Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona: Another beautiful day in Paradise. Dave took off on his bicycle this morning, and returned 11 miles later. He had scouted-out the places we saw yesterday in our RV, and had made a plan for today's tourism. Grand Canyon National Park now only allow personal vehicles on very few roads within the park, and have a fantastic, free, and easy-to-use bus system. Hop on; hop off. There are stops all over the park (to every site, campground, hotel, shop, etc), and buses arrive about 10-15 minutes apart. At some stops, ten minutes is all you need to look over the vista point, take a photo, and jump back on the next - oh, I forgot to mention - very air conditioned bus.
We caught the BLUE LINE bus directly from our campground and exited at the Bright Angel Trailhead. This trail leads to the bottom of the canyon, and it is also possible to hike up to the top of the north rim from this point, usually a several-day hike. A trail ride (with horses and mules) was gathering to start down the trail (I would never do that to a horse), and we met a young man who had just arrived to the south rim after hiking from the north rim with several family members (all adult mid-westerners). They had hiked down to Cottonwood Camp (spent the night), then hiked the next day to Phantom Ranch (had a steak dinner and spent the night), and this morning hiked up to the south rim - beginning at 3:30a.
FYI: At Bright Angel Trailhead, the BLUE LINE bus ends, and we changed to the RED LINE that goes all the way to Hermit's Rest (a dead end). We rode the RED LINE all the way to the end, getting on/off the bus and walking bits, or just getting off and taking photos of the amazing vistas. Bus map here.
Happily for us, we could take a left on a trail that follows the rim, without having to climb down into the canyon. (We did several miles of this hike years ago and all I remember was the horse/donkey poop EVERYWHERE on the trail.) The trail offers gorgeous views every few feet. The thing about canyons - a single cloud floating by can cause new shadows on the cliffs, vistas look different at different times of day. Any moment a thunderstorm can appear and, well then, it is either a beautiful scene or a dangerous situation. We only found beauty this morning on our hike around the rim.
can you see all the hiking trails on the canyon floor?
See what I wrote about every few feet the view changes?
After a while we jumped back on the bus. Man, did it feel wonderful to sit in air conditioning for a few stops! (DT does not like hiking around the rim. His vertigo is in overdrive. He seems to be fine if at a vista point with a waist-high railing, and he doesn't look down, but only out. Walking along the drop-off edges freaks him out these days.)
Our next stop was to be at Hermit's Rest, but DT - at the last minute - hopped off the bus to snap a photo at one stop before. The bus drivers usually wait a few minutes so tourists can just get off the bus long enough to take a photo. Not this driver! Dave was left behind. I stayed on the bus knowing he would catch the next shuttle and meet me at Hermit's Rest. Oh Boy, did this give the three Filipino couples on our bus reason to tease me about my husband leaving me! But