Grand Circle 3

Summary of time:
· Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad
· Mesa Verde National Park
· Grand Canyon
· Monument Valley

Handy hints –
§ Be content to take things as they come, don’t worry if running behind your schedule, it may mean you experience something new and different.
§ Embrace the weather, be prepared for anything.
§ If visiting National Parks find out the costs and compare it against the cost of the Annual National Park Fee $80 (Zion $25, Bryce $25, Capitol Reef $5, Arches $10, Canyonlands $10, Mesa Verde $10, Grand Canyon $25, Lake Mead $5 = $115 in 3 weeks). Individual park fees are normally 1 price for 5-7 days.
§ Arriving at National Parks go visit the visitors centre, talk to the rangers, get recommendations on what to see and do and what order to do it in. It will always depend on the length of time that you have and how much walking you want to do. Pick up the map and the current guide newspaper.

Arriving late in the day i got myself checked into the hotel, the temperatures were colder here, i get hearing overnight of 19 degrees.....Fahrenheit, that’s about -7 Celsius!!!!
The cold weather didn’t give me much motivation, the train leaves at 8am, so i would be getting the last train of the season, but i needed to get my ticket. I headed into Downtown, got my ticket and went for a bit of a wander around the town, doing a bit of shopping.
Back home i’ve been involved in the Ffestiniogg Railway which starts from Porthmadog in N Wales (it’s a 2ft narrow gauge steam railway), and the local micro brewery is called “Purple Moose”, and can be found not too far from the station.
Here in Durango, about the same distance from the railway, i found a gift shop called “Purple Moose”. Most strange.
I didn’t feel like doing much more with my day, so i headed back for some warmth, and an early night, as i knew that i had to down by 7.30am to catch my train. BBBbbbrrrrrrrrr! That’s all i can say for 7am in the morning, i had to wait for the car windows to clear before i could go anywhere.
There were lots of people for the train, and we decided that we wouldn’t sit in the open air carriage! Well we had all requested seats not in that carriage, and were rather glad, as it was very cold out. This narrow gauge railroad is 3 ft wide, with a big engine and big carriages.
Reading up on the railroad later, a gentleman back in 1870 was looking to build a railroad in Colorado. In 1871 he was on honeymoon in the UK, and visited the Ffestiniogg Railway. Inspired by the narrow gauge, he determined that this would be a better option for building a railroad in the mountainous areas of Colorado, which was what he did, although he built them 3ft wide. This was more efficient, more cost effective way to build the railroad, but also a lot easier for all the curves that the track would travel.
The Durango Silverton railroad was built to help with mining and logging, but soon communities were built up and this became a passenger railroad. The commercial side grew, as it was a quicker and cheaper option for companies to get there stuff over the mountain pass.
Travelling up the route, we saw much snow alongside, some of the rivers were frozen, and we even saw a couple of frozen waterfalls. We saw a hydroelectric plant, as well as old mining shafts. At one point there was an impressive curve where the views of the train and landscape were impressive, and further on the track was close to the edge of a canyon, dropping several hundred feet to the river below.
The line goes up around 3,300 ft on a 45.3mile track, taking 3 ½ hours. It has 2 water stops on the way up and 1 on the way down.
Arriving at Silverton, the track goes up one of the town’s streets, but stops before reaching the main road. Everyone dismounts, and there is a couple of hours stop here. Long enough for passengers to get some food, drink and a bit of shopping. The train meanwhile heads back down the track 1/2mile to the “Y” where it “rests”. When the train returns it will be facing the other direction, so it doesn’t matter being in the same seat as you will see the other side of the route.
During our time in Silverton, the sun came out and the temperatures rose, so much so i had to take layers off! The return journey gave a different perspective...this time i was close to the edge. Arriving back in Durango, the temps had dropped again, but not as cold as they had been in the morning.
I had had a pleasant time with some of my fellow passengers, comparing stories of our travels, 1 couple had been driving west home, having had a couple of months at Cape Cod and the East Coast, with their new car. I was surprised how many had made the effort to make sure their trip would include this end of season train.
1st November and the clocks change, though i didn’t realise and had got up at 8 (i thought) for breakfast. I used that extra hour to speak with family back home.
Then it was back on the road and head west. First stop was Mesa Verde National Park.
This one would be different that other parks i had seen, because it was not about the landscape, but about the communities that had lived in and around this area. Around 1,400 years ago, before the Europeans came, the people of the Four Corners region chose Mesa Verde as their home. They lived here for around 700 years. For the large part of this time, they lived on Mesa Top, growing crops and hunting game. The soil was fertile, and they grew crops of squash, corn and beans. They used the pinyon and juniper that was growing for building materials and firewood.
The last 50 – 75 years that they lived in this area, they became “Cliff Dwellers”. They built houses, kivas and storage places in the crevices on the cliffs, getting up to their crops on the top via hand and toe hold trails in the canyon walls. The people were known as the Puebloans.
The early Puebloans were known as Basketmakers for their skill at the craft, and they had been nomadic. They then settled, and turned their hand to farming. Their first homes were pithouses, a living space a few feet down in the ground with 4 supporting corner timbers for a flat roof, with a hole in it. The hole was to let out the smoke from the fires, but it was also the entrance way. These pithouses were clustered together to create small villages. They then built homes above ground, with more upright walls of poles and mud.
