GRAND CANYON

Once again I find myself with time to update the blog while I’m waiting on laundry to dry.  This time though it is because the Laundromat is the only place with outlets so that I can use the computer.

An update on our car troubles:  Praise God that the reason the RV wasn’t running right was because of a fuel filter that was clogged.  We took the RV to a shop and had the guys there check it out to be sure nothing else was wrong.  They changed the filter, tested the fuel pump and a few other things and we were on our way to the Grand Canyon.

We have been at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon since Monday  and today (Friday) it is raining with a bit of thunder and lightning as well… a perfect opportunity to do laundry J. 

The Grand Canyon is so beautiful.  There are really no words to describe it.  It just makes me think of how amazing our God is to have created something so enormous, beautiful, awesome, and amazing.   

 The canyon also has steep cliffs and many edges that you can overlook… it has a tendency to make a mom nervous!  And, I’m not the only mother I heard saying, “Please be careful” and “that’s too close!”  I have now heard these words in several different accents and languagesJ.

While we have been here we have hiked along the rim in several locations.  One of the hikes we started out too late (we were waiting to catch the sunset) and finished our hike in the dark.  Fortunately, the trail was paved and was fairly easy to maneuver with only one head lamp.  Erik has been able to ride his bike along the rim… today he went on a 50 mile loop. 

Since the Grand Canyon is such a touristy place there is a large grocery store and many souvenir shops.  There are shuttle busses that take you all over the canyon (which is great since we don’t really want to drive the RV all over once we get our camp set up).  The shuttle busses also take you to a nearby town where the desperate can get Wendy’s and McDonald’s!  So, we’re really roughing it!

Our most exciting hike was on Wednesday evening when we hiked 5 miles down into the Canyon  (the green patch in the middle of the picture above is where we hiked to).  We went down 2,000 feet in elevation.  We got permits so that we could camp at one of the back country camp grounds.  Since it was just one night of camping we decided to go super light.  It would be too hot for sleeping bags so we packed a sheet for each of us, two fleece blankets and sweat pants for sleeping if we were cold (which we weren’t).  We also packed the food we would need as well as some water but since there were three places to get water on the way down we didn’t need to be loaded down with lots of water.  To save space and weight we also decided to forgo a tent and sleep under the stars.  Everyone’s packs were so empty that we actually were able to fit in our regular pillows (a necessity if you will be sleeping on the ground in my opinion!).

Every mile and a half there was water and the nicest outhouse bathrooms I have ever seen. 

  There were also rest houses (little huts) for us to take breaks in with emergency telephones.  Our hike started out really nice but there were storm clouds in the distance and sure enough 3 miles down we were met with rain.  The rain felt nice because we were so hot but we also hung out in one of the rest houses while the worst of the storm passed.  The hike down was so amazing.  We saw squirrels, deer and were disappointed to have missed a big horned ram that another hiker showed us a picture of on his camera.  The trail was super dusty but was amazing as we hiked down through the different layers of rock/dust/dirt.  The colors ranged from almost white to tan to red and back again.  And, our legs, shoes and socks showed it!

After three hours of hiking we made it to a back country campground called Indian Garden Campground.  Again, a really nice campground with amazing outhouses, running water and a ranger station stocked with card games for the campers.  Each campsite had a picnic table, two metal boxes for food (so critters don’t get into your packs) and a roof over each table. 

We arrived at the campground at 7:30 and Erik cooked up one of our favorite meals… spicy rice and beans with sausage mixed in.  After cleaning up dinner, cleaning our dusty selves up and playing a quick game of Yahtzee we started to get ready for bed.  Quiet hours at the campsite were 8:00pm to 6:00 am and by 9:00 we were exhausted and ready for bed. 

Just as I was about to lay down on my sleeping pad next to Erik my headlamp caught two glowing eyes in the dark.  And then, a mouse ran across the campsite.  And then, another one did too.  I can handle most things… snakes and spiders don’t bother me in the least.  But, rodents give me the creeps.  I could barely even watch the movie “Ratatouille”.  So, I just stood there not sure what to do but seriously doubting that I could lay down on the ground and sleep.  At this point Sadie says, “I call the picnic table” and runs over to the table.  I decided to join her and the two of us, with our heads at opposite ends of the table, holding on to each other’s ankles so we didn’t fall off, made the 2 ½ foot wide picnic table our bed for the night.  

Our "bed"

All night long we could hear rustling and chomping in the bushes.  Throughout the night I would fall asleep for about an hour (because picnic tables aren’t that comfy and Sadie moves A LOT) and then lay awake for 45 minutes before drifting off again.  At some time around 11:00 Curtis had yet to go to sleep and moved to a picnic table at the campsite next to ours because he kept hearing small animal noises in the bushes.  That left just Erik sleeping on the ground.  Needless to say, it was a long night for all. 

Looking up from our camp ground.  Yikes!  That's a long ways to hike!

The sun came up and we were all awake by 4:45 am, as were most of the campers in the campground.  Everyone wanted to get an early start heading up the canyon before the temp got too hot.  Amazingly, our five mile hike up was only ½ hour longer than the hike down.  Curtis beat us to the top by about 45 minutes though.

This was our rest stop on the way up while we watched a group of people riding mules down.  No Fair!

After we got back to the RV, we took showers ($2 per shower was extremely worth it!), Erik made us a breakfast of bacon and eggs (because Cliff bars and granola bars and trail mix while hiking might give us the calories we need but just aren’t all that tasty).  Then we all took naps.  Sadie’s lasted 4 hours!  The rest of the day was pretty uneventful as we rested and relaxed.

A very wiped out Sadie

The rest of the week we are taking pretty easy.  Lots of reading and relaxing.  Tomorrow we will pull out and drive to Bryce Canyon.  We’ve been to Zion Canyon about five years ago and loved it and are anticipating the same for Bryce.