10/15
In the morning, we decided to take advantage of my 3 day weekend and head to the Grand Canyon, one of the 7 wonders of the natural world. So after lunch, we drove up to the Grand Canyon (South Rim) via Prescot Valley. We made it up to the rim just in time for the end of sunrise where the reds of the canyon glow like fire. What a stunning way to see the canyon for the first time in a long time. It really is such a dramatic sight with all the colors, depth, folds, and scale. There was even snow at the top of the rim.
I had been to the Grand Canyon several times in my life, but not in a long time. I remember going there as a young child with mom on our drive to Tucson one year. I don't know if I remember it much, but I remember pictures of me up in the snow with my coat and hat and Panda bear. I also have some memory of visiting the Canyon with my grandparents where they (or we) were staying in some cabins with lots of deer around. It might have been the North Rim. But I don't really know. I'll have to ask mom. Then in 1997 when I was in middle school and we were vacationing in Sedona, the whole family hiked the Kaibab trail from rim to river and back up.
We had unfortunately forgotten our stove (but brought the fuel!) so we ate at Pizza Hut. We camped in the Kaibab National Forest just outside of Tusayan. It was a chilly night, below freezing.
10/16
We got up well before sunrise to catch a bus to the South Kaibab Trailhead. Our plan was to hike down to the Colorado River and back up via the Bright Angel Trail. We started the hike dressed in our puffy coats with hats and gloves, negotiating an icy and snow-covered trail. The sunrise over the canyon was of course stunning. As we worked our way down the steep trail, shadows danced and played across the many smaller side canyons below us as the sun ascended on its path towards its warming zenith. There were many beautiful views as we descended down through the ages (the deeper and deeper you go, the older and older are the rocks that you are walking on). Eventually we reached the bottom and the muddy Colorado River (muddy right now b/c of extra runoff due to the recent snows). Crazy to think the water we were touching had flowed all the way from "my" mountains back in Rocky Mountain National Park.
We crossed the large suspension bridge to the North side of the river, passed by some Native American pueblo ruins, and then ascended a bit up a side canyon with a crystal clear river to Phantom Ranch. This little oasis in the desert has campsites, bunkhouses, cabins, and even a store selling lemonade with ice and various food items. It's also a place you can refill your water bottles from spring water if necessary. We had a rest here, had some lunch, and then crossed the river via a different suspension bridge and then began the journey back up to the top via the Bright Angel Trail. This trail followed a spring for quite a while before ascending steeply up the canyon walls, making it's way along the Bright Angel Fault Line, which causes a break in the cliffs. We reached the top a bit before 4pm. Definitely a long day b/c we had walked around 15 miles with over 1 mile (5280ft) of ascent and descent.
We snacked at the car for a bit and then visited the geology museum before watching the sunset. Tonight, again because we had no stove, we ate at Wendy's. Elisha had been craving their chili.
10/17
Today we hiked a good portion of the rim trail (about 8 miles) from the visitor center west. We followed the cool geologic time walk that traces the age of the rocks starting with the Kaibab Formation at the rim which is 270 million years old down to 525 million years old. Then at that point is the great unconformity (no rock record due to erosion) before reaching the river level at 1.7 billion years old, in rocks known as the Elves Canyon Gneiss (love that name). Once we reached the Hopi viewpoint (maybe my favorite), we hopped on the bus and continued to near the end of the road (westward), stopping at a few viewpoints.
Back at the car we drove east along the rim stopping at a couple viewpoints including 'grandview' before our final stop at the desert tower viewpoint. At this viewpoint there is a cool tower built in a similar style of one of the Native American groups. We then drove to Flagstaff via Cameron and witnessed an incredible sunset over the desert (and other smaller canyons) as we drove along, with the towering San Francisco peaks (of which we had recently climbed, Mt. Humphreys, the tallest not that long ago) in the background. In Flagstaff we celebrated the big hike with a delicious Indian dinner.
