Return to Park Sierra

We visited Park Sierra in April of 2009 and fell in love with it. Today is our first chance to return to this lovely Escapees COOP Park. When we checked in we mentioned that we had been parked in Visalia in front of Schatzi Lovett's house, and of course the office staff remembered Schatzi and her husband.

We're in site #425, which was relatively easy to get into, especially with help from Bill, the park manager. It has a view of the southern sky for our DirecTV dish, and most importantly, really good 50 amp power. We needed it to give us some respite from the extremely hot weather, which is expected to continue all week.

Park Sierra is in a remote forested area, so of course there are rodents about. Unfortunately, they like to eat vehicle wiring, so people put lights under their vehicles, which is what Ken did tonight. He also left the hood up to doubly discourage any trespassers.

We actually have decent internet again. Yay! I contacted Millenicom tech support yesterday, and they got Verizon to fix our connection. They didn't supply any details about what the problem was, but whatever it was is fixed. Instead of less than 1 Mbps, we now are running near 20 Mbps. That's nothing to write home about if you're in a house with cable internet or Verizon FIOS, but it's great for mobile service. Read more!

Another Hot Day

 I got a call from Kathy Martin this morning. She said that Aunt Helene had fallen and broken a hip yesterday. She had to have general anesthesia, because her arthritis prevented them from using a spinal. That's dangerous for someone in her 90s, but Helene made it okay. She's scheduled to be moved to a rehab facility on Wednesday. Fortunately, Eleanor was visiting from Atlanta and is with her mom now. She was able to extend her stay. We're all hoping that Helene will continue to improve.

We called Park Sierra this morning to see about getting in there early. The office closes early on Sundays, so we would have had to boondock tonight, which they did not recommend in this weather. So we're spending another night in Visalia, but we're sweltering here too. We haven't been able to run the a/c without tripping the circuit breaker, so we're relying on our exhaust fans.

Tomorrow we'll move to Park Sierra. The good news is that we'll be able to run the a/c. The bad news is that the highs are forecast to be in the 100s for the rest of the week. Read more!

Monarchs of the Earth

We visited Sequoia National Park today and saw the General Sherman Tree and the McKinley Tree and the Sentinel Tree and many others. We climbed Moro Rock and walked the Congress Trail, where we passed the House Group and the Senate Group (no relations to the current political situation). We were surrounded by huge trees of immense age and grandeur and looked out to see the Sierras.

To get into and out of the park we drove Highway 198 and the Generals Highway around multiple hairpin turns that would tax the nerves of race car drivers, but we were taking them at 10 mph and sometimes less. When we came back down off the mountains we congratulated ourselves that we were still alive, hadn't had any accidents, and hadn't fallen off any cliffs.

What a fantastic day!

Read more!

King's Canyon

Schatzi suggested that the best way to approach visiting King's Canyon and Sequoia National Parks was to go north from Visalia and enter King's Canyon through the Big Stump Entrance, so that is what we did. The route is 63 miles and an hour and a half or so to the entrance. After a brief wait in line at the entrance station, we drove to the King's Canyon Visitor Center.

The ranger we spoke with made some suggestions and told us approximately how long it would take to drive each segment. She seemed a bit skeptical of our plan to visit both parks today. Of course her skepticism was well grounded, but it took us a couple of hours for us to come to the conclusion that we'd need to save Sequoia NP for tomorrow.

We watched the introductory film, which gave a good overview of King's Canyon and its formation and extent. We had recommendations from both the ranger and Schatzi that the drive through and down into the canyon was not to be missed. Of course we also wanted to see the General Grant Tree, which is the fifth largest tree in the world by volume.

We stopped at a picnic area on the way into the Grant Grove and ate our lunch while enjoying the sights and silence of the forest.

Picnic among the big trees.

Then we went on to the trailhead for the General Grant Tree. The tree is indeed massive, an awe inspiring tree. Many others in the grove are huge. We walked through the hollowed out trunk of one that had fallen, a new experience for us.

The General Grant Tree

Walking through a tree!

After we left the Grove we drove east on Highway 180, which winds and descends as it takes you down to the King's River. We saw signs warning "Snow and rocks not removed at night." We've seen the warning applied to snow, but never before to rocks.

