Our next train journey was from Alburquerque to Williams Arizona. Williams is the starting off point to reach the Grand Canyon.
Our train arrived at Williams Junction about 2 hours later than scheduled. There is nothing at Williams Junction, no train station, no platform just a dark and desolate place. Thankfully there was a shuttle bus waiting for us, there were several other people as well.
The shuttle set off down an unmade road through the pondarosa forest. About 15 minutes later we arrived in the town of Williams and were dropped off at the historic Grand Canyon Railway Hotel at about 11.30pm.
We didnt get to see much of this beautiful old hotel. We went straight to our room and to sleep as the next morning we had to have our luggage in the foyer by 8am. to be transferred to the train.
After breakfast we were treated to an amusing wild west show and gun fight. Then we boarded the train that took us to the Grand Canyon.
The train takes about 2 hours to reach the Canyon. The carriages are pulled by 1950's diesel engines and the carriages themselves are of similar vintages.
To pass the time along the route we had strolling musicians, the sheriff from the wild west show and a conductor who pointed out things of interest and assisted with wildlife spotting. The scenery along the route is not best scenery that we have been treated to.
As we approached the Canyon the conductor said look left and there was an audible gasp as we were treated to a very fleeting first view of the Canyon.
We arrived at the train station and there was a bus there to meet us and take us on a tour of the canyon. We were very eager to get going and see the Canyon. The bus took us to a number of viewing points.
It is unbelievably beautiful. So vast and deep and the colours of the rock. You can hardly take it all in. Every view point offers something different, some offer views of the Colorado river which looks like a tiny speck but is in fact about 300 feet wide.
Our bus tour lasted a couple of hours and then we were dropped off at our accomodation which was Maswik Lodge. It has a main building with reception and restaurants and then there are the lodges nearby and we were in a room in one of the lodges. Right in the National Park, no more 10 minutes walk to a view of the Canyon.
We spent 2 nights at the Canyon and as we weren't leaving until late on the third day we had virtually 3 full days there.
There is a free shuttle bus service that covers three different routes and many view point stops around the National Park. We did them all.
We also did an extra tour that took us out to Desert View. Desert View Watchtower also known as the Indian Watchtower. It is a 70 foot tall stone building overlooking the canyon.
The Watchtower reflects the architecture of the ancestral Puebloans in the Four Corners region. Unfortunately the climb to the top of the tower was closed for conservation work, but we could go up one level and see the amazing views from there. From the very top you can see for more than 100 miles on a clear day.
Our train arrived at Williams Junction about 2 hours later than scheduled. There is nothing at Williams Junction, no train station, no platform just a dark and desolate place. Thankfully there was a shuttle bus waiting for us, there were several other people as well.
The shuttle set off down an unmade road through the pondarosa forest. About 15 minutes later we arrived in the town of Williams and were dropped off at the historic Grand Canyon Railway Hotel at about 11.30pm.
We didnt get to see much of this beautiful old hotel. We went straight to our room and to sleep as the next morning we had to have our luggage in the foyer by 8am. to be transferred to the train.
After breakfast we were treated to an amusing wild west show and gun fight. Then we boarded the train that took us to the Grand Canyon.
The train takes about 2 hours to reach the Canyon. The carriages are pulled by 1950's diesel engines and the carriages themselves are of similar vintages.
To pass the time along the route we had strolling musicians, the sheriff from the wild west show and a conductor who pointed out things of interest and assisted with wildlife spotting. The scenery along the route is not best scenery that we have been treated to.
As we approached the Canyon the conductor said look left and there was an audible gasp as we were treated to a very fleeting first view of the Canyon.
We arrived at the train station and there was a bus there to meet us and take us on a tour of the canyon. We were very eager to get going and see the Canyon. The bus took us to a number of viewing points.
It is unbelievably beautiful. So vast and deep and the colours of the rock. You can hardly take it all in. Every view point offers something different, some offer views of the Colorado river which looks like a tiny speck but is in fact about 300 feet wide.
