Tuesday Jun 18
Leaving Lake Mead
sadly behind. Before we left we repeated our lovely breakfast and swim at the
beach. Packed, hitched and headed to Williams, Arizona for 2 nights. Drive
back along the highway was rather tedious, although it was more a case of having
seen a great deal of desert!!! Closer in to Williams we were once again on new
roads and our interest kicked in. Traveled along the longest remaining section of the old
Route 66. Got set up and ready by 3.30 pm. Wandered into town and ended up at
Pancho Mexican, run by and Irishman! Good musician entertaining the patrons on
the patio until 7pm until the old west gunfight started on the road right next to us.
Great night. Checked out some new hiking shoes for Janice on the way back to
camp and checked out a few local stores.
Wednesday June 19
Up a little later but another hot sunny day. At 103 F went
back into town in the afternoon to buy the new hiking boots for Janice and walk
up and down the main street. Quiet evening and started to sort out packing for
tomorrow.
Thursday June 20
Photos of our time in the Grand Canyon are added at the end of our trip .... and are only a small portion of the many we took... some labelled.. most not! ENJOY!!
Packed
and broke camp by 10.30 and set off for the Grand Canyon, just an hour and a
half away.
We were
both a little excited about this portion of our trip as it something we have
wanted to do for many many years and Derek had promised Janice he would make
sure we go to see it one day together and hopefully in our own RV… and here we
are… dreams coming true again. We got to the Grand Canyon National park and
found our way to Grand Canyon Trailer village and set up camp. Derek put the
bikes together and we were both anxious to cycle to the rim to see the Grand
Canyon rim for the first time, so we found the bike-path to the visitors
centre. Locked the bikes and walked
excitedly for the 8 minutes from the centre to the rim. Our first glimpse of
the canyon was at Mather Point. In a word…breathtaking. The expanse, the
colours, the depth… simply awesome. We have to admit that we both became a
little overwhelmed with the emotion of the moment when we first caught sight of this
phenomenal landmark. Yes we had expectations, but they were far exceeded. Even
though we had seen the canyon two years ago from 36,000 ft on a flight to Palm
Springs and Derek had seen it from a small plane 25 years ago, it still blew us
away but totally. Also the thought that Eileen and Ken had been here in this
very spot in the late eighties.
We saw
a film of the Canyon in the visitors centre then returned to Condo to celebrate
our special day with a glass of champagne while we planned our next days. Had
an early night as we planned to go on the morning hike to Cedar Ridge at 7am.
Friday
June 21
Up at
5.30. yup we did it. Set off on our bikes for the half hour ride to the trail
head and arrived at 6.45. Met with a small group and, led by a Park Ranger, began
the morning hike. Started off down the switchback section descending very
quickly down what is known as the chimney, then it became a little less steep
and on to the first marker at Ooh Ahh Point. (named for a reason) Carrying on
down, we then went out along a small ridge before turning past another point
and finally out on to Cedar Ridge. The descent was 1100 ft and took us just over
an hour. Big photo time down in the canyon before beginning the climb back,
that took us almost two hours! Back on the bikes for the trek to the condo. All
in all, quite the physical feat, 5 km hike and 10k biking, 2 quarts of water
each and 2,200 feet of up and downs. Janice was proud to overcome her fear of
hiking on a narrow rocky path with a sheer drop at the side (both sides at one
point) By 11.00 temperature was up to 103 and the last part of the hike was
mainly in the sun. That’s why they start at 7.00 am!!! Saw a couple of mule
trains on the way back. Most of the supplies to Phantom ranch on the bottom of
the canyon are taken down by mules.
Well we
spent early afternoon recovering then took the bike trail the other direction
into Canyon Village. En route we passed right by a herd of elk, we counted 18,
again the camera got a work out. Found a hotspot just outside the library and
sent the "sorry we don’t have phone or email contact" info to friends.
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| Janice proudly found this fossilized sea sponge in the rock!! Ranger Impressed!! |
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| Our intrepid guide.. 6 ft... no fear!!! See the trail??!! |
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| Loving this place |
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| Breathtaking views... but scary drops from pathway |
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| Water Break! |
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| Cedar Ridge ... such a great hike down... about 8:00am |
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| Happy!! |
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| Made it a third of the way back |
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| Can see our trail (part of it) |
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| Utah Agave.. dies after it finally blooms (years) |
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| Mule train down into the Canyon |
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| Janice's very own cowboy!!! |
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| On a bike!!! |
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| Howdy cowboy! |
Saturday
June 22
A more
leisurely morning but we were off to the east rim by 9.00 am. This was a 25
mile drive stopping at 5 or 6 lookouts along the way. Also spotted a coyote/small wolf ? on the
road. Lipan Point was absolutely spectacular. We had seen a lot of canyon by
this time but the sheer expanse brought back all the emotion. The end of the
drive was at Dessert View Point where the cameras came out again. Climbed up
the watchtower and bought the obligatory T shirt for Derek. Back to the Condo
for a late lunch then off on the bikes right into the Village to the shuttle
bus transfer and bussed out to the western edge of the park to Hermits Point. We
hiked back for 2km. then picked up the bus for a few km then hiked at the very
edge of the rim from Mohave Point to Powell Point, (another 2 km) We stopped and watched the sunset for a while, . then bused
back into the village and got on the bikes for the ride home. Well wouldn’t ya
know it the elk were there again this time on both sides of the road and
walking right down the bikeway! Janice was in Elk heaven!!!
Sunday June 23rd
One last drive up to the visitors centre to buy a small
souvenir and walk to the rim at Mather Point for a last goodbye to the Grand
Canyon. We saw the morning
sun shining westward down the canyon. Still as awestruck as the first time we
saw it. We got on the road just after 10 for the 4.5 hour drive to Page. It was
only supposed to be a 3 hour drive but highway 89 has been closed as a result
of a rock slide. The route took us through the heart of Navaho Indian lands.
Some of the “villages” were nothing more than 15 or 20 old battered RV and
trailer units often with corrugated iron lean-to’s. We drove past an area
signposted for miles as a special event area. Turns out we by-passed
seeing Nik Walenda walking across the canyon on a tightrope…who knew…..!!!! especially as we had no phone or internet!
