| Miles | MPG | Avg. Speed | |
| Today | 117.5 | 51.7 | 52 |
| Trip | 2814.7 | 46 | 54 |
|
Food |
Hotel |
Trip Savings |
| $57 / $126 | $80 / $75 | AAA – $26 PriceLine – $242 Real $$ – $38 |
| Grand Canyon National Park | $0 ($25 but free with National Parks Pass) |
I set an alarm for 6:30 so we could get to the Canyon early – it’s an hour away – but dawn here is apparently 5:00 AM and that’s when I woke up.
When we got here yesterday, I admit that I mocked the room’s showerhead …
No more … it is small, yet mighty.
I will, however, continue to mock the hotel’s internet connection, which is poor, slow, and intermittent.
All the weather data I read before coming here said that the average temperature for the Canyon in July was 100-degrees. The high today is 84 – turns out those charts had the data for the bottom of the Canyon, which would be hotter, but 84-degrees with 13% humidity and a 9 MPH breeze sounds pretty pleasant to me.
So we were on the road a little before 8:00 for the hour drive to the Grand Canyon.
We arrived at the visitors center after passing the $199 a night Holiday Inn Express and the $169 a night Best Western. They’re closer and nicer than everything in Williams, but, damn, that’s pricey.
We walked out to the viewing area for quick look and a couple pictures, then headed for the shuttle buses. I’d given Aryn two options for hiking: Bright Angel and South Kaibob trails. These are the easiest of the trails that go down into the canyon instead of following the rim, and Aryn chose South Kaibob.
These two trails go all the way to the bottom, meeting at Phantom Ranch, the guest house on the Colorado River, but hiking to the river and back in one day is not recommended, especially in summer.
We got on the trail about 9:20.
That’s the edge of the trail we’re on and then the next leg of the trail below us.
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It’s a very windy trail down the sheer face of the canyon wall.
I got a knee brace in Albuquerque and it worked wonders. I didn’t get a single twinge from my knee the whole hike.
The canyon walls become even more impressive once you’re below them and have to look up.
On the way down, a mule-train from Phantom Ranch passed us – that’s how they get supplies and some guests to the bottom.
Mule Rules: Move off the trail to the upslope side. Stand perfectly still and make no noise. Follow the instructions of the mule-wranglers.
Apparently they have incidents of idiot hikers startling the mules with some disastrous results.
Aryn taking a moment to meditate and commune with the canyon.
Ooh-Aah Point is almost a mile of walking and a 600-foot elevation change, or really, really close to the descent into Carlsbad Caverns. From there to the next waypoint, the grade of the trail almost doubles, dropping an additional 500 feet in half a mile.
At Ooh-Aah Point, we saw one of the canyon squirrels. Later, when we stopped to eat a snack, one of them came running as soon as I started opening the package on my snack bar. The NPS volunteer at the site warned me that they can get pretty demanding and bite, so I moved off – chased away by a squirrel.
Yeah, that’s him. Do not mock me, he was very threatening with mean, sharp, nasty teeth … look at the bones, man!
At Cedar Point, a mile and a half down the trail, Aryn again communed with the Canyon. In the background, you can see the trail we came down, wrapping right to left around wall to the small building that holds the restroom.
When we arrived here, the park volunteer asked us how far we were going. They really try to discourage people from continuing past this point except in the early morning. Aryn answered that we weren’t sure yet – she really wanted to go all the way down and catch a glimpse of the Colorado. My plan was to send her back up the trail to the last switchback before Cedar Point – if she came back down and wanted to continue, fine, otherwise she could wave her arms and I’d start up for the return trip.
Then she got a look at the trail out of Cedar Point.
It’s that steep line of red dropping precipitously from the restroom. About half the width of trail we’d been on until now, not as well-maintained, and clearly intended only for serious hikers.
It continues from Cedar Point down and around the next Butte before dropping to the flatter area of the canyon.
Aryn decided she didn’t even want to go down it, much less try to come back up.
I was really impressed with her today. She set the pace for the entire hike and didn’t try to go too fast on the way down. She made a good decision not to continue, even though she really wanted to see the river. On the way back up, it was hard work, but she didn’t whine or complain at all – she set a workable pace, kept to it, and stopped for rests when she needed to.
Yeah … back up. 1.5 miles with an 1100-foot elevation change. That’s the equivalent of walking the stairs of the Empire State Building up and down.
For me, the walk back up was mostly head down, watching where I put my feet, and muttering, “She must be getting tired … wants to take a break soon … sit in that patch of shade there … damned if I’m going to call for a break while she’s still going … stop, damn you, girl, stop …”
But we made it to the top without, well …
The heat really wasn’t that bad for me. It was warm, but not humid, and I had my kayaking shirt that wicks moisture and cools with the slightest breeze. The real killer was the elevation again … not as much oxygen as I’m used to.
We rode the shuttle back to the visitors center to get Aryn’s National Parks Passport stamped and then to the market area for some souvenirs and lunch. I think my chips were packaged at sea-level.
And then back to the hotel … which passing that $200 Holiday Inn Express a mile outside the gates and facing an hour to get back to our hotel made me question the savings.
Tired cowgirl on the drive back.
For dinner we had pie … Apple-Peach-Blueberry pie, Black Forest pie, Lemon Creamcheese pie, and Banana-Chocolate-Peanut-Butter pie. I like pie.
