Grand Canyon - day two

(Sunday, June 6th)
Today, we are prepared for a long day of hiking and sights.  We enter into the park and go straight to Grand Canyon Village.  The park has made this an easy visitor experience by providing free shuttle buses from the Village to most of the main viewing spots, so many people gather in this area.  The area also is the start of the main (day) hiking trail down into the canyon, Bright Angel Trail.  That is were we start the day.  Constant reminders are everywhere for hikers:  Water!  Hydrate or Die!  Alex's hockey coach would be proud!  Seriously, though, it is H-O-T hot and dry.

We started the day a little later than normal, so we begin the hike downward around 11am local time.  There is no thought of going all the way down, so we planned to turn around at an appropriate time.  After the first turn, we can see a pack of mules coming up.  Did I mention that this trail is the only one that the pack mules use to take supplies into the small stops on the canyon floor?  Pretty cool that we got a chance to see the mule train go by.  And go by they did, leaving presents on the dry, dusty trail.  avoiding the mules on the 4 foot wide trail was not too difficult, we just stayed against the wall while they went by along the edge.  Avoiding the mule presents was not that simple, we had to watch for other hikers, and the edge as well.  Fun!

We made it down, about a half mile or so, then back up...500 feet up, that is.  No damage done to the cranky teenager (is that redundant?).  He didn't 'slip' at all.  I am proud of myself for the restraint shown...  Back at the top, we had some lunch and discussed where to go next.  We decided to try the bus (Ali is always excited about buses) and go to the far west end of the South rim and hike between viewing spots.  BTW, did you know that the Grand Canyon attracts many foreign tourists also?  (It just seemed an appropriate time to mention this...).  The bus was packed, but most people got off earlier than the end of the line so we had more room by the end.

From Hermit's Rest at the west end of the park, we hiked to several different viewing points along the Rim Trail (flat trail, btw).  With the elevation and heat, Bingo and I kept onto the kids to drink.  Ali, with her Camelback was not as easy to convince as Alex with his water bottle.  How do we know Alex was hydrated?  Well, there is one thing that hydrated people do that dehydrate people don't.  And he had to stop several times more than anyone else - good for him!  Along the way, I took a couple of pictures of the canyon from various points.  In case anyone wants to see those precious few (lol) images, check out the album.

The hikes helped us work up a healthy appetite, so we picked the far east end of the park to find some food.  After the sandwiches from the cooler in the afternoon, almost anything would be good.  We found the general store at the area and quickly went in to see what food was available.  Just like any convenience store, there were pre-packaged foods (burritos and sandwiches) as well as frozen foods and canned goods.  Not much of a selection, but we were too far away from anything and had plans to stay in this area for a ranger talk at sunset.  We each grabbed something and went outside to eat on a bench.  When we were done, we wandered in the area and came to a 'tourist' store.  As I looked around, I noticed a nice little cafeteria.  Just the place for a nice little dinner, if we had looked first and eaten later!

The ranger program at sunset was nearby, so we headed that direction.  The ranger explained some of the history of the canyon and park.  He talked for about an hour, ending as the sun was setting over the canyon wall opposite us.  It was a beautiful sight (more pictures!).  We were very excited about the scene (except for Alex, who was just bored by now).

Only one more thing was on the list for today, the Flagstaff amateur astronomy association was having a slide show and stargazing opportunity back near the village at 8pm.  Since sunset was around 7:30, we were already going to be late for the start.  So we hightailed it out of the east end and hoped to get to the stargazing soon.  By the time we got there, We could find no parking anywhere close!  Cars were lined up n the road 1/2 mile away from the parking lot for the activity.  Quickly rethinking our plans, we headed back to camp.

It was another full day at the park.  We have seen almost everything we wanted to there, even if it was slightly rushed sometimes.  The kids are tired of 'more canyon', so that was the end of our Grand Canyon experience.  I was delighted with everything surrounding it!  It will be hard to top.

Not to say we won't try, of course...