There is Nothing Grander Than the Grand Canyon

It has taken a few days to recover physically from the Grand Canyon as the hikes are strenuous, the weather hot, and the rewards awesome. We were so excited to see Jack's eyes bug out at his first glimpse of the canyon.

We arrived early enough the first day to set up camp then hike up to the rim, take a few pictures, have dinner at the Bright Angel Restaurant, and still catch sunset on the canyon. We soon learned how to take the shuttle bus where we wanted to go as everywhere you want to go is uphill and the maps of walking trails to get there are awful. This is the first time we have been to a National Park where is is more difficult to find your way around on foot than motor vehicle. However, by the time we hiked first the rim of the canyon on Sunday, then into the canyon on the Bright Angel Trail on Monday, we appreciated the free rides anyway.

Sunday morning we went to mass in Canyon Village. Unfortunately, this was the first time since we left home we have been able to get to Sunday Mass. The first Sunday we were in Yellowstone and the nearest church was about 50 miles away. The next Sunday we were in Arco, Utah where the only churches within 35 miles are Mormon. We love our fellow Christians, the Mormons, but are not ready to embrace their faith.

So here in the Grand Canyon we actually found a Catholic Church. I believe the name was El Cristo del Rey. They have 35 families in their membership. Mass takes place in a lovely chapel with a mural of the Grand Canyon behind the alter. What a wonderful environment in which to worship the Lord in all his splendor.

After Mass we packed up our peanut butter sandwiches, granola bars, and water bottles and took off for the Canyon Rim. We hiked several miles from one view point to the next, and hopped the shuttle a couple of times between viewpoints for a rest. We finally made it to the end, Hermits Rest where we enjoyed an ice cream snack before jumping the shuttle back to camp.

When we had dinner at the Bright Angel Restaurant, Jack was given a great activity book about the canyon which he spent many hours with that evening. In the center was a map of the canyon with 4 gift shops marked on it. If you get a sticker at each stop, you get a free gift. He was on a quest to get all four stickers, so we stopped at the last gift shop before returning to camp, got his sticker, and the prize was a stuffed Kokopelli doll. Kokopelli, we discovered, is a god who appears in many of the hieroglyphics in the canyons of Utah and Arizona and has become a symbol of the area. It also turns out that he is a fertility god which blew Don's mind because now he is embarrassed that he bought a T-shirt with the little guy on the front.

 The next day was to be our big adventure. We were to leave camp at 5AM to start on the Bright Angel Trail to the bottom of the canyon at the crack of dawn in order to finish at least most of the hike before 10 am when the heat of day begins. Well, when you are retired you rarely have to set an alarm clock and since the clocks we have were purchased post retirement, we never quite got the knack of setting them properly. Hence, I awoke when daylight came through the bedroom window which was about 5:30 am. We put together our packs with our water bottles, peanut butter sandwiches, and other snacks, and hustled out to our car to park at what we thought was a lot just a hop skip and a jump to the trail head. Well one hour later with 1.6 miles already on the pedometer, we finally reached the trail head and started down at 7:00, one and a half hours behind schedule.

The trail down was much rougher than I had expected and my ankles were having trouble navigating the rocks in spite of my good hiking boots. It took 1 1/2 hours to go 2 miles into the canyon and expecting it to take about twice as long to hike out we had to give up the hike. By the time we reached the top, the pedometer read over 6 miles total, and it was 10:30 am. Jack is such a sweetheart. He knew I was having trouble with the rocks going down and reached a point where he said, "I don't think we will see anything much different by going any further down" so that's when we headed back up. Just as I thought, the hiking was easier for me going up than down as long as I stopped to catch my breath at intervals.

We were all pretty whipped by the time we got back to camp. We tossed the PB&J sandwiches, made a real lunch and took a shower. After some recuperative time, we headed out again to the visitor center and found our way back to the ice cream place by figuring out the map. That was an additional 2 mile hike, but at least with the promise of ice cream, it was easier going. (it was also downhill).

In the evening Don and Jack attended a ranger program while I cleaned up the coach and got ready to move the next day. All in all, a very exciting trip to the Grand Canyon.