Our bus tour lasted a couple of hours and then we were dropped off at our accomodation which was Maswik Lodge. It has a main building with reception and restaurants and then there are the lodges nearby and we were in a room in one of the lodges. Right in the National Park, no more 10 minutes walk to a view of the Canyon.
We spent 2 nights at the Canyon and as we weren't leaving until late on the third day we had virtually 3 full days there.
There is a free shuttle bus service that covers three different routes and many view point stops around the National Park. We did them all.
We also did an extra tour that took us out to Desert View. Desert View Watchtower also known as the Indian Watchtower. It is a 70 foot tall stone building overlooking the canyon.
The Watchtower reflects the architecture of the ancestral Puebloans in the Four Corners region. Unfortunately the climb to the top of the tower was closed for conservation work, but we could go up one level and see the amazing views from there. From the very top you can see for more than 100 miles on a clear day.
We spent an hour at Desert View and then the bus took us to
Yaki Point to watch the sunset. As we
drove there the sky clouded over and it began to rain a little. We thought that would be the end of the
sunset but as soon as we got to Yaki Point the sky cleared and the clouds
disappeared and we waited and watched and eventually the sun went down.
I have never seen anything like it before. A blood red sun disappearing behind the
rocks. It really was an amazing and
breathtaking sight. Something I will
never forget.
On our ur last day at the Grand Canyon we headed out to the Red
Route again. This time we stopped at the
stops we missed the previous day. The
first stop was Powell Point. We got off
the bus and began to walk along the path and Colin stopped me and said there’s
a snake on the path. It was a small thin
snake of a light brown colour. No idea if was poisonous but treated it as if it was. It was
crossing the path in front of us so we stood there till it had crossed and then we continued on to see Powell Point.
It is actually the site
where the Grand Canyon National Park was dedicated all the way back in 1920.
There is also a statue memorializing John Wesley Powell, for whom the stop is
named.
Powell played an extremely important part in the discovery of the
canyon, leading groundbreaking expeditions of the Colorado River in 1869 and
1872.
Colin then walked the
trail from Powell Point to Hopi Point and I took the bus. We arrived at the stop about the same time.
We then took the bus to
The Abyss, aptly named, featuring a sheer
drop to the Tonto Platform about 3,000 feet below. Unlike other viewpoints, the
Abyss is located along an indentation (rather than an abutment) along the
Canyon walls.
Our next stop was Monument Creek
Vista and then Pima Point and finally Hermits Rest where we stopped briefly for an ice-cream and refill the water
bottle before taking the return shuttle.
At the end of Red Route it is a short 10 min walk back to Maswik Lodge.
We returned there and then took
a blue bus and got off to see Shrine of the Ages only to discover that it is a
church in a plain brick building.
We hopped straight on to the
next shuttle that came along and got off at the train depot and walked from there
to the historic El Tolvar Hotel which is perched right on the rim of the Canyon. We also visited Hopi House, another historic property
It was then time to go to the
train station and catch the train back to Williams.
We had a different entertainer this
time. He was very good. Also we had a lady giving us a talk and she
was really good.
The sheriff was on the train and
near Williams we looked out the window and there were some cowboys on horses
holding up the train and then they came on board the train and went through the
carriages robbing people. All a bit of
fun and kept us entertained on the way back to Williams.
We returned to the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel for dinner and to wait for the transfer by shuttle to Williams Junction. Surprise surprise the train was running over an hour late. Instead of getting on the train at 9.30pm we got on at nearly 11pm.
It was a sleeper train and we had a sleeper compartment and were soon lulled to sleep by the motion of the train and woke next morning as the train neared Los Angeles.
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| Wild West show at Williams |
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| Mule at the Canyon for riding down into the Canyon |
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| Elk |
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| Zoomed in view of Colarado river and the bridge for hikers and mule. |
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| A small storm produced this gorgeous rainbow |
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| The Watchtower at Desert View |
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| Us at desert view |
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| Sunset at Yaki Point |
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| squirrel in a tree |
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| the snake. |
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| Strolling musician on the train back to Williams |
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| Oh No. Looks like a train robbery is about to happen |
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