18.-24.09.2006: Grand Canyon NP - Fredonia - Coral Pink Sand Dunes SP - Zion NP - Kolob Canyons We got up at 5am and drove to the North Kaibab Trailhead to walk down into the Canyon. When we were at the South Rim 3 years ago we walked the South Kaibab trail down into the canyon and then stayed at Phantom Ranch for 2 nights. So this time we wanted to walk down the other end of the trail. We packed our bags and made sandwiches and set of at 6-10am just after sunrise. It took us 11 hours to walk 14 miles down to Cottonwood campground and back up - an elevation difference of 4,170 ft (1,251m). The first (and last) part of the walk is steep switchbacks. We saw the park helicopter at three different spots and even got a photo of Helen with the crew at Cottonwood campground. The photo is actually taken at the spot where the helipad used to be before the bad storm last week caused a landslide that wiped it out!! We managed to get down to the campground by 10am (just less than 4 hours to do 7 miles). That's where we had a 30 minute "lunch break" even though it was a bit early! We met a group of people who are doing the "Rim to Rim" walk which is 26 miles and very strenuous. It took them one hour longer to get to the campground and they didn't have any flashlights with them. They had obviously miscalculated how long and strenuous the walk is. We took our time getting down to the campground with frequent stops and still managed to do it in one hour less. They still had 19 miles to go and were never going to make it in daylight and probably wouldn't get up to the other side before midnight! It took us 6.5 hours to get back up including various stops with a longer one at Roaring Springs. Thats where we met the mules which really stink!! Unfortunately they were also going up to the North Rim and the mules seemed to have set places for their "toilet stops"!! We could smell them a long time before we could see them!!! We also met a woman whose one boot fell apart on the walk!! She taped it up with strip plaster to hold it together. She made the mistake of packing her old boots instead of the new ones!! We also met Fabian from Germany who had been studying in America and now had 3 weeks to do some sight seeing. So he was whizzing around the States to see as much as possible! Once we got back we drove to the campground and spent $3 on showers that were cold!! The worst possible thing when you know you are going to get sore muscles! On Tuesday we drove back to Kanab for supplies etc. It's a good job we hadn't planned on doing any walking today as we were finding it difficult to move! (The famous Kaibab shuffle!!) We found out that Buckskin Gulch is waist high in water after the first three miles so we decided not to bother trying to get permits for that and the Wave. On Wednesday we drove to a Passport America campground in Fredonia, Arizona where we stayed for 3 nights. We used the launderette and got our post forwarded to us. We also worked on the computer as we are way behind with the website as usual. We also finished watching the rest of "Monster-in-law" - we'd watched the first part a week ago! We also watched "Conspiracy" a film about the Wannsee Conference where the Germans decided how to kill 6 million Jews in the Second World War - unbelievable but unfortunately true. We did a lot of baking to fill up our freezer and spent a lot of time writing on the computer but still only managed to write a few weeks! On Saturday we got our post and spent a few hours going through it all. Most of it was rubbish anyway and got thown into the bin! In the afternoon we drove to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. Kirsten went to take photos and was given a ride on one of the dune buggies. Afterwards we drove out of the park and parked up on the side of the road. On Sunday we got up early and drove into Zion National Park and stopped several times so that Kirsten could take photos - we didn't get to do that last time we were here. When we got to the tunnel we actually got measured! There are height and width restrictions and if your vehicle is above them you need an escort. The ranger didn't believe us when we told him that we didn't need an escort. So he measured us and found out we were right!! We made the mistake of driving up to Kolob reservoir - a 2 hour, 48 mile round trip up to a reservoir that wasn't worth it. Then we tried to find Snow Canyon State Park. There were no signs whatsoever. We eventually found it but weren't impressed enough to pay the $5 entrance fee. So that was another waste of time and petrol!! Finally we did something right and drove up to the Kolob Canyons part of Zion National Park which is the North west corner of the park. Then we did the 5 mile Taylor Creek trail - not easy due to so many ups and downs - that lead to a double arch alcove. It was quite pretty due to vertical water marks that had turned green. We drove further along the short scenic drive to see the sunset before driving back out of the park to find a place to stop for the night.