It's a difficult drive, and of course the driver can't do much sightseeing, but we stopped at several overlooks. And then suddenly, there it was: the King's River. It was amazingly clear with turquoise water and rushing rapids in parts. The cliffs above tower over it, and the whole thing is just a spectacular sight.

King's River

The river has been designated a Wild and Scenic River, and the drive is a Scenic Byway. We are very glad for the many people who worked to save this river from being dammed and flooding the canyon, as happened to Hetch Hetchy.

We stopped at Grizzly Falls, tall and impressive. The cliff face that the river rushes down gives evidence that sometimes there is more water and the falls must be even more spectacular. As we walked in the short path to see the falls, we saw two bicycles all kitted out with touring bags and gear--and a baby trailer. Down by the falls we talked with the cyclists. They are on a five day tour with their one year old, the first time they've taken him on an extended ride. Wow, am I impressed! The route through the canyon and the park is definitely not flat! What quads they must have, and what a spirit of adventure to travel with a young toddler.

Grizzley Falls

We also stopped at Roaring Falls, which is not a tall, elegant falls like Grizzly, but extremely powerful--and loud of course. We were moved to just sit on the rocks and experience it for a bit.

Roaring Falls

Then we drove out to Roads End, where there's a permit station for those venturing overnight into the back country, and lots of warnings about active bears and food safety. Day hikes don't require a permit, but we were running out of time and couldn't stay to take any of the hikes.

We drove back towards home without doing any more exploring, since it was after 4:00 p.m. We did stop in Dinuba on the way south for supper at Subway. It was 7:00 p.m. when we got home and more or less collapsed for a while. What a day!

On another note, when we were hiking the South Kaibab trail into the Grand Canyon, I fell rather hard on the rocky trail. I got up and brushed it off, figuring I might have some bruises but nothing worse. For the next few days I could feel some bruising in my ribs and couldn't lift things, but I figured I was getting better, until the last couple of days. Now I have some pain all around my lungs when I breathe deeply. A Google search tells me that I probably have pleurisy caused by the trauma to my rib cage. I've had pleurisy a couple of times before, but as a complication of bronchitis years ago, so I know what it feels like. It's an inflammation of the lining of the lungs, the pleura. So now I'm taking ibuprofen to help with the pain and hopefully reduce the inflammation. I never knew you could get pleurisy by bruising your ribs!












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Hesperia to Visalia

We had a long trip (for us) from Hesperia to Visalia, CA. We are staying as the guests of a fellow Escapee, Schatzi Lovett, parked on the street in front of her house. She is Escapee #1805 and is 86 years young.

We had some difficulty getting the electricity hooked up. Schatzi thought she had 30 amp service, but it's actually 20 amp. We got out our adapters and plugged in, but our Electricity Management System (EMS)reported an open ground. Our next move was to plug in to the side of her motor home parked in her driveway, but that plug appeared to be dead. Next we plugged in to an outlet in the garage, only to have a reversed polarity error. The next door neighbor is an electrician, and he assured us that reverse polarity wasn't a problem, but the EMS thought otherwise and blocked the incoming current.

We finally turned off the EMS and plugged in to the open ground outlet. I've lived in houses that had no grounded plugs (old houses), and nothing terrible ever happened, so we are able to run the living room air conditioner. That's important during the day, because we're still in high desert weather (sweltering during the day).

We visited with Schatzi after dinner. She had some good suggestions for exploring the parks. She advised going up to King's Canyon first and then down to Sequoia. That way we'll be doing the steep and windy approach to Sequois on Hwy 198 downhill, which she says is easier.

Schatzi and her husband were founding members of Park Sierra, our next destination. Read more!

Oil Change

It took us over three hours this morning to get an oil change. Very frustrating! We did take advantage of the time to get our morning walk in and to do some window shopping in nearby stores.

Ken spent another few hours of frustration trying to get the sensors on our tire pressure monitoring system to work. A couple have been behaving rather erratically since we got our new tires. At one point today all the sensors were reporting, and the pressures were all good. The only problem was that the sensors had been swapped around, so they were not on the tires they had been programmed for. Confusing, so Ken tried to either move or re-program them. The upshot is that we will fight that battle again another day.

