Water in the Desert
May 29 – June 3, 2013
$2,095
Two one-way flights are required for this trip. You fly INTO Phoenix and you fly OUT OF Las Vegas at the end of the trip. You are responsible for your accommodation in Phoenix before the trip starts and in Las Vegas after the tour ends. This is a great opportunity to enjoy one of the Las Vegas shows. Look up your choices on-line and be sure and book your seat WAY in advance.
What most people don’t realize about Arizona is that there are massive elevation differences between Phoenix and the Colorado Plateau to the north. These in turn create temperature differences allowing for great outdoor recreation opportunities. In May, when its 90 degrees in Phoenix, its 80 degrees in Sedona and 70 degrees up on the plateau in Williams. So on this new trip we’ll be tubing in Phoenix as there is no better way to enjoy 100-degree heat. 80 degrees is perfect for hiking and Sedona has the most scenic trails in the West. We can expect 75 degrees while kayaking in Prescott and exploring the old mining town of Jerome. It can get up to 90 in early June down in the bottom of the Grand Canyon but we’ll hike there in the cool morning air and be swimming in the waterfalls by the time the mercury peaks. It will be 90 degrees as we kayak the flat-water of the Colorado River. The river is cold and the springs are hot – perfect. Best of all, you don’t have to spend a day of your vacation re-tracing your route because of a round trip ticket. Two one-way air tickets are similar in cost to round trip flights these days so we drop you in Las Vegas where you can see a show or take an extra day’s vacation to play in sin city!
| Airfares are NOT INCLUDED in Canyon Calling trips. It is your responsibility to get yourself to the assembly point of a trip and home afterwards. There are many reasons for this policy including ladies wanting to use their air miles, people wanting to go early or stay on after the trip, some wanting to drive etc. Jane at Jane’s Travel in Phoenix has helped our customers with booking their flights for the last 15 years. You can contact her at 480.941.5311 or email her at janestravel@gmail.com Internal flights are included in trip prices when they fall inside a tour like in our Costa Rican, Peru, and Hawaii Islands trips. |
Wednesday
Your Guide will meet you at Phoenix Airport, Terminal 2 baggage claim, at 9am where the tour begins. You’ll need to fly into Phoenix on Tuesday and stay at an airport motel. This morning, please be dressed for tubing in swimsuit, river shorts, T-shirt and water sandals. We’ll drive east to the Salt River and board the bus for the short ride up river to the launch area for a wonderful morning of tubing. We’ll be floating downriver for three hours negotiating small rapids all together on our individual tubes. The scenery is beautiful with tall saguaro cactus standing sentinel and red wing black birds flitting about us. Back at the base, change into dry clothes and drive to a restaurant for lunch. This afternoon visit the Museum of Musical Instruments and tour the world through music! This fabulous facility is the biggest of its type in the world, displaying over five thousand instruments. Wireless headsets and high-resolution video screens allow us to see the instruments being played in their original locations. There is even a hands-on gallery allowing us to play a whole selection of instruments. Drive north to Sedona and check into our lodging. Dinner at a favorite local restaurant.
Thursday
It’s hiking day in Sedona! After breakfast we’ll ride a four-wheel drive vehicle out into the forest and hike among the red rocks to Devil’s Bridge. This is a two-hour round trip hike with an elevation gain of about 500’. Your guide will teach you all about the uniqueness of the desert plants and animals and she’ll take some great photos of you standing out on the bridge. Back in Sedona we’ll head down to Oak Creek at Red Rock Crossing and enjoy a picnic at the most scenic spot in all of Sedona. This afternoon there’ll be time for an hour’s shopping in Uptown followed by a visit to the Chapel of the Holy Cross – a wonderfully unique building. Later we will climb Cathedral Rock. This quintessential Sedona landmark not only offers extraordinary views from the saddle between the buttes but it is also a feminine vortex and a wonderful place for quiet reflection. Dinner this evening will be on the patio at Cheryl’s home.
Friday
Enjoy a sleep-in and a late breakfast at renown Coffee Pot Restaurant, home of 101 omelets. Drive to Jerome and learn the history of this amazing old mining town and have an hour to explore the fun stores here. Then we’ll head over the hill to Prescott and stroll Courthouse Plaza and Whiskey Row and eat lunch at a local restaurant. It’s a short drive to Watson Lake for an afternoon of kayaking. The lake is edged with pink granite boulders and we’re in for a wonderful three hour easy paddle exploring in and out all the nooks and crannies of these boulders. Drive north to the cowboy town of Williams for dinner and lodging.
Saturday
It’s a 5am start today to make the most of the cool morning air for our hike into Havasu. We’ll drive to the old Route 66 town of Seligman for breakfast. Then it’s another 90 minutes to arrive at the staging area at hilltop on the western rim of the Grand Canyon. We’ll hike down to the village of Supai with lunch on the trail. The hike is eight miles and takes four hours with a sandwich lunch along the way. The first hour is all down hill and the last three hours are flat and slightly descending. If this is beyond your capabilities or desires then you can helicopter into the village for an extra $85. We’ll check into Havasupai Lodge and change into swimsuits, river shorts and sandals. Then we’ll walk another mile down to the turquoise waters of Havasu Falls. What a view – Hawaii in the middle of the desert! This is the most amazing place to swim. There are travertine pools to relax in or you can swim around the back of the falls and explore. Then we’ll walk through the campground to the Mooney Falls overlook – another WOW! We’ll refill our water bottles at the spring on the way back to Havasu Falls. There’s time for more swimming, relaxing and photography at Havasu before the walk back uphill to the lodge. Your guide will prepare dinner at the lodge. After this exhilarating day, you’ll undoubtedly find yourself asleep by 8pm!
Sunday
Sleep in! Breakfast at the Tribal Café and then we wait in the village for our turn on the chopper. It’s a scenic seven-minute helicopter ride back to Hilltop. Return to Seligman for lunch and some great Route 66 photos. This afternoon we’ll travel across to Hoover Dam. We’ll drive across the dam and we’ll also view this colossus from the new bridge erected nearby. We’ll learn how the Depression-era construction of this dam was a giant in American achievement. What an extraordinary impact this had on both the history of the West and on American morale. Tonight we stay in Nevada so of course we spend the night in a high-rise casino! You’ll have all night to enjoy the entertainment if that appeals.
Monday
Breakfast at the hotel then we’ll meet our kayak provider, drive a short distance to the river and launch our sit-on-top double kayaks for a 13-mile paddle on the Colorado River. There’s a great picture we’ll take of our group in the kayaks with the dam and bridge towering behind us. We’ll stop at all the amazing spots including Sauna Cave, Gold Strike Canyon and Arizona Hot Springs where we’ll lunch on the beach. It’s fabulous to soak in these natural hot pools. On the paddle to Willow Beach take-out we may see big horn sheep staring down watching us pass. The scenery is incredible. Transport meets us at the take-out and returns us to our van. We drive 30 miles into Las Vegas and drop you, around 4pm, at the hotels that you’ve booked yourselves for this evening. Tour ends.
|
