Grand Canyon Trip - May 2019

[erickpl]

Cliffs notes: Great time, Lots of weather variety. Pic link at bottom.

Well, we are back from our second Grand Canyon Trip! To say it was a great time is an understatement. Things didn’t necessarily go according to plan, but that’s all part of it! It makes for an adventure.

We left in the rain from Huntsville, AL and got to Oklahoma for the first night’s stop in Sallisaw. KOA’s are a great way to go if you have a trailer/RV and want to stop for the night! The next day’s drive to Santa Rosa, NM was uneventful, going down I-40 thru OKC, Amarillo, Tucumcari, then Santa Rosa. We’ve stayed here before and it was a nice rest, and we got to watch the destruction of King’s Landing on Game of Thrones using our Roku and the place’s WiFi. Day 3 had us at the Grand Canyon! We didn’t stop at the corner in Winslow and we got to the canyon mid afternoon local time. Set up the trailer, then pulled out the bikes to ride up to the South Rim visitor center and see how the canyon was doing.

LOTS of people. LOTS of languages. All within about 10 minutes of getting there. And yes, we saw people taking selfies in places they probably shouldn’t, but those things work themselves out.

The next day, we pulled the bikes out again and rode around the south rim campus area, and then out to Hermit’s Rest. The road is awesome because only bicycles, tour buses, and handicapped-licensed vehicles can go down this road. We stopped at various overlooks and points, took lots of photos (of course), and continued on, enjoying the warm sun on a cool day. Ideal for riding and spending time with Debbie.  Arrived at Hermit’s Rest, had lunch there, then rode back (it’s about 12 miles each way). At one stop, we had the bikes standing at the curb while we looked in the canyon. As we approached our bikes, we saw a couple looking at them and I was wondering if they were going to do something with or to them. We approached and they asked if they could take pictures with our bikes. We said sure, so the shorter gal paired up with Debbie’s bike and the taller guy paired with mine. We snapped their photo with their camera and they walked away, talking excitedly. I have no idea what they were saying, but it makes me laugh when I think about them wanting pics with our bikes. 

The next day we took the shuttle over to the North Rim. A nice 4 hour ride with a few stops and lots of desert landscape, along with some great conversation with the other 2 guys taking the shuttle with us (Randy and Anthony), and we were at the North Rim, about 20 degrees cooler, and a fair bit windier. Glad we brought cooler weather gear! We got checked in to the cabin, and proceeded to relax. A few drinks sitting on the veranda at the North Rim Lodge, snapping pics of the canyon, and waiting for dinner reservations. *BRAKE SQUEAL* Yeah, about that… seems the lodge had a kitchen fire or something and no reservations tonight. Cold cuts for dinner. They then tried to start a generator, and IT caught on fire. Yep, 2 fires in a day. So no heat, no hot water, no power until about 10:30 that night. Fortunately, our cabin had a gas fireplace that kept the cabin warm enough. We opted to heat up one of our backpack meals instead of cold cuts.

The next day was nice, but we were both feeling a bit off about the events of the previous day. So after breakfast at the lodge, Debbie suggested we get our packs and go to the North Kaibab trailhead and hike down a bit just to get warmed up and loose from the ride the previous day. It was brilliant. We got to see part of the path we took back in 2017, but couldn’t see due to the time of day (1:00am). We hiked through a bit of snow before the trailhead too!!! I’m just happy for no ice or snow on the trail itself! We hiked down to the second switchback (about 400’ descent total) and came back up, feeling a LOT better about things and eager to do the big hike the next day! We stopped at the general store about ½ mile from the lodge that is meant for the campers (tent, RV, etc), and ran into Randy and Anthony again. We had a soda and chatted with them for a while, and they were hoping to get a room at the lodge since it was so cold and the wind was a constant 20+ mph, and worse at night – they were camped on a point along the rim and the sleep was pretty hard to come by with those winds (they did end up finding a room we later found out).

Got back to the cabin, cleaned up, and hung out at the Rough Rider Saloon/Coffeeshop and played cards while enjoying people watching and having a drink. BTW, Deb is REALLY good at Gin. Kicked my butt. But she taught me some about strategy for the game and I was later on able to hold my own. Dinner was tasty (I had a yummy burger – no surprise), and Deb had a pasta dish with chicken. But we ordered a bacon wrapped fig dish that had basalmic glaze over them – and they were DELICIOUS!!!!