Meanwhile I defrosted the freezer and reorganized the contents, hoping to get the temperature to drop some. Ditto with the fridge. Both of them are struggling to stay cool with this hot desert weather. I haven't helped by stocking up and probably overcrowding them.

We called a fellow Escapee who lives in Visalia and had listed her place as an overnight stop for traveling SKP's. Visalia is reasonably close to Sequoia National Park, and we hadn't been able to find any place else that would fit our rig and appealed to us. So tomorrow we are headed north.

Tonight after our walk we went to the hot tub to soak a bit. I'm still feeling the effects of my bruised ribs, and I was hoping a good soak in hot water would help. It was definitely relaxing. Read more!

Grandpa's Burgers

Catt would have been a very unhappy camper if she hadn't gotten to have some of her grandpa's burgers, so we packed up a picnic and our little Weber grill and went out to see Rebecca and Catt (and Mikey, and Shadow, and Gus, and Jack, and Snow White). Ken first set up the grill in the back yard, but it was quite windy, so he moved it into the atrium. Perfect! The atrium is sheltered from the wind but has plenty of ventilation, and a sliding glass door leading to the kitchen/dining area.

Catt helped her grandpa bring the grill in and get it set up, and soon we were putting all the fixings on our buns and dishing up some baked beans to go with the chips and cut veggies and such. It was all yummy, and we especially enjoyed sharing it with Catt. She kept us all entertained with stories of her work day. She got to use some of her Spanish to talk with a client who had come into the office. Way to go, Catt!

Tomorrow the first thing on our agenda is getting an oil change. Read more!

Laundry and Visit

We packed up our laundry and headed to Laundryland. While the machines were running, we walked around the area. Spotting a Salvation Army store, we retrieved our donations from the truck and dropped them off. After the laundry was finished, I stopped in again at the 99 Cent Only Store. I have a hard time passing them up.

This evening Rebecca and Catt came over for dinner. Catt mentioned in Olive Garden that she had never had salmon, so I offered to fix some tonight. It was Copper River salmon from Costco. Catt said it was good. We definitely enjoyed it. We talked about travel, and Catt was quite enthusiastic about visiting Scotland, where her mother's mother's family claims some ancestry. Catt has visions of royal ancestors and family castles. Read more!

Beautiful Day for a Hike

Rebecca suggested that a hike in the mountains near Wrightwood would take us to an elevation where the weather would be cooler and the scenery spectacular, which it was. She and Catt drove to our place, and we all drove to Wrightwood in our truck. We stopped at the Angeles National Forest Grassy Hollow Visitor Center to get information about hikes and to see their displays.

 Then we drove to the Vincent Gulch trailhead, where several trails begin. We sat on a bench and ate our picnic lunches while enjoying the dramatic view and the clear mountain air.

Then we started down the trail. We found ourselves on a steep uphill, not what we were expecting, and soon realized that we'd taken the wrong trail, so we went back to the trailhead and started out again. We were trying to take the Mine Gulch trail, but ended up deciding to take the Big Horn Mine trail instead. It follows an old fire road to an abandoned gold mine.

Some of the way is relatively easy going, fairly wide and level, but other sections are more challenging. The old road has deteriorated over the years, so in parts it's covered by rock slides from above, and in other parts it's been undercut and fallen away.

Some parts of the trail are quite narrow, uneven, and steep, but Catt didn't seem to have any problems with them. She is a martial arts expert and very fit.

The hike is two miles out and two miles back. We were encouraged along the way by returning hikers who wre enthusiastic about the mine. Finally we arrived.

Of course the mine shaft is blocked off, but a group who had arrived before us had found a way around. They brought their own rope to assist in the descent. All we took was photos and a rest in the shade. We could feel the welcome cool breeze emanating from the mine.

The trip back seemed much shorter than the trip out, but by the time we got back to the parking lot, all of us were ready to head home. It's tiring hiking at 7,000 feet!

Here's a photo of Catt showing off her Taekwondo black belt moves. Impressive!

We'll see Rebecca and Catt again tomorrow night, when they are planning to come over for dinner. Read more!

Victorville Visiting and Happy Solstice!

