Rockhopper Road Diaries - Episode 2 - A Red Mountain and a Canyon so Grand

check this out cool little roadside find yeah that's pretty interesting tiny little chapel out here along the way to the grand canyon look at that view look at that ceiling visitors from all around the world if put their name on the ceiling or put in little notes like these and there's reading material here too if you'd like to take some along on your trip it's all free yep lots of reading material people have left lots of notes here that's quite a scenic backdrop for that little chapel we must be in arizona it looks like they built part of the wall here with petrified wood i took along this navajo code talkers you may remember uh alfonda off the grey mountain lost in time video i believe she said her father was a code talker a world war ii code talker how many of you guys know that the area around flagstaff and around the san francisco peaks and the humphreys peak there which is the tallest peak in arizona how many of you know that in this region is the largest expanse of ponderosa pine forest in the world another day another trail this time on the red mountain trail a region of geologic intrigue from volcanic activity awaits so we'll see what that's all about the trail winds through a pinyon pine and juniper forest that's quite a gnarled looking juniper right there and just continues on so we'll see the mountain and see what it looks like and see what uh what all this red mountain thing is about is it really a red mountain we'll find out these flowers have a nice scent i can't remember what the name of them is i think they may have some sort of medicinal property but uh they smell pretty good starting to get a glimpse of what looks to be red mountain up ahead and it does indeed look red this is interesting looks like there's some eroded volcanic domes here [Applause] look at that gnarled old dead tree i think they're really cool works of nature's artistry do you guys like that kind of thing too have a look around i think this is pretty cool no need to get bent out of shape if you don't like it well do you like it [Music] this looks like a slot canyon of sorts through the rocks yeah it looks just like one a volcanic labyrinth even in here there's life in the stark and barren volcanic rocks are you liking this that's lichen here's another little slot canyon oh we got a little branch to get up here okay we can do that kind of hard to do with one hand but all right oh what's up there okay i'm gonna have to put the camera away and use two hands for this and it opens up into this and that's where it dead ends right up at those cliffs there pretty cool [Music] some of this reminds me of the bungle bungles in australia which i've not been to yet shout out to my good mates down in aussie well red mountain was a nice little hike and an interesting place so i'm glad i went there and it's time to head off to the next place now so let's get in the car and go this is where i parked it for the evening last night off in the distance here the san francisco peaks all right we're off to the next place wherever that may be where do you think that next place might be as i've been driving through these juniper forests i've noticed that there are entire swaths of forest that are dying just drying out turning brown and dying stream crossing ahead many of the streams in arizona like this one are invisible check it out wild horses grand canyon national park sponsored by coca-cola how many of you guessed that i would end up at the grand canyon well here i am for those of you who guessed grand canyon you guessed correctly [Music] back when i was like 22 years old i hiked about 300 miles through the grand canyon i read not too long ago in national geographic online that i was one of only eight people to have done a hike like that and at the time i was probably only the second or third person to have done that i hiked most of what is walkable within the grand canyon down below all told on three separate hikes i racked up over 225 hiking miles this place is pretty insane times westbound and only three eastbound all right let's play tourist for just a little while today and head out to hermits rest welcome to the abyss that's what they call this viewpoint i like the name and i like the view have a look [Music] you can see the colorado river down there slithering like a serpent between sheer rock walls [Music] this is cliff rose and it has a really nice scent ah nice [Music] down below me is about a 400 foot drop [Music] this is the beginning of the hermit trail right here and back when i was just a young whippersnapper i hiked a 40-mile loop here in addition to the other hikes that i did it was winter and i started down this trail and a couple inches of snow and it was one of the three hikes that i did i did it as a warm up to the longest hike that would be about 185 miles maybe [Music] [Music] these guys [Music] more colorado river rapids [Music] now that's a drop [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning [Music]