Gallup, NM to Mesa, AZ - Plummeting Down the Mogollan Rim

One of our goals for a few years has been to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up. And, if you think we’re going to do it all in one day, you’re smoking something I’ve never touched. However, doing it in 2 days or 3, as we want to do, becomes a bit harder because only a few can be down there at one time. Our plan is to hike down one day, relax and explore the area on the second day (mostly recover) and hike back out the 3rd day. That requires 2 nights down there.

At the bottom of the canyon is Phantom Ranch which has two kinds of housing: bunk houses divided by sex and small cabins and only a few spaces in each. Of course, there is another type of housing - a tent which you bring yourself. We have not had the desire to buy a tent and sleeping bags, etc. so we are not going to be tenting down there. We want the bunkhouse. To stay down there requires a reservation and these you must make a year in advance, since there are so few spaces down there. Thus, if we wanted to hike down in October of 2013, we needed to make our reservations this year and they open the reservations for October of 2013 on October 1, 2012, which is today at 7:00 am. My goal is to be on the phone then.

At 6:30 we got up and got breakfast ready. At 6:59 I was dialing in so that I’d get in at 7:00. Nope, the dreaded message: ‘All of our lines are busy now, please try again later.’ We have an I Phone so I hit ‘cancel’, ‘redial’, ‘speaker’ and waited. Again I got the dreaded message and did the ‘cancel’, ‘redial’, ‘speaker’ again. I did this for 52 minutes. Let me repeat that: 52 minutes. I got so good that I could hit ‘cancel’ after I had heard only ‘All of…”. Check those reflexes. Pretty good for a 66-yr old. Finally, Steve answered the phone at 7:52 and I began the reservation process. Actually, we did get our reservations for 2 nights: the 12th and 13th.

Of course, you also have to order your meals down there at the same time. Breakfast is $20 at 5:00 - whoo-eee. Dinner is steak for $42 with a seating at 5:00 pm or veggie chili for $24 and stew for $24 both with seatings at 6:30. We wanted the chili the first night and stew the second. No go. They had only 1 chili dinner and no stew dinners on the first night. Since we wanted to eat together, we then chose the steak dinner at 6:30. What a price we’re paying for togetherness. My first steak dinner in decades and it’s at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. 

Of course, the question is: if I’m ordering a year in advance, why can’t we have the chili?’ I suppose it’s because they know how to pack the mules for a certain number of steak, chili and stew dinners and don’t want to change it. But, hey, we’ve got our reservations.

Reservations done, we ate breakfast, hitched up the RV and headed out for Mesa, AZ.

 A BALANCED DIET IS  A DONUT IN EACH HAND.

Well, I’ll have to admit that Gary does not have a balanced diet here, he’s got 3 donuts in one hand and coffee in the other.

Here we are in Holbrook AZ where we found a donut shop named Donuts Plus last year when we stayed in town. This year, we’ve made a second stop for old times sake and - sure enough - the donuts are still good. Interesting that each section of the country has its own favorite types of donuts. In the Midwest are lots of long johns - white frosted, chocolate frosted, custard filled, creme filled, sprinkled - whatever, there are lots of long johns. Out here in the West are more ‘old fashioneds’ which we both seem to prefer. Actually, Gary only prefers them because he can’t get long johns and they are better for him to eat when he is driving because they are not frosted. Frosting gets messy.

The ‘Plus’ in the sign refers to the ice cream they also sell. I was talking about getting a cup when the clerk shook her head and mouthed to me that I didn’t want any. It’s all icy she said. So, I got an old fashioned donut. I’m easy to please. Donut, ice cream: EASY.

After our donut break, we headed on south towards Mesa, AZ which is the destination this year. To get there we needed to go over the Mogollon Rim. Now, having been in Arizona for several winters, I’ve learned that Mogollan is pronounced ‘Muggy Yohn’ and comes from the name of Don Juan Ignacio Fiores Mogollon who was the Spanish Governor of New Mexico from 1712 to 1715.

The Rim itself is an escarpment of volcanic rock running diagonally across the center of Arizona. Above it we were traveling at an altitude of more than 7500’ but we swiftly descended to 4000’ before Payson, AZ and then to about 1200’ further along to Mesa. Gary used the word plummet and at times it seemed as if we were plummeting but it was a beautiful drive beginning with thick strands of Ponderosa Pine and ending with the deserts of Central Arizona.

The Rim is the line dividing the cool high country above it and the burning deserts below. If you think that Arizona has no forests and is primarily a desert, you need to see this area. It’s a recreation area for all those in Phoenix who want to escape the heat. Lots of RV campgrounds, motels, cabins, etc.

We arrived at the resort, checked in, found our spot and parked. All in the 105 degree heat. Tuesday, the day I’m writing this, was lower, at 102 degrees but the rest of the week is forecast as follows:

Read ‘em and weep, I say. Or maybe you’ll laugh. Did we get here too early? Actually, the temps are about 10 degrees higher than usual and we’re expecting a ‘cool’ front next week to bring the temps down to the high 80’s. But, hey, it gives us a great chance to test our air conditioners. We usually don’t camp in temps like this. We will probably not be hiking in these temps but we can walk around here.