Today is the Summer Solstice and also our anniversary. It was 17 years ago when we gathered with family and friends in the Pasadena Rose Garden to make our vows. When we were living in Southern California we frequently celebrated by going back to the Rose Garden and sharing some anniversary cake and some happy memories.

This afternoon we went to visit Rebecca and Catt in their new home. They moved in less than a week ago, and we're impressed by how settled in they seem already. It's a lovely home and one we hope they will enjoy for a long time to come. We got to see their three dogs and two birds too. Mikey is Catt's best friend, Gus in a really lovely full--blooded Siberian Husky with the piercing steel blue eyes to prove it, and Shadow is the smallest of the group. Catt says the parrot, Jack, is a jerk, but we think her teasing him might explain some of his unfriendly behavior to her....

We went to the Olive Garden for dinner to celebrate Rebecca's birthday (a little belatedly--her birthday is actually May 3). We had a pleasant meal and a good time together. There's never a dull moment when Cathy is around, that's for sure!

Tomorrow we're planning a trip to Wrightwood to hike in the National Forest. We hope the weather will be more temperate.

[photos later] Read more!

On to Hesperia

Today we had a short trip, but it was made longer by our stop at the Flying J in Barstow. First we had one of our propane tanks filled. The older guy who filled it was nice enough to help by lifting the tank down and putting it back up, despite having really bad arthritis in his hands and being rather short, so it was a difficult task for him. We thanked him, but he said that it was his job to be customer service oriented. Next we pulled up to the diesel pump, but we couldn't read the screen to follow the prompts, so we had to take our Good Sam card and credit card inside, go back out and pump the diesel, and then go back inside to get our receipt.

Next we moved over to the truck area to fill our DEF tank. Again we had to take the cards inside, go back outside and pump the DEF, and go inside to get the receipt. All this ended up taking almost an hour, but we finally got back on I-15 and headed south to Hesperia. We got to the Desert Willow RV Park before lunch. The woman at the desk was very friendly and helpful.

We picked out a spot we liked because it has a couple of trees to shade it, but it also has a good view of the southern sky for the satellite dish, and our door opens to the northeast. We had to jockey the fifth wheel into place carefully between the trees on one side and the posts around the utilities on the other, but once we got ourselves positioned well, we really like our spot.

Ken called Rebecca to report where we were staying, and he invited her and Catt to come over for dinner after work. Catt has recently started a job in an insurance agency that she seems to like. Her current ambition seems to be to become an insurance agent.

We went out shopping and picked up a rotisserie chicken at Costco for dinner. Rebecca and Catt did indeed find the park, and we had a good visit. No room where Catt is can possibly be quiet or boring. She is very enthusiastic about everything, even being beat at chess by her grandpa. We took a walk around the park and ended up in the billiards room. Catt played Ken first and me second. Both games ended in a technical win for her, because both of us managed to scratch while attempting to sink the eight ball.

Tomorrow afternoon we'll go out to visit them in the house they recently moved into, on the north side of Victorville. I'm looking forward to meeting their three dogs, especially Catt's best friend, Mikey. Read more!

On to Barstow (Er...Yermo)

We headed out this morning from Kingman, AZ, headed west. In the middle of the Colorado River, we saw the California border sign. Our truck clock moved back an hour--which it did not need to do, since Arizona does not follow Daylight Saving Time, so this time of year, Arizona and California are at the same time.

Our destination was Barstow, CA, where I-40 and I-15 meet. Traveling across I-40 today, we saw lots of rather barren desert. Some of it is in the Mojave National Preserve. We even started to see Joshua trees. We passed through areas of cinder cones and lava fields that reminded me of El Malpais in New Mexico.

We ended up stopping for the night at Peggy Sue's Diner in Yermo, which is just north and east of Barstow (sorry, Barstow). Peggy Sue's is heavily advertized by billboards and such. The restaurant and gift shop has large level parking lots and offers free overnight parking. We decided to eat at the restaurant.

It was quite an entertaining experience. The walls are covered with memorabilia from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and music of that era plays throughout the various areas (gift shop and ice cream fountain, diner counter, and two separate dining rooms, pizza shop, and outside, the DinerSaur Park. The DinerSaurs include a Brachiosaurus, a Spinosaurus, a Stegosaurus, and King Kong (one blogger says the place is very educational--he never knew that King Kong was a dinosaur!).

