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The Story of My Trip Through the American Southwest, the Grand Canyon, Sedona, and
How I Became Coyote Sunrise |
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Since 1995, I have had the extremely good fortune to visit Palm Springs, California during February. This has been made possible through the kind-hearted generosity of my Aunt and Uncle who have wintered there for many years. These yearly trips help give this winter-weary New Englander something to look forward to through many a cold day. The thought of playing golf under sunny California skies is a bright one during the snow and cold filled days of winter.
These trips give me the chance not only to defrost, but to visit my Aunt and Uncle in a beautiful locale, and to see my brother, who moved from New England to Salt Lake City several years ago. Palm Springs, which is about 100 miles inland from Los Angeles, is a golfer's paradise, and the perfect antidote to the winter blues, as in February it's usually betweeen 80 and 100 degrees. |
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A typical February afternoon in Palm Springs, California |
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These trips to the west coast have also given me the opportunity to visit incredible LAS VEGAS, which I could easily dedicate an entire site to. If you've never been to Vegas, all I can say is GO. It is the wildest, wackiest, funnest place you can possibly imagine and it continues to earn its title as the Entertainment Capital of the World. On my first trip to Vegas in 1996, my brother and I drove from Palm Springs for the day, taking a short-cut through the Mojave Desert. This particular drive, which I've done a few times since then, takes you through some VERY remote spots, where you can just cruise through the desert without seeing another car for miles. You see the Joshua Trees and parts of the country that look like the surface of the moon. It's quite surreal, so amazingly quiet, and perhaps served as my real introduction to the wonders and mysteries of the desert, the Southwest, and gave me the nagging desire to continue to learn and explore more of this vast area.
One place of course that most people everywhere know of and have seen or would like to see, is the Grand Canyon. I had flown over the Grand Canyon a couple of times and was in awe just from what I could see from the plane. I knew that one day I would have to get there. In 1999, on my fifth trip to Palm Springs, I was finally able to make that dream a reality. The rest of this page is about that journey.
First of all, unless you're in Arizona or maybe Vegas, the Grand Canyon (GC) is not really CLOSE to anywhere. It's not really close to Palm Springs either, but it's certainly a lot closer than from Boston, so when I made plans for my February 1999 visit to Palm Springs, I decided that this would be the year. I knew I would only have a small amount of time to visit, so I was trying to figure the quickest, most efficient way to at least SEE the GC. So, in lookng at a map, you'll see that the GC is like 200 miles long, from the North and South Rim in the east, over to the west sort of close to Vegas. So I started doing some research to find out "what about this WESTERN part of the GC?" which looks to be quite a bit closer. To try and keep a long story somewhat short, there is what is called Grand Canyon West, near Peach Springs, Arizona. I mapped out my plan to visit there. Here's the story...
At 5:15 a.m on Sat. Feb. 13, 1999 I left Palm Springs, CA and started east on Route 10, heading for GC West, about 350 miles away. After about two hours of driving I headed north on one of those deserted desert roads through the middle of NOWHERE, which I happen to love. At about 7 a.m. the sun finally decided to wake up. Now what I say about that is this: I've lived in New England all 40 years of my life, and I'm not sure if I've ever even SEEN a sunrise, not because I always sleep through it (lol), but it's just not a dramatic thing around these parts. Sunsets are great, but sunrises? Well, in driving along this vast, flat desert landscape on the California/Arizona border, this giant yellow blinding ball of flame rose out of the horizon and on several spots I almost had to pull over, so intense was this sun. Awhile later I pulled into a gas station at Vidal Junction, CA, only to find it closed. Oh well, I still had half a tank. As I was pulling out of the parking lot to get back on the road, I turned to my right, and there, standing not 10' from the car, was a COYOTE looking right at me. Arrggghhh!!! I got back on the road knowing I wasn't in Kansas anymore Toto, that I had entered the land of the sprits, of the mystical, of the wild, of the unknown, of the magical, that I was heading into the land of the Indian, and the earth had given me a new name - I am COYOTE SUNRISE. More on this later.
