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06.11.2003: Grand Canyon
During the night our blue sheets kept banging on the side of Winnie in the wind so we didn`t sleep much. Helen got up to use our makeshift toilet in Winnie. When she emptied the toilet she ended up pouring some of the contents onto the floor! Then spent more than half an hour in the freezing cold trying to clean it up!
At 7-45 am we got up, took off Winnies covers and drove to the Backcountry office to ask about walking down into the Canyon, weather conditions, day walk possibilities etc. We also asked if it was possible to stay overnight down in the Canyon so that we didn`t have to do all the walking in one day. Going down and up again along the Bright Angel trail involves 20 miles steep down and back up and the Canyon is about 5000 feet lower than the rim. That's one hell of a climb! An alternative would have been not to go all the way down to the Colorado River at the bottom but to use the Tonto trail which connects the Bright Angel and South Kaibab trails which are the main routes used to go down into the Canyon. But that would mean 17 miles walking and it wouldn`t be any easier. The office told us not to go down and up in one day because it`s too strenuous but they told us to go to one of the lodges and ask about staying at Phantom Ranch which has cabins and dorms and a restaurant.
We went to Maswik Lodge and put our names down on the waiting list for tomorrow. This meant we had to be at the Bright Angel Lodge before 6-30 am in the morning to see whether we had beds for the night and then walk down. They couldn`t tell us what our chances were as we would be relying on cancellations. So we just had to hope.
After breakfast at the lodge (bacon and eggs for Helen, carrot cake for Kirsten!) we went to the supermarket and stocked up on water, snacks and so on for the walk tomorrow. We would definitely be walking, but were of course hoping to get into Phantom Ranch. Then we drove to the airport to see about a flight over the Canyon and put our names down for the 2pm flight (50 mins cost $75 each).
After a pizza at Pizza Hut we went back to the airport and saw a coach full of Japanese tourists walking into the flight office. We have already got enough videos from around the world with Japanese commentary in the background plus it was so cloudy that we decided to cancel. We drove back to the campground, parked up and then went to the visitor centre using the shuttle service (which is very good) and then onto the South Kaibab trailhead where we would be going down into the Canyon tomorrow and Helens first look at the Canyon!
Its very difficult to describe the Canyon with all its different coloured layers which change colour depending on how much sunlight there is. It really is unique and is rightfully Americas number one attraction. From the rim you cannot really get an idea of how deep it is, and many make the mistake of thinking they can easily get down to the bottom and back costing countless lives in the process.
We went back to Winnie and made sandwiches and packed our bags with enough water, snacks, wet weather gear and a first aid kit. Plus clothes for the next day and our tooth brushes and paste (towels, soap, shampoo are all provided at Phantom Ranch). We went to bed at 9-30 pm hoping we would get beds and really looking forward to on of the top ten walks in the world!
07.11.2003: Grand Canyon
Didn`t sleep much and got up at 5-45 am. We parked Winnie on a car park and were at Bright Angel Lodge for 6-15 am. Unbelievably we got a choice of a cabin or dorm beds! So we paid for a cabin ($78 for two, a dorm is $28 per person) and ordered evening meal and breakfast the following day. We just had time to get a cup of tea and then dashed out to take photos of the sunrise before getting onto the express shuttle (a very slow bus!!) to the South Kaibab trailhead.
At 7-45 am we set off down the switchbacks on the steep trail down. We were wearing thermals, scarves and gloves as it was very cold on the top and it took a long time to warm up. We met two sister in laws (Cathy and Elly) on the way down who told us they had booked Phantom Ranch 2 years ago!!! They couldn`t get a cabin so were in a dorm. They had asked again a few days ago to see if they could get a cabin but couldn`t!! We just didn`t have the heart to tell them that we hadn`t booked, asked yesterday and got a cabin straight away!
The views from the trail across the Canyon were superb. You only get a sense of the depth when you`re walking down into the Canyon itself. As we got further down, it warmed up and the sun came out. This meant we had to get our thermals off, just as some men walked by!!