Unfortunately the food didn't live up to the atmosphere (small, tough pork chops and a minuscule portion of canned green beans), and the service was a bit lacking. Our server never offered to refill our cokes, and during most of the meal, someone was sweeping the carpet loudly. It turned out that the dining room we were in was being closed early, but no one mentioned that to us. We did get to entertain ourselves with some nostalgic trivia about the movies, TV shows, and music of a bygone era, some of which we even knew.

After dinner we took our walk through the adjacent desert. The experience was marred by the traffic noise from I-15 and the incredible amount of trash  caught in the shrubs and cacti. Apparently our night's sleep will be treated to a special lullaby: an amalgam of truck generators and I-15 traffic noise. We can't shut the windows to close it out because the weather is pretty much reminiscent of Phoenix.

That's our rig tucked in among the 18 wheelers.

Tomorrow will be better. We're headed to the Victorville area to visit Rebecca and Catt, and we'll definitely stay somewhere with electricity. Read more!

Canyon View to Kingman

We walked over to the rim this morning for one last view of the Grand Canyon before checking out and moving on west. Our destination tonight was Kingman, AZ, so our route was pretty simple: south on Hwy 64, west on I-40.  Along the way we saw lots of warning signs with icons of deer and elk to watch out for. One sign suggested we should "watch to animals next 10 miles." We watched closely, but we didn't see any. The other day when we were driving to Desert View, we saw a new sign for us: instead of the usual silhouette of a deer or elk, this sign had a silhouette of a mountain lion. Yikes. I guess the sign was put up in hopes of protecting the mountain lion from unwary drivers.

We are spending the night at the Walmart in Kingman.

We ran the generator for a while with the air conditioner on, mainly because it needed to be exercised. Unfortunately I overloaded the circuits (turned on the microwave while the toaster was running and the a/c), which blew one of the circuits on the generator. Fortunately we knew what to do this time: climb under the rig, remove the front panel from the generator, locate the circuit breaker, and turn it back on. Unfortunately we haven't yet bought a creeper, so crawling under the rig was rather awkward and painful for my bruised ribs. Teach me a lesson.

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South Kaibab Trail

We set our alarms for 4:30 a.m. and actually made it out of the house shortly after 5:30 a.m., on our way to the South Kaibab Trailhead. We drove over to the Visitor Center parking lot to pick up the orange shuttle, since we weren't sure of the early morning schedule on the blue shuttle that picks up at the campground.

We started down the trail at 6:14 a.m. It was still quite chilly and very windy. I was wearing my Grand Canyon t-shirt, my long sleeve 30 SPF yellow Columbia shirt, and two light packable jackets. Ken was equally bundled up. We expected to be sheltered from the wind once we got below the rim and to warm up a lot once the sun rose higher.

The South Kaibab Trail is steeper than the Bright Angel Trail. The section we hiked, to Cedar Ridge, is 1.5 miles. Altitude at the rim is 7,260 ft. and at Cedar Ridge it is 6,060 ft. The trail is maintained, and mule trains frequent it. One passed us on the way down, and it's easy to see evidence on the trail! It seems remarkable that the mules are able to move as quickly as they do. The trail is full of obstacles and uneven footing as it zigzags its way down the canyon.

All thought of such things fades away as we look around at the canyon vistas. The morning sun brightens the red on the redwall layers, and we can look up at the moon visible in a deep blue sky. When we get to Ooh-Ahh Point, our reaction is the usual one: Wow! Making the turn around the point, the whole canyon opens up, and we can see for miles.

Pretty soon we both stripped off our extra jackets as the morning sun warmed us, but we were never overly hot. We were careful to rest, drink plenty of water, and eat our salty snacks, just as advised.

We were using our hiking sticks to help us balance, but I still managed to slip on the loose gravel and fall (fortunately, only to the trail and not down into the canyon). I got right up--nothing broken or twisted--but later I could tell I'd bruised some ribs. We were actually more exposed to the blustery winds than we expected, especially when the trail followed a ridge line or turned around a point. Ken was knocked to one knee by a sharp blast at one point. I tried to stay low to the ground and shade my eyes from the blowing dust. Fortunately those areas were relatively short.

