Thursday, October 11, 2018

Prices are all-inclusive. Lunch, entrance fees and taxes included!

Book Online

Book Now! Call (928) 928-814-8887

Itinerary

9:00am: Three professional Guides and motor coach meet in the designated bus parking at the High Country Conference Center and step on the motor coach for the tour.

9:15am: Leave for The Grand Canyon National Park.

10:30am: Stop at the Double Eagle Trading Post prior to the Canyon.

12:00pm: Guests will arrive at the South Rim entrance station to the National Park. Upon arrival there is the equivalent of a small town; Grand Canyon Village, spread out over several miles of the forest, with a clinic, the railway station (terminus of old-style train rides from Williams, complete with staff in period costume), shops, restaurants, six lodges, a trailer village and campground. The village also contains several historic sites such as hotels and Kolb artist studio and Lookout studio built early 20th century. The guide will instruct the group on viewing the Canyon for the first time; a ceremonial viewing via the Bright Angel Lodge. There will also be ample time for photos.

1:00pm: Board the motor coach and head to the McKee Amphitheater to enjoy a box lunch.

2:00pm: Guests will then begin the “Trail of Time” walk along the South Rim to Market Plaza. The Trail of Time is an interpretive walking timeline trail that focuses on Grand Canyon vistas and rocks to guide visitors to ponder, explore, and understand the magnitude of geologic time and the stories encoded by Grand Canyon rock layers and landscapes.

4:00pm: Arrive at the Market Plaza for pick up. Continuing the tour to the Eastern Rim: The Desert View Drive (AZ 64; also known as the East Rim Drive) passes through thick Ponderosa, Pinon & Juniper pine forest, with only occasional glimpses of the canyon, though the rim is never very far away. Just a few of the stopping places include Mather Point and Grand Canyon Visitors Center, Grandeur Point and Yavapai Point.

4:45pm: The final viewpoint along the drive (Desert View) is one of the best in the whole park - from a high promontory just before the east entrance station, a huge area of the Grand Canyon stretches out below; the main ravine to the north and west, the Little Colorado River Gorge in the east - a very steep and narrow side canyon cutting into a flat plateau, and the colorful Painted Desert in the northeast. This one of the few south rim overlooks from which the Colorado itself can be glimpsed; the contrast between the greenery alongside the river and the stark reddish rocks is quite striking. There is another cluster of buildings at Desert View including the Watchtower, a 20 meter high stone tower built in 1932. Nearby, on the south side of the road, the Tusayan Ruins & Museum has the remains of a 12th century Puebloan settlement containing circular kivas and square houses.

5:56pm: Sunset at Desert View Watchtower

6:30pm: Depart for East Rim Exit. Time allowing, guests may stop at the historic Cameron Trading Post on the Navajo Reservation. There will be views of the Painted Desert as well as the Little Colorado River Gorge.

7:10pm: Arrive Cameron Trading Post

8:30pm: Arrival at High Country Conference Center

Deli Style Box Lunch

Bottled Water, Soft Drinks, Assortment of Kettle Chips, Apple, and a Homemade Cookie

Choice of Sandwich on Sourdough Bread *

• Turkey & Muenster Cheese
• Ham & Swiss Cheese
• Roast Beef & Cheddar Cheese
• Vegetarian & Muenster Cheese, Shredded Carrot, Avocado, Cucumber, and Sprouts

* Dairy and Gluten Free options are available at time of booking.

* Always on the Side - Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Condiments

Book Online

Book Now! Call (928) 928-814-8887

Thursday, October 11, 2018

Prices are all-inclusive. Lunch, entrance fees and taxes included!

Book Online

Book Now! Call (928) 928-814-8887

Itinerary

9:00am: Three professional Guides and motor coach meet in the designated bus parking at the High Country Conference Center

9:15am Leave for Wupatki National Monument.

10:15am: Arrive Wupatki National Monument. Wupatki National Monument is one of several sites preserving pueblos (villages) of ancient peoples, but unlike the Tonto, Montezuma, Casa Grande Ruins and Tuzigoot monuments which contain only one main building, here there are many ruins scattered over a large area of desert northeast of Flagstaff. The pueblos all have a distinctive deep red color and were made from thin, flat blocks of the local Moenkopi sandstone. Wupatki is reached by the same loop road that passes Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, adjoining the main north-south route US 89. There will be several stops along the loop of Wupatki National Monument. In total there are more than 800 identified ruins spread around many miles of desert within Wupatki National Monument, but five of the largest (Wupatki, Wukoki, Lomaki, Citadel and Nalakihu) are close to the main road (see map), and these are the only sites open to visitors. All the dwellings were built by the Anasazi and Sinagua Indians during the 12th and 13th centuries - the habitation of this region was influenced by the eruption of nearby Sunset Volcano during the winter of 1064-5, as the resulting ash and lava made the surrounding land infertile and so the residents of that region moved further afield into desert areas previously considered too dry and barren. In the early 13th century all the settlements were abandoned, as were most other villages in this part of the Southwest, although it is believed that some of the present day Hopi are descended from the former inhabitants of the Wupatki pueblos.

1:15pm: Enjoy a boxed lunch

2:00pm: Following the visit to Wupatki, guests will then drive through Sunset Crater on the way back to the High Country Conference Center. Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument is the slightly tautological name given to an area northeast of Flagstaff containing the results of much igneous activity - several colorful cinder cones formed by extinct volcanoes, and large expanses of lava and ash, mostly unobscured by vegetation and still pure black in color. The dominant peak is Sunset Crater; as with the other cones its slopes have distinctive dusky red-brown patches formed by oxidised iron and sulphur, which caused John Wesley Powell, who was the first modern-day explorer of the area in 1887, to name the mountain 'Sunset Peak'. The contrasting colors of the cinders provide the most unusual aspect of the national monument but the jagged and twisted lava fields are also quite spectacular.

3:00pm: Return to High Country Conference Center

Deli Style Box Lunch

Bottled Water, Soft Drinks, Assortment of Kettle Chips, Apple, and a Homemade Cookie

Choice of Sandwich on Sourdough Bread *

• Turkey & Muenster Cheese
• Ham & Swiss Cheese
• Roast Beef & Cheddar Cheese
• Vegetarian & Muenster Cheese, Shredded Carrot, Avocado, Cucumber, and Sprouts

* Dairy and Gluten Free options are available at time of booking.

* Always on the Side - Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Condiments

Book Online

Book Now! Call (928) 928-814-8887