Down and Back

At 6:20 AM this morning I heard my lovely wife squirm out of bed and the next thing I heard was her voice saying, “Get up, we need to get going!” Our plan was to get ready and be on the South Kaibab trail by 8:30 AM. If all worked ou,t we would hike down three miles to Skeleton Point and then back up to the trailhead.

This would be a real test for the new knees and I was a bit concerned. The hardest test climbing had been the three pools climb in Zion and they were a bit tired when we finished that one.

Our timing was perfect and we headed down the trail right on time. There were quite a few hikers, but nothing like on the trail in Zion. At times, we were actually hiking alone basically, though that didn’t last very long before we either caught up with someone or visa versa.

Once again the canyon provided! The hike was one vista after another on a trail that dropped 1400 feet straight down. We marveled at the hikers coming up from Bright Angle Campground, 7 miles below. As we walked we took in the sights and talked about whether we would want to backpack this trail. Both of us agreed that we probably didn’t want to give up our comfortable bed in the camper.

Hiking down turned out to be quite easy and my knees felt great as we went. We passed our first hiking goal, Ooh Aah Point and descended on. At Cedar Ridge, we stopped and had a snack and used the bathroom provided there.

At 2.09 miles I started to get concerned. What if I turned around at Skeleton Point and found that my knees wouldn’t be strong enough to get me back up the three miles? I got a bit nervous and finally made the decision to turn around and start the climb out.

Linda was great about my decision and she turned around with me. Hiking out was hard, but it turned out to be something that my knees allowed me to do. It was like being on a stair stepper for an hour and a half. I move slowly and steadily trying to make sure each leg was used about the same.  We hit the trailhead at about 11:20 AM and celebrated by having lunch overlooking the canyon.

Checking Things Out

The weather has changed!!! The sun is out and it is warmer. There is still a brisk wind, but nothing like the last two days. We took the shuttle out to Hermits Rest today after hiking a little way down the Bright Angel Trail. I would love to be able to do the trail, but the hikes we are taking will really help build my knees back up. Until they get stronger the big epic trails will have to wait. 

Today we hiked many of the trails along the rim from Maricopa Point to Hermits Point, of course, we rode the shuttle between the longer stretches.

Today was also Grand Canyon shower day and for $2 apiece we are now spotless! Kobi had started to complain a bit. 

The East End

The Unkar Delta, we stood there 18 years ago.

We woke up to clouds and a bit of rain here and there, so we jumped in Stinky Jeep and drove out in the direction of Desert View. On the way, we stopped at Grandview Point, Buggein, Moran Point, Lipan Point and then turned back. On the out drive Linda spotted an elk and took some great photos. Then on the way back we spotted a couple elk feeding along the road and I got some shots. We are turning into a two camera family on this trip

Our final stop of the day took us to the Market Plaza where we bought some chips and filled our water bottles.  A few steps away we caught a shuttle and went to the Visitor Center to purchase some Rim to Rim decals for our friend Emily Compton. She and a friend ran Rim to Rim to Rim a few weeks ago but for some reason didn’t stop to buy Rim to Rim decals. The run took them about twelve hours and I think when you are half way finished after running Rim to Rim, you probably don’t feel like jogging over to the visitors center and stand in line for a decal.

Back at the camper we made potato cheese soup and biscuits, ate our fill and then drifted off to sleep.

The Big Ditch

Breakfast of  Idaho hikers!

The Grand Canyon is as huge and inspiring as everyone writes and talks about. We pulled into the first canyon overlook at Desert View Watchtower at about 2 PM The trip getting there was uneventful, except perhaps our stop in the town of Tuba, Arizona, where we bought about seven items on our shopping list. It was a very busy town and we drove around a bit until we found the store. Looks like Tuba has a regional health care center for the Navajo Nation. We drove through on of its parking lots.

The Desert View Watchtower.

Back on track, we stopped for fuel and then made the turn onto the road leading into Grand Canyon National Park. When we stopped the size of the canyon really struck us. I took too many photos and we looked around. The crowds are not as big as in Zion, well at least so far, but there are a lot of people to watch. At times, both Linda and I feel a little under dressed. Linda without her high top fur-lined Uggs and me without my silver and gold emblazed hiking stick and leather loafers. I guess we’ll just try to blend in with our Idaho everyday casuals.

We are camped at Mather Campground and I have been spending time managing our power.  Oh, just in case you are wondering, it was partly cloudy most of the day with strong head winds. We got to the canyon and it was sunny, but you could see dark clouds coming in from the north rim.  Once we got our camper set up and we went into the Visitors Center and back it started to snow. Last night it got down to 33 degrees and today it is now 37 degrees and sunny. I’ll post photos and posts when I can, the signal here is a bit sketchy.

Our first view of the Grand Canyon.

Linda trying to tell Kobi that we are south and yes there is snow.