When we made it to Cedar Ridge, I was actually a bit surprised that we were there already. The trip back up wasn't as difficult as we expected either. Both of us were pleasantly surprised that we actually could have gone farther. We made the round trip in three hours.

Along the way we met or were passed by lots of other hikers of many nationalities, mostly young people. Some were carrying backpacks and clearly planned to spend the night in the canyon. Others traveled light. We are always a bit taken aback by the number of people we see on trails who seem quite unprepared, carrying little or no water and wearing unsuitable shoes.

What a glorious way to end our visit to the Grand Canyon! We got home, tired but buoyed up by the experience. After lunch we both took naps, um, rested our eyes.... I took some ibuprofen to help with the bruising. We gathered our laundry and took it over to the laundromat at Mather. Not the best laundry experience ever, but we have clean clothes and are ready to travel tomorrow.

[photos later--our Internet connection is extremely slow and rickety!] Read more!

Recovery

Both of us woke up with very stiff calves this morning. Ken recalled that muscle soreness is generally worst on the second day after exercise, so since we hiked the Bright Angel Trail on Saturday, we're hoping for recovery soon.

After breakfast we walked over to the Market Plaza to pick up our general delivery mail at the post office. As expected, it was a priority mail box, chock full of paperwork regarding our new Medigap and Medicare Part D Prescription plans. Lots of it seems to be just duplicating the same information, but we couldn't do anything to stop this avalanche of paperwork. After looking it all over, we have some questions, but they will have to wait until we get somewhere with a more reliable cell signal.

We walked over to Mather Campground to check out the laundry facilities. They turned out to be rather nice: clean and with lots of machines, so tomorrow afternoon we'll tackle our laundry before heading down the road on Wednesday.

The other thing we have planned for tomorrow is a hike on the South Kaibab Trail. We talked to a ranger about hiking the trail when the wind is blustery, which it has been for the last couple of days. She said it would be no problem once you get below the rim. The real problem is heat, and she strongly advised an early start, so we're setting our clocks for 4:30 a.m. (ouch!).


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Happy Father's Day

Happy Father’s Day to Ken and Chris and Edward and all you fathers out there! Jeff called Ken this morning to wish him a happy Father’s Day. His big news was that the Air Force had announced that the planned force reduction that had led Jeff to expect that he would be let go this fall—that reduction isn’t happening, so it’s back to plan A, and he’s counting down the time until he has his 20 years in again (about three more years).

We were out of cell phone range much of the day, but tonight Ken was able to retrieve a couple of voicemails. Chris and Anara called to wish him a happy day. Rebecca called to wish him a happy Father’s Day and to talk about our upcoming visit with her and Cathy. We have to get in touch to coordinate plans for that.

This morning we walked over to the Yavapai Geology Museum to look around and to attend a geology talk called “Greatest Stories in Stone.” The museum includes lots of displays on the various rock layers laid bare by the Colorado River as it cut its way through the Colorado Uplift. One of the most interesting displays is a 3D model of the canyon with the river and the various buildings and overlooks of the park indicated. It gives a sense of perspective to see the whole thing laid out to scale, with the river winding and the side canyons cutting in to widen the canyon.

At 11:00 a.m. Ranger Eric called the group together and invited everyone to walk with him along the Trail of Time. At our first stop he started by talking about the water cycle and how rain and snow melt drain down through limestone layers, which have caves that act like pipes to direct the water downward. Then when the water encounters an “aquitard” (an impenetrable layer, like shale), it spreads out and drains towards an ocean—usually. In the case of the Grand Canyon, the plate tectonics caused water here to drain towards the Rocky Mountains instead. Some water makes a complete cycle in only a few days, while other water takes thousands of years.

Like most rangers, Eric did an especially good job of involving the kids in the program. He described the layers of rock deposited on the Colorado Plateau as being like a stack of pancakes and the Pacific Ocean plate pushing under those layers as like a pop tart. He talked about the “Law of Superposition,” which says that newer rock layers are deposited on top of older ones. The basement rock in the Grand Canyon is Vishnu Schist.