It really was a super walk down although it was steep in parts. There was one place to fill up with water on the way and as we got further down we got super views of the Colorado River and the two bridges that go across it. It took us 5 hours to get down (average 4-6 hours) and a total of 7.3 miles. (The way back up is 10.3 miles and average 6-9 hours). We weren`t in a hurry and had loads of stops on the way, enjoying the walk. A few people ran past us trying to go down and up in one day. Whilst we were taking photos from the two bridges a couple passed us (now 1-30pm) and were hoping to get back up before dark i.e. in 4 hours! They hardly had any water with them and were only wearing T-shirts and shorts. We didn`t think they had a torch with them and knew they couldn`t possibly make it in 4 hours!
Then we walked along to Phantom Ranch and found that one of the paths was blocked off with Police Line tape "Do not enter"! We asked two men who told us that a ranger had just shot a rabied fox who had attacked someone yesterday! We didn`t believe them, but later found out that it was true and the ranger, a woman, had got attacked herself and it had taken 12 bullets to kill the fox. It was still trying to attack her after 6 bullets!!
This had all happened whilst we were taking photos of the bridges so we`d just missed everything. Unfortunately one woman had to stay in the shower block for ages until she was allowed out!
We checked in and got one of the original cabins built in 1922! There were 4 bunk beds with a sink and toilet and we had it to ourselves! We immediately put ourselves down on the waiting list for another night! Then we showered and went for a ranger talk at 4pm about lizards. I didn`t think a 50 minute talk on that subject could be so interesting. But the ranger was very funny, in fact Helen thought she was a little boy, a junior ranger doing some kind of pre-talk before the "proper" ranger started talking! She was only about 4ft 5 tall!
After the talk we were so hungry we were counting down the minutes to 6-30pm when we went into the canteen for stew. It was really yummy and there was plenty of it. Helen thought the corn bread was cake! A very odd taste. We also got a massive bowl of salad, drinks and then got served with huge pieces of chocolate cake. Total price $22 (about 15 pounds). Can`t argue with that.
Afterwards we went to another ranger talk on the history of the paths, done by the same ranger and also very good. Then we bought some lemonade from the canteen and went to bed in our cabin, which had a heater that worked!, at about 10-30pm. What a great day!
08.11.2003: Grand Canyon
At 6-45 am Helen went to check if we had got a bed for a second night and was told that we could have dorm beds. On the way back to our cabin she saw deer grazing right in front of the cabin door! After a quick photo we packed our stuff up and went for breakfast, leaving our bags behind the counter. There was scrambled eggs, very crispy bacon, pancakes, maple syrup, fruit, orange juice and tea.
We filled up our water bottles for a days walk and gave tips on New Zealand to some people who asked us. They`d heard that we had travelled a lot! At 8am we left and walked up the North Kaibab Trail towards the North rim of Grand Canyon. Its 14 miles to the North rim but we were planning on doing 6.5 miles up to Ribbon Falls.
It was another super walk up the valley with the sheer rocks either side of us and following Bright Angel Creek and crossing it a total of 5 times over bridges along the way. There was even a marshy area in the middle where we had to go through trees and reeds. It was warm and sunny and perfect weather for a walk. The trail to Ribbon Falls went off to the left but there was a sign saying that if the creek was too high to cross we should use the next bridge. So we decided to go up to the bridge and on the way saw people who had taken their boots off and were wading through the creek which looked like it had quite a strong current and was very slippery. Although the path to the fifth bridge was steep we were glad we`d taken it.
We got to Ribbon Falls and had lunch there. Then we walked up behind the falls to take photos. There were quite a few other people there who were all either staying at Phantom Ranch or camping. We stayed for an hour and then walked back and were really feeling our legs on the way back down. We call it the Kaibab shuffle when you go downhill very slowly and awkwardly as your muscles are hurting from the Kaibab trail!