The Pithouse idea continued, in all of the changes to their way of living, and later became known as kivas. A family gathering place, with a ventilation hole facing south, separated from the pit fire by a large rock. The fire at the centre of the hole in the ground (it became circular in shape), with the roof flat and at the same level as the ground. It had a “hole” above the fire, which was still the entrance way.
Even when they moved to live on the cliff’s they still built the kivas surrounded by square rooms above ground.
Driving around, you can see the pithouses that have been found, as well as some that have been specific built for us to see how they would have lived. But the “highlights” are to see the cliff dwellings. There are a couple of areas where you can see these dwellings. One is by the visitors centres, and has been partially recreated so we can see the kivas. There is also “Cliff Palace” and “Balcony House”, although these are only open at certain times of the year, and you must be escorted by a Ranger – there is an additional fee to do these. Balcony House was not open, and requires you to scramble through some holes to get there, although it was the last few days of the season for Cliff Palace. It was quite dramatic to be down by these dwellings, they had been quite a sight from above, but down there was impressive.
Originally it had been thought that this had been the main accommodation for centuries for the people, but carbon dating has shown when the wooden poles were cut for the building process, and has lead to a change in this belief, and a realisation that people lived like this for only 50-70 years. At that time, there was drought in the land, people were moving away, as well as other communities raiding for supplies, so this may have been a defensive lifestyle. There are no records from this time, so there is much speculation, but with better advances in research, archaeological digs etc, knowledge is improved.
My journey carried on West; i was too late to visit the Four Corners, but i did drive the four states – Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah – and stopping at Bluff for the night.
Next day it was south passed the Monument Valley Park, i thought i wouldn’t visit as i seemed to get impressive views of the Butte’s from the road. I was travelling through Navajo Land.
I carried on South and West, eventually arriving in Flagstaff, where i drove some of the historic Route 66, before getting back onto the main Interstate and heading for the Historic town of Williams, which also has a Route 66 loop.
Williams was my base for visiting Grand Canyon, despite being an hours’ drive away. The weather was warming up, in the high 80’s Fahrenheit, a big change to a couple of days ago, which was having an effect on my health, along with the constant altitude changes. It meant that i had a day in bed, just to recuperate, give myself a chance to be able to do the next week or so of driving.
My journey into the Grand Canyon was in 2 parts. The first section was visiting the main village area on the South Rim, which is actually over 1,000ft lower than the top of the North Rim!
Stopping at Yavapai Point, i parked up and used the shuttle buses for the rest of the day. From here i spent time west along the Rim, seeing the new and old village, as well as walking along the Rim, and looking down into the Canyon. I was not here early, and the heat of the day was soon up, which gave me less energy, especially as i wasn’t feeling 100%
I saw some of the Big Horn Sheep nr Yavapai Point, ignoring visitors, and enjoying the lunch of shrubs nearby. It was actually awesome to think that i was actually at the Grand Canyon, and i’m sure if i was walked down part of Bright Angel Trailhead, i would have appreciated the vastness of it all, but after all the other places i had been in it was almost more of the same. It was interesting to see such a place, inspiring to see the different layers of rocks – the geology of the place – and to see something so big and vast. From these areas near the villages on the South Rim, you are only seeing a small section of the Grand Canyon. The other interesting fact / information i learnt was how early this was a tourist destination, as early as the 1890’s. It would be a 2 day carriage ride from Flagstaff, and the first accommodation was east of the main village on the south rim.
It is hard to put into words all that was seen, if you’ve ever been, and then you will understand.
My second visit to the Canyon was 2 days later, and i headed out to the East Entrance Gate of South Rim, on my journey back to Monument Valley (and Bluff as i had left my mobile behind). Travelling out on the East bound road, you see the areas seen by the earliest tourists to this area, and you also can see more of the Colorado River, and some of its more dangerous rapids. It’s strange that i had seen this when i had crossed over it at Moab.
The further east you go, then the distance between the north and south rim widens, and the landscape becomes more desert like at the higher plateaus. At Desert View there is a purpose built visitor watch tower, with lots of small windows that frame views of the canyon – you can make them picture frames for your photos! This watch tower incorporates the native people’s ideas, and pictures, there are various paintings done by a native Indian, depicting stories relevant to the area, and they have also tried to incorporate the idea of a Kiva (Sacred Ceremonial Chamber) as well.
It is definitely worth driving along that East part of the South Rim. If you are lucky you may even see some cougars which are known to live in that part, i wasn’t, i only saw the “Beware” sign”!
My drive then took me back NE to Monument Valley, in Navajo Land (note this is not part of the National Park system, because it is in Navajo Land, but the entrance fee is only $5). There is a 17 mile unpaved dirt road to follow, and doing it on a wet or after recent rains is not recommended if you have a low vehicle. It is a rutted road at the best of times.
It is impressive to see the various rocks and buttes, especially catching them in the afternoon with a setting sun. There was one point where i saw a few people set up with their cameras waiting to catch the setting sun, and the shadows, but i wasn’t waiting around for another hour or so. It is dramatic being down in the middle of these rock formations (Note: at the various view point, the Indian people had stalls selling handmade jewellery etc).
It was then back to Bluff to pick up my phone, and see the setting sun over the mountain ranges.