We spotted a cute little Juniper Titmouse along the trail, but so far no condor sightings.

We walked over to the General Store to pick up some salty snacks (necessary to prevent hyponatremia when hiking in the canyon). While we were there I found a nifty stainless steel S-biner. I’ve broken a couple of cheap carabiners using them to attach my water bottle to my fanny pack belt. This stainless S-biner looks like it will last a bit longer.

After dinner we drove out along the Desert View Road, stopping at some of the overlooks. We were most impressed by the Lipan Point, which offers the best views of the Colorado River. Our goal was to explore the Watchtower, attend a ranger sunset talk, and view the sunset.

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Happy Birthdays and Bright Angel Trail

Today is Flag Day (for those who keep track of such things). It's also Molly's 19th birthday and my Aunt Iris's 80th. Happy birthday to both the birthday girls! I talked with both of them

We had lots of prep work done last night (packing lunches and snacks, figuring out which water bottles to take, packing our backpacks, and laying out our clothes). Our plan was to get up at 5:30 a.m. and get to the trailhead by 7:00 a.m. The NPS recommends hiking before 10:00 a.m. or after 4:00 p.m., to avoid the mid-day sun and heat.

We took the shuttles to the trailhead, and at 7:23 a.m., we started our hike. Of course we were among many other people of all ages and shapes and sizes and nationalities who were also on this most popular trail. Some were hiking up from Phantom Ranch on the canyon floor where they had spent the night. Some were starting down the trail like us, and many of them passed us along the way.

Our destination was the 1 1/2 mile rest house, for a round trip of three miles. We figured that was enough for our first hike into the canyon, and we were right. It took us just over an hour to go down and just under two hours to hike back up, for a total of three hours. That doesn't sound like much, but at 7000 feet and with some steep sections, it was plenty.


First Tunnel

On the trail

We enjoyed the views--when we could take our eyes off the trail long enough to look around! We were hoping to see a condor, but mostly what we saw was ravens, turkey vultures, swifts, and lots of squirrels. There are signs all around warning not to feed the squirrels: they have fleas, which can carry plague, and they bite! Besides, it's illegal to feed them. Nonetheless, that is just what Ken did today.

While we were stopped at the rest house, he was unwary enough to set his baggie of pretzels down for a moment. Plenty long enough for a squirrel to nip in and grab it. Score one for the squirrel, nothing for Ken. Well, not quite nothing. I shared my pretzels, and he had plenty of other snacks.

1 1/2 mile Resthouse

Snacks and a view

Back up at the rim, we hit the restrooms and then sat for a moment to regroup. We decided to go explore El Tovar, the Hopi House, and Verkamp's Visitor Center. The Hopi House had authentic Native American crafts and an art gallery upstairs. Some of the things were beautiful, but of course we have no room to collect, and besides, the prices were quite high (even a very small Navaho rug was over $1,000).

We enjoyed seeing the different architecture of El Tovar and the Hopi House. Mary Colter designed the Hopi House to look like a pueblo, and it does, except that as Ken commented, the electric lights kind of spoil the illusion.

Hopi House

Tonight we attended a special evening program titled "A Woman By Design" about Mary Colter. It was billed as a "living history" program, and one of our shuttle drivers mentioned that it was a play being put on by some out of town folks. We took the Village shuttle part way and walked toward McKee Amphitheater, where the evening programs are held, only to find a signboard directing us to the Shrine of Ages Auditorium instead.

We had seen the Shrine of Ages shuttle stop, so we walked that way and found a building labelled "Shrine of Ages," but a sign on the door indicated that it was an office building and not generally open to the public, although worship services were held there sometimes. We walked around the building and discovered that the auditorium was in the rear and someone was moving inside.

We walked up to the door and found it locked, so we knocked, and a ranger appeared. He seemed a bit harried and told us that people were getting ready and he would open the doors in a few moments (we had showed up quite early). While we waited outside, we were impressed by the soaring lines of the building and the many tall ponderosa pines, including three incorporated into the courtyard.

The performance turned out to be basically a one-woman play. The woman was Elizabeth Ware. She and her husband, David Edgecombe, had researched and written the performance as a sabbatical project for the University of Alaska Anchorage. He directed and provided a few lines from offstage. Other lines were spoken by recorded speakers, and the whole was accompanied by still photos of people and places important to Colter's life and work.

