morning - we were going to leave today but this area and southern Utah had severe high wind warnings (60 to 70 mph gusts) today so we are waiting until tomorrow to leave.

Meteor Crater - Winslow, Arizona

Our last day here in Winslow we took a short trip to the nearby meteor crater.  This crater was formed by a meteorite impact nearly 50,000 years ago and due to the terrain and climate (lack of rain which causes erosion) of the area it is said to be the best preserved example of an ancient meteorite strike in the world.  The crater is a little less than a mile across and is 700 feet deep.   This is worth seeing if you are in the Winslow or Flagstaff area.  

The largest piece of the meteorite recovered - most of the 150 foot wide meteorite was vaporized or disintegrated on impact

View Of The Crater

View Of The Crater

Remains of test holes and a steam engine near the center of the crater used to try to find the remains of the meteorite back in the early 1900's.  Daniel Barringer tried for 26 years (1903-1929) to locate the remains of the meteorite for its iron content but his efforts were to no avail as the meteorite had vaporized and disintegrated upon impact