When we got back we went to pay for our dorm beds and asked if there was a cabin free. There was! So we got a cabin with 10 beds in it, just for the two of us! After a shower, we went to another Ranger talk on condors. By 1982 there were only 22 Californian Condors left and they were virtually extinct. So after much debate the US wildlife service decided that the only way to save them was to capture them all and breed them in captivity. In the mid 1990s they started releasing them back into the wild although they were still taking the eggs and hatching them in captivity. 5 days before we got there, one bird who actually hatched in the wild had flown for the first time. So this was big news and hopefully the Californian Condors will be saved.
After the talk, we picked up some bagels with cream cheese and went back over the Colorado and climbed up the South Kaibab trail for about 45 minutes as we`d been told that the moon would eclipse at 6-09pm. All we saw were a few bats and some torch light across the other side of the river. We hope it wasn`t an SOS they were signalling because all we did was flash back to say hello! Some eclipse! There wasn`t even a moon! So we walked back down, still painfully, to Phantom Ranch and went to the Ranger talk at 7-30pm on mountain lions. Then we packed our stuff up for the big walk back up tomorrow - 10.3 miles and 5000 ft height gain! We knew it was going to be a long hard day and were a bit worried that we wouldn`t make it!
09.11.2003: Grand Canyon
Got up at 5-10 am and went to breakfast in the dark. The bacon was so crispy it flew off the plate when you tried to cut it!! At 6-15am we set off in the dark with torches, down to the Colorado and across the bridge. It was very peaceful and quite eerie but we were rewarded with a great sunrise as we walked alongside the river. After 2 miles we started on the long walk upwards - just up, up and more up!
We had a break after 2 hours and a man with a GPS passed us and told us we`d already done 3.8 miles and nearly 1000ft! So we decided to have a longer break! Cathy and Elly, the sister in laws caught up with us and we found out that they actually had walkie talkies with them as Elly walks a lot quicker, so they could keep in touch with each other!
The sun was only out in the early hours and after that it was hidden behind the clouds. We were quite grateful as it meant it was perfect weather to walk uphill. And we just kept going uphill!! We saw more deer at Indian Gardens, a kind of oasis at the halfway point where we had lunch and filled up with water. We stayed for an hour and chatted to 3 ladies who had camped down at the bottom for 2 nights.
We set off again at noon and saw deer, a woodpecker, Stellers jays ( a bird with a lovely blue colouring), and squirrels on the way. Other people seemed to remember us from Phantom Ranch although we couldn`t remember them! One guy even said "Guten Tag" to us! We seem to be famous!
As we neared the top we saw petroglyphs on the wall that the Ranger had told us to look out for. We also saw lots of Japanese wearing just T shirts and shorts, not carrying any water, and thinking they could down to the bottom and back without any problem! They were advised by a ranger who asked them how far they were intending to walk.
It took us a total of 9 hours including all the stops and the time for photos. We knew we had had a tough walk but we were no where as exhausted as we thought we would be. In fact, the walk had seemed quite easy as we had taken our time. It was 3pm by the time we got to the top and we were still in shorts even though it was extremely cold up there. So we went to a café for a snack and to put on some warmer clothes. We also asked around about the prices for a hotel room but they were all too expensive. So we went back to a very cold Winnie, still loyally parked on the car park and drove top the campground. After a shower, we had to use our gas lamp as we had no power at all. Poor old Winnie had been in the car park and we hadn`t driven far enough for him to recharge his battery!
Later, we took the shuttle down to Maswik Lodge and went to the self-serve café where we met the three ladies again that we´d walked most of the way up with. Helen decided she would have soup but needed a roll and butter to go with it. She managed to find a roll but then had to go the other side of the cashier to look for butter whilst Kirsten waited for her. It took ages for her to come back, because as she was looking for butter, she heard a thud right next to her. When she turned, she saw that a woman had fallen off her chair right behind her. Helen went to the rescue and thought she had had a heart attack as it seemed to take ages to get a response and was almost about to start mouth to mouth when fortunately the woman came round! The staff were very good and had immediately called a doctor. Maybe they are used to tourists over-exerting themselves in the canyon! Anyway, once the staff had managed to find the womans husband, Helen went back to Kirsten who was wondering what on earth had happened!
We went and sat next to our friends and Helen never did get her butter! You just can`t leave her on her own without her getting into some kind of trouble!
10.11.2003: Grand Canyon
It rained most of the night and kept us awake. Plus it was really cold (-1 degree and no heating!) We drove to the deli for breakfast and after phoning home went to get propane gas. The man was very nice and he kindly took a look at our heater for us. Unfortunately, all he could say was that it wasn`t firing up and we`d need to take it to a specialist to fix it. Of course, there didn`t happen to be one at the Grand Canyon!
Then we went to the Imax theatre and watched the film on the Grand Canyon - super! Then we drove back to the laundry to do our washing and found that our washing came out dirtier than when it went in - our clothes had smears on them! But at least Kirsten could plug the computer in whilst we were there, to download photos and to recharge some batteries.
After parking up at the campground and covering Winnie for the night with our ground sheets, we took the shuttle and went to see the sunset - well worth it. After eating at the Bright Angel restaurant, we walked down to the trailhead where we had come up the day before to see if there was anyone coming up in the dark. There was!! Four campers had got so wet overnight at the campground by Phantom Ranch, that they had decided to come back up after one night instead of staying for a planned second night. The problem was that by the time they had made the decision it was already too late to start walking back up. But they were so wet that it wasn`t fun anymore. So they`d set off at 11am and had to walk all the way with large, wet and heavy backpacks. We chatted to the two daughters as they waited for their parents who finally got back at 7-40pm! Exhausted.
11.11.2003: Grand Canyon
We got up and decided to have breakfast in Winnie for a change! Then we got the shuttle and walked about 2 miles along the Rim Trail, and then got the shuttle to the end of the trail. On the way back we managed to get on the shuttle with a screaming kid in it. He kept screaming "I want, I want" but never actually said what he wanted! At the next stop we got off and got into the trailer that the shuttle pulls along behind it and got a very bumpy ride back! Normally people transfer from the trailer to the shuttle, not the other way round!
After lunch we went to the History Room and the Kolb Studio to see an exhibition of photos of various National Parks in America.
Then we took the shuttle up to the Observation Point to watch another great sunset. We walked to the supermarket in the dark, to pick up supplies as we were leaving the next day and then walked back to Winnie. Whilst Helen was getting slaughtered at cards, our gas lamp ran out and it took us a while to figure out how to change the gas bottle - in the dark, with torches of course! But we finally managed it! We´re learning, bit by bit!
12.11.2003: Grand Canyon - Lake Powell
On our way out of the Grand Canyon, we had planned on going to all viewpoints on the way. But thick fog put a stop to that! It was also raining and we couldn`t see more than 30 feet in front of us. We saw a very wet man with a very large backpack, hitchhiking, and took pity on him. So we picked him up and put plastic sheets on our seats so he could sit down. Then we picked up his brother a bit further on down the road and took them to their parked car, which saved them about a 4 mile walk in the pouring rain. They had been camping down in the Canyon and were doing the Grand View trail. We realised how lucky we had been with the weather when we had done our trip into the Canyon.
Grand Canyon Video.
By the time we got to Desert View (rather Desert No View) it was already noon. But we decided to stop anyway as we wanted to see the watch tower that had been designed by Mary J. Coulter in 1935 when it was very unusual for women to have careers!
We managed to find the car park for motor homes but couldn`t see a thing. There were no signs to say which way we should go. Probably because in normal weather its quite obvious! We were really lucky that we managed to walk in the right direction but we were still worried that we would never be able to find Winnie again! We actually did find the watch tower and then went for lunch at a café. Somehow we managed to find Winnie again, all alone in the car park!
Then we drove to Page which is near the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell. It was still raining so we decided to go to a campground where there was a hook up for the night. We made fish and parsley sauce for evening meal and then started writing the website diary on the computer. We made the mistake of not covering Winnie with the blue sheet and promptly had a problem with condensation inside and the mattress was getting wet. So we had to dash out when it wasn`t raining so hard and put the covers on!