It was a tour de force. Ware is a great actor with a prodigious memory and energy, and she brought Colter vividly to life onstage. Read more!

Hermit's Rest and Condor Talk

We packed up this morning and headed out on our bikes to the Hermit's Rest shuttle stop.

We took the shuttle to Trailview Overlook. The trail in question is the Bright Angel Trail which leads from the rim to the inner canyon. It's the trail we're planning to take tomorrow, so we were especially interested to see it zig-zagging down the steep canyon sides.

Bright Angel Trail from Trailview Overlook

We walked to Maricopa Point, then Powell Point, then Hopi Point, and finally to Mohave Point before reboarding the shuttle to ride to the Abyss and then to Monument Creek Vista.

View from Hopi Point (?)

We skipped getting off at Pima Point until our return trip.  By this point we were ready for water and restrooms and lunch and a bit of a rest, so we rode on to Hermits Rest. The building there is one designed by renowned Southwest architect Mary Jane Colter. It is rustic and perches on the rim of the canyon as if it had grown there.

Arch at Approach to Hermit's Rest

Fireplace at Hermit's Rest

On the way back we made our final stop at Pima Point and then rode back to the terminus at the Village Route Transfer stop, where we had left our bikes. We decided to bike home, get a brief rest, and shed our heavy packs.

After a bit we caught the shuttle at the campground and took it (with a transfer) to Bright Angel Lodge, another historic structure designed by Mary Colter, who designed other structures for the Harvey Company and the Santa Fe Railroad. The lodge includes a history room, with many artifacts from the early days when affluent east coast travelers came to lodge in luxury and be served by the famed Harvey Girls.

Bright Angel Lodge Registration Desk

We went to the Lookout Studio and the Kolb Brothers Studio before attending a ranger talk on the California Condor held on a rustic patio below the Lookout Studio, overlooking the canyon. Ranger Ty was enthusiastic, and his talk was informative. The only thing that would have made it better would have been the appearance of an actual condor, but all we saw soaring over the canyon were turkey vultures and ravens. Maybe tomorrow....

Ranger Ty


Read more!

GRAND Canyon!

At every turn today, my vocabulary has been reduced to one word: "WOW!" After breakfast this morning we walked over to Mather Point for our first glimpse of the canyon. Spectacular! Mather Point is named for Stephen Mather, first director of the National Park Service. A bronze plaque at the point is inscribed with these words:

He laid the foundation of the National Park Service, defining and establishing the policies under which its areas shall be developed and conserved unimpaired for future generations. There will never come an end to the good that he has done.

We recognized these words from the Ken Burns special, The National Parks, America's Best Idea. We've watched the series twice now, and today we watched the episode that included the creation of Grand Canyon National Park again.

After Mather Point we walked to the Grand Canyon Visitor Center. It has exhibits about the geology and history, a short "theater in the round" video, and a large information desk staffed by knowledgeable rangers. (We were disappointed to find that the introductory video is "Out of Service" because of a hard drive crash and problems with the manufacturer of the digital projection system.) We stopped by the bookstore/gift shop briefly before heading home for lunch.

After lunch we watched Episode 3 of the National Parks, looked over things to do, and made preparations for dinner. At 4:00 p.m. we got on our bikes and rode over to the South Kaibab Trailhead to check things out. It was only a three mile ride, but at 7,000' altitude and us not having been on the bikes for a while, it was definitely some exercise.

On the way back we stopped at several points to take in the scenery and take photos.  We were surprised by the number of people who seemed very casual about getting very close to the rim of the canyon. One of the useful features of the official vista points is that the railings make it safe to get right up to the edge to look down. You could stop and look down every few feet and see things from a new and different perspective. Looking across the canyon to the north rim, we could see smoke from the Galahad Fire.


Back at home we were glad to have dinner nearly ready. We turned on the news. It was very discouraging to hear that ISIS is taking control of cities in Iraq and heading towards Baghdad, after years of a futile and misguided war that cost American lives and Iraqi lives and billions of dollars. The only good news seemed to be the appointment of a new Poet Laureate, Charles Wright. Read more!