Okay, HIKING DAY!!!! We got up, had a great breakfast at the lodge again, packed up the cabin, got our spare back to the shuttle crew to take back to the South Rim to hold for us at Bright Angel Lodge. This REALLY saved us a LOT of weight in our packs. It was stuff we didn’t need on the trail but wanted up at the North Rim. Thank you TransCanyon for providing such convenient services for canyon hikers and visitors!!!

We retraced our hike of the previous day and stopped at the backcountry office to check water status of points along our route. We topped off our water bladders and bottles and then weighed our backpacks. Deb’s was 17 and mine was 20. Far lighter than our packs back in 2017, especially mine!
We descended and immediately noticed a LOT more traffic on foot than 2017, but it was 11:00a version 11:00p!  There were quite a few slides in the canyon this off-season and we counted about 6 crews doing work. We thanked them profusely for the work they were doing to keep the trails passable and safe for hikers. We saw a helicopter bringing in supplies for a work crew working on the water pipes that transmit water to both rims, Phantom Ranch, and the rest stops along the way. Truly grueling work!!!!! The conservation corps does an incredible job on these trails and the level of pure strength and endurance to do it is something I cannot ever underappreciate!
We continued to encounter a lot of uphill hikers, so our progress slowed a bit. Uphill hikers have the right of way, so we obliged and got out of the way as best we could to allow them to pass. It’s not just a courtesy. It’s a safety thing. Nearly all of them said thank you and appreciated us moving, but we didn’t know why – we’d soon learn why…

We got to Roaring Springs and then Manzanitas rest stop and refilled our bottles, sat, had a snack and chatted with other hikers. A few were going to Cottonwood, but several were hiking up. We knew from experience they’d be hiking at night going up…

We continued on to the ‘flatter’ section of our hike along the north trail corridor and continued south towards Phantom Ranch and our next ‘stop’. We found Randy and Anthony again at Cottonwood Campground and chatted for a bit. They were having a blast! We trekked onward to Phantom Ranch. We saw a few hikers, but we DID come across a 9 year old rattlesnake (estimate only by Debbie counting rattles) and left him alone after hikers and a runner ahead of us stopped to let Mr. Slytherin pass. My knees and feet were starting to hurt, but not enough to worry about at this point. We got to Phantom Ranch after hiking through the Box (which is quite pleasant when the high temp is in the 70’s!). We stopped about 7:15p and started making our dinner at a picnic table. But my knees, feet, and legs were really hurting from all the downhill. Deb was doing well, but she could see I was not a happy camper. She suggested we check in the cantina to see if any bunks were available – an entire cabin cancelled and we had a 10 bed cabin to ourselves after shelling out the credit card. Knowing we wouldn’t be hiking at night while really sore and tired really relieved me and Debbie noticed a marked improvement in my mood. It had me nervous hiking at night while being so tired – I didn’t want something bad or stupid to happen.
We finished our dinner, cleaned up a bit in the cabin, and went back to the cantina to have a few Tecate beers and socialize a bit. Talked with a few runners that had passed us on the way up North Kaibab as we were hiking down and found out they’re triathletes and ultra runners. We invited them to Mountain Mist 50k next year!  We finally retired and slept quite well, despite the black widow we saw at the door when we came back from the beers.

Mileage for day 1: Garmin showed 20+ miles, but I think it was closer to 16, including our hike from the lodge (2 miles).
We missed the full moon hiking. Something to put on our list again…

The morning dawned and we set out just before 6:00a to a crystal clear sky and very comfortable temperatures. Hiking across the Colorado River on the Silver Bridge and knew we’d have shade for about the first half of the hike up Bright Angel. We got through Devil’s Corkscrew for the most part in the shade, but Deb took a tumble and hit her left knee – the one she had surgery on a year or so ago. After a few minutes, we continued on and got to a little oasis along the trail. Tallish trees, shade, a cool stream, and places to sit comfortably. We snacked a bit. At this point we realized we hiked hard the day before and didn’t take as many breaks as we probably should have. We allowed for more frequent breaks since we were headed up and in more direct sunlight. The last thing we wanted was to become dehydrated or overheated, especially given Debbie’s sensitivity to heat. But the temps were still quite mild and a BIG contrast to the temps we had in 2017, which were considerably hotter. During this break, Debbie checked her knee and noticed a good gash. It didn’t bleed through her pants, so we didn’t really notice it. But we had a couple of first aid kits and she bandaged herself up to keep it covered.

Our next stop was Indian Garden campground, about 4.5 miles from the top of the South Rim. CROWDED! But temps were in the low/mid 60’s and a slight breeze made it nice. Adjusted the socks a bit, noticed a few hot spots on my feet that would later become blisters, and put some moleskin on my heel. Chatted with a couple from Florida hiking up and then continued on our way. I cannot say how beautiful the Bright Angel trail is!!!! If we had hiked up at night, I would have missed all of it. Deb had seen it on a previous trip to the canyon when she was 17, so a lot of it was ‘new’ to her too!!! SO much to see and appreciate! Just like the views we missed on North Kaibab hiking at night in 2017, such beauty!!!!

We hiked on and got to the 3 mile rest stop (though it isn’t QUITE 3 miles to the top at this point). MORE people. As we got closer, the number of people coming down kept growing – and VERY few knew uphill hikers had the right of way. Remember when I said we didn’t know why they uphill hikers on North Kaibab seemed surprised? Now I know. Nobody was stopping for us to let us pass. They’d bump past, say ‘Excuse me’ if they had a brief synapse of courtesy fire, and keep going. Those bumps could easily lead to a fall over the edge. At one point, Debbie had had enough and put out a hiking pole a ‘bit wide’ as she took a step, leading one person to trip a bit, though not in any dangerous spot. They just didn’t get it and the best we could hope for would be for them to experience the climb from our perspective and have nobody stop for them. You know what they say about Karma. We thanked those that did stop just as many did for us. Courtesy and appreciation. Both go far.

1.5 mile rest stop had no running water (we had filled up at the campgrounds and again at the 3 mile stop), but we stopped to snack and sit in the shade a bit. On the move again, the rim was our final stop! Even more people now, and many were ‘hiking’ in dark clothes, jeans, carrying purses, wearing flip flops, and not carrying water. We told several that there was no water at the rest station – they’d have to go double the distance to refill or get ANY water. What they did was their choice, but I will say here that if you ever plan to hike in the canyon, be aware of any issues with weather, water availability, and PREPARE for it. It can be unforgiving. Even at 60-80 degrees, you will sweat and you can become dehydrated without knowing it. Debbie researched this trip heavily both times we’ve gone and we went in prepared. We had clothing for warm weather, including arm sleeves, hats, and sunscreen, and had multiple layers available if it got cold.

We ran into a Huntsville friend on the way out – we knew she was in the area, but hadn’t seen her yet – so we chatted on the trail for a few before taking a few photos (SAFELY) and going on our way. Went through the last tunnel near the top of Bright Angel trail and came out at the trailhead in the middle of the south rim campus. People everywhere enjoying the beautiful day. I was thinking about what we had just done – the work we put in, the distance we hiked, etc – and everybody was just going about their day. I wanted to shout “WE DID IT!!!”, but nobody would have gotten it. LOL It is so easy to feel like you’re in your own little world while in the canyon. When you come out and see other ‘normal’ people milling about, it almost feels/felt foreign to me. After the obligatory picture at the trailhead, we went to the lodge to get our bag from the north rim. We took a shuttle back to Trailer Village and to our waiting trailer. Unpacked a bit, cleaned up a bit, and we both took nice showers and had an adult beverage or 2.

Surprisingly, we weren’t too hungry, but we wanted snacks. We did the Kaibab shuffle walk to the local market next to Trailer Village and got some snacks and a roasted chicken. Man it was good!!! LOL

The next morning, we woke up to gray skies and thankful we hiked out the day before! It was a recovery day anyway, so we stayed in the trailer and read books. Mid afternoon it started sleeting briefly before turning to big fat snowflakes! We wondered how Randy and Anthony were doing, but knew they weren’t hiking out till the next day, so hopefully they’re all comfortable at the lower elevation and warmer temps. It snowed about 4” total, but the roads were still clear.

