04/15/2010
For years we've heard about Grand Falls, and for just as many years we've driven past the sign for Two Guns on I-40. Both have been on our "go see" list, so we finally decided to go and see them.
Grand Falls is just amazing. Who would have believed this in the Painted Desert?
Two Guns, or what's left of it, is a wonder of another kind. I imagine in it's prime families cruising along Route 66 we just amazed by what it had to offer. Now, all that's left are a lot of ruins from it's days of glory.
These falls are more than we hoped for. You drive out on dirt roads across open desert sparsely dotted with vegetation, take a short turn and voila! There it is. At first you stare across a vast "river" of flowing muddy water and immediately understand why these falls are nicknamed Chocolate Falls. Then you walk down a bit and get a good look at the water tumbling 185 feet down into the Little Colorado River. Believe it or not, it's higher than Niagara Falls, and a lot more colorful.
Check out the videos below - give a nice idea of the sound of the falls
This is the "river" flowing along the plains
As you walk down the hill you see this. Even makes rainbows
Shooting down to the Little Colorado River
Note the black rocky formations. The geography changes as you go to the other side
Trying to give you a feel for the power of the flow.
OK, I'm going with mocha over milk chocolate. Maybe Latté
This give a good example of the size and variation in the ground across from the falls
Yup, that's us. No, we didn't call to arrange to dress in similar shirts
As we were heading out to Two Guns we came across these guys
This one just rolled around, occasionally nudging his friend
Yes we had lots of Ohs and cute comments
Playtime
Time to go somewhere else I guess. I'm sure they had a schedule to keep
After the natural awe and beauty of Grand Falls it was on to the fading, man-made wonder that was Two Guns.
This piece of land sits at the entrance to Canyon Diablo and has been inhabited since early man, with the years 1050 to 1300 A.D. recording the greatest density of population. Navajo, Apache, and soldiers and white settlers have all used the canyon to hide from enemy attack or as a fortress from which to fight. Later years saw a trading post, followed by the railroad, mining, and finally, tourist trap.
As with most things along Route 66, it died following the opening of I-40.
Welcome to Graffiti Heaven; AKA Two Guns
The vestiges of Two Guns last life - a campground
Desolate, but a great place for finding weird things for artists who do mixed media
The beginnings of your graffiti tour
The shower and bathroom building
Obviously this is the meeting place for all things related to spray paint
We couldn't figure out if they liked Bruce Lee or hated him, but he's everywhere, sometimes with animal bodies
I've no idea why a round tower
The main gate into the old grounds
Ye Olde Outhouse
It was a deluxe 4 seater - probably with a wall dividing mens and ladies
Lots of small, one room buildings that might have been cabins to rent
Once again, I'm in the picture for scale
I just like this artsy shot
This place was probably fun to walk through when it was in good shape. Lots of little connecting paths and bridges
However, I opted not to test the structural integrity just to get to the other side
Somone made a make-shift bridge access to the canyon where many people have hidden or taken a stand in a fight
Once we found out that this led to the canyon we threw caution to the wind and went down
Entering the canyon
Over the years people have built walls, keyhole entrances, and other fortifications in the canyon
One of the keyhole entrances to a walled off space
A pillar built for support maybe or what is left of a wall
Going back out into the light
This gives you an idea of how deep the entrance to the canyon is, and parts of that ladder are missing in places
Onward to the Zoo section.
You can see the remains of walled cages with wire coverings and doors. Not quite up to today's standards of animal habitat
More ruins of cages in the zoo