I finally got to Grand Canyon West, which took me down a 25 mile dirt road off Dolan Springs, AZ in absolute seclusion from the rest of the world. I regret that my camera didn't work there, although I do have video film of this. Upon arriving at GC West on the Hualapia Reservation, there were two other people there! A few others did come by later. This is a REMOTE part of the world but incredible. Here you can look down from the edge of the canyon, and see these tiny spots flying above the Colorado - Helicopters! A magical place, but I wanted to keep going and see the South Rim - the "Real Grand Canyon" which people I met at GC West told me is twice as deep and much more impressive. Still, a beautiful, awe-inspring couple of hours at GC West that I will never forget.
I got back on the road, heading toward Peach Springs, on 35 miles of dirt road in one of THE MOST REMOTE parts of the country you can imagine. I was so glad to finally hit paved road at Peach Springs, and then cruised down Route 66 on my way to GC. I'll try and speed up the story!!
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I finally arrived at the Grand Canyon as it was approaching sunset. Words can't describe it, and I'll discuss it in more depth in a bit. For more pictures of me at the GC see my other Grand Canyon page.
The people I met at Grand Canyon West said that everybody should visit at least once in their lives Hawaii and the Grand Canyon. Well, I still want to see Hawaii that's for sure. But to this day, if you've seen the movie Grand Canyon with Danny Glover he talks about when you think your problems are so big, you can just know that the Grand Canyon is still there after 2 BILLION years "Laughing at you." |
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Coyote Sunrise at the Grand Canyon - Feb., 1999 |
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To me, in addition to the simply stunning scenery that you find at the GC and in the park surrounding it, there is something else that is hard to describe. It is not for nothing that the Grand Canyon has been called "The First Church of Earth." I hope to one day return and get down into the canyon and do the whole rafting, mule ride, hiking adventure.
Finally as it started to get dark I headed south to my destination for the evening, driving among a view of the stars that was yet another incredible experience. |
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After driving through Peach Springs while listening to a great oldies radio station, I stopped at Seligman, Arizona for a bit of Route 66 atmosphere. I didn't go for the advertised Buffalo burger but grabbed some much needed food and drink while soaking up the whole middle of nowhere vibe and getting my kicks on Route 66, knowing there was plenty more to come. |
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This is the charming town of Williams, AZ on Route 66 where I stayed. I had a great time at the Sultana, drinking and dancing the night away with the locals - a really fun place. Williams is called the gateway to the Grand Canyon, but is still 60 miles away!! Much bigger sense of space than in New England that's for sure.
Williams is a very atmospheric and friendly town and I really enjoyed my couple of nights there. |
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The next morning before sunrise, after a night of partying with the the good folks of Williams, something that I can only describe as a Voice or a Spirit Presence awoke me. The Voice said to me, "Come Coyote Sunrise. I have more to show you." I had not planned on going back to the Grand Canyon, but I got up and left the hotel around 5 a.m. and made my way back up to the Grand Canyon, capturing a photo of another brilliant sunrise on the way. |
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Sunrise on the way to the Grand Canyon. |
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I arrived at the South Rim just as day began and drove the scenic route, stopping at the various overlooks, each one more magnificent than the last. The one thing that I can say about the Grand Canyon is that you can't even come to grips with how truly big it is. It's like you keep trying to compare it to something, but it just keeps playing tricks with your eyes, so that you can't even take the one part that you're looking at all in. Truly awe-inspiring. To this day that morning has an effect on me. As I stood there listening to only the breeze, with the Grand Canyon to myself at this early hour, all of a sudden the Voice said to me "See, I told you I had more to show you." To which I replied, "But how can I see all that you have to show me in a place such as this?" And do you know what the voice answered to me? It said "That is why you must make the most of the time you have." These are words that I remember always and try and live by.
As much as I hated to leave, I had other places to see that day - first being to visit some people I had met last night, a young couple who raised Bison which was quite an experience - standing feet away from a herd of buffalo! From there I headed south of Flagstaff to take in some more sights. |
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Montezuema's Castle is located about 1 hour south of Flagstaff, and is an example of the many Anasazi Indian ruins in the area - this one being quite dramatic as these cliff dwellings are built in the face of a stone wall some 30' up the face of the cliff. Mind boggling. But my greatest adventure was still to come as after I left here I drove back up north and proceeded to descend into a valley to what may be the most beautiful place I've ever seen in my life as I entered the land called SEDONA. |
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As I drove into the valley of Sedona, I was never so utterely amazed by a landscape in my life. I just kept saying to myself "Oh my God." I finally stopped at an upscale shopping area, with all these great art galleries, and I was walking around like I was in a dream. Some guy was playing some New-Age music and I truly felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. (As my brother joked - "You found God and he looked like Yanni.") Now I am not, or at least have never been, a New-Agey kind of person - I'm a rock n' roller. But there is no doubt in my mind that |
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Sedona, Arizona |
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there is something VERY special about this place where the New-Age people and UFO enthusiasts gather to take in the energy of the Vortexes. In any case, it is simply the most stunning scenery that I have ever seen, and I know that on at least two occassions on my brief visit to this magical land that I definitely FELT something very beautiful, calming and serene. I hope to return to SEDONA. |
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Finally after a couple of days I had to reluctantly make my way back to Palm Springs. The journey back brought me back through Sedona again, taking time to climb one of the Vortex centers near the airport. From there I drove south and stopped at the town of Jerome, which was an abandoned mining town but has now become yet another funky little art's community high up in the hills with a view of the Sedona Valley that pictures simply can not do any justice to. Breathtaking. If you do visit Jerome, do eat at the Haunted Hamburger! |
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From there it was up and up into the mountains until finally coming back down to the Arizona desert with empty stretches of highway like the one above, broken up every so often with little "towns" like Hope, Arizona the majority of which is shown to the right. I drove for hours finally getting back into California and driving into a glorious sunset. |
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I got back to Palm Springs and the next day just barely made my flight back to Boston after trouble returing the rental car (which now had about 1,500 miles more than when I picked it up four days earlier!). It was without a doubt one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life and one that still continues to have an effect on me a year later. |
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I know that a Spirit entered my soul that morning and that I am Coyote Sunrise. I do not claim to be a Native American, but I know that I now have a very strong feeling towards the Dine (the people) and I have become a student of the Indians - their customs, beliefs and their ways. I have been to a Pow-Wow on the east coast, and I try and read and learn as much as I can. I guess it is my hope, and this sounds corny, but I hope in some small way to try and be a bridge between the Indians and their spiritual side, and their love and respect for the Earth, and the good things that the White Man has created in the world of medicine and culture and some of the good that HAS come from the White Man. I know that greed, and the pursuit of material things and the quest to shower the land with fast food joints and SUV's is NOT what we should be here for, and I cry knowing what the White Man did to the Indian. It is not easy to have these feelings in the hustle-bustle world of the east coast, and most people just laugh when I try and tell them, but it does not bother me. I know. They were not there, in the desert at sunrise, on the way to the Grand Canyon, when Coyote entered my soul.
So for now, I continue to read (Almanac of the Dead by Leslie M. Silko and of course Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown being but two of my recent reads - two more about the region are at the end of this page), and to learn about people like Russel Means and the struggle that continues to this day.
As I write this it is Feb. 7, 2000, almost exactly one year after this trip. Next up, in early March is a trip to see Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly and areas of the Navajo reservation and the "4 Corners" region. I can't wait. My report of this adventure is as of this moment still to come.
D. "Coyote Sunrise" Emerson
February 7, 2000. |
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To Return to My Home Page |
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Read An Account With Pictures of My March 2000 Trip to Monument Valley, Canyon de Chelly
and Other Parts of the "4 Corners" Region |
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