The next morning we went up to the south rim to check it out with the snowfall. Very little fell in the canyon, but the rim was quite pretty covered with a thin blanket of snow. Took a few pics, got some coffee and hot chocolate, then back to the trailer to prepare to head home. We hit the road a bit later than usual, but we weren’t in a hurry. Hit I-40 and that strong wind was still present. However, it was a tailwind!!! WOOT! Actually got pretty good mileage out of the Ram through Arizona and New Mexico. Cruising 75-82 or so with a 30-40 mph tailwind gets good mileage when the back end is a vertical surface! Stayed the night in Tucumcari at a place called the Blaze In Saddle RV park (they have paddocks and stalls for those hauling horses). Nice place, but the wifi wasn’t good enough to watch the last Game of Thrones. Boo. Got through Amarillo, which had had storms the night before and into Oklahoma. As we approached the stalled cold front, the winds shifted a bit and mileage went back to the normal (bad) range. Stayed in Checotah at another KOA and had wifi to watch GoT. Did a steak on the grill while Debbie prepared some amazing Brussel Sprouts with ham and basalmic.

The last day we headed through Arkansas, TN, and Mississippi, where we saw a car get clobbered right ahead of us in Corinth (nobody injured though). Got home safe and sound to Alabama summer (hot and humid)!!!! ACK. After mild and cold temps with low humidity in the desert, THAT was certainly a change! LOL

Another trip that we’ll never forget. Tested ourselves physically and mentally. Saw beautiful, wondrous, and majestic things. Talked with some incredible people. And have some wonderful memories. All this with my best friend.

My pictures can be found at the following link. They are arranged by date so they go in order of our trip:
Travel, South Rim, North Rim, North Kaibab Desent, Bright Angel Ascent, South Rim again

I hope you enjoy!

https://qq0u.app.link/uEOXjhQ5WW

[04 commemorative]

[mrvette]

Been a while, but it brings back memories from our trip along the south shore/rim AZ side.....

Looks like grins, great time......

[erickpl]

Originally Posted by mrvette

Been a while, but it brings back memories from our trip along the south shore/rim AZ side.....

Looks like grins, great time......

It was absolutely a great time.

[TripleBlack]

What an adventure!!! Thanks for posting and great job on the pics!

[snide]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing! Amazing scenery!

[Wathen1955]

I really liked those wide screen pics. On you way back, did you hit any bad weather? There have been hundreds of tornadoes in the central part of the US.

[Norm]

Beautiful! Nice photos. There's a lot to see in the good ol' USA.

[Rob]

I have done bright angel to phantom ranch and back in a day. It was stupid to do but I was young and in much better shape. Still hot as heck to do in a day.

[StaticCling]

Wonderful Pictures, thank you for sharing!

[mrvette]

Rain all over our region here, but not ONE damn drop by comparison here in OP, over MY house anyway....tired of pissing city water all over the damn lawn....

[Olustee bus]

Thanks enjoyed the trip.

[erickpl]

Originally Posted by Wathen1955

I really liked those wide screen pics. On you way back, did you hit any bad weather? There have been hundreds of tornadoes in the central part of the US.

When we left AZ, we had a ripping tailwind out of the west, so made GREAT time back with good mileage. We saw the forecast for bad weather in Amarillo, so stopped in Tucumcari for the night. We then basically followed it back, but had nice sunny skies the whole way after Tucumcari. Stopped in eastern OK the next night while storms were in Arkansas. Then the worst kinda went northeasterly while we stayed in I-40 to Memphis before ducking onto 72 from Memphis down into Mississippi then back in Alabama.

We were fortunate that had seen the forecasts. But the wind we had in Arizona drove a LOT of that nasty stuff.

[erickpl]

Originally Posted by Dixievet

I have done bright angel to phantom ranch and back in a day. It was stupid to do but I was young and in much better shape. Still hot as heck to do in a day.

Our max temp was 78 at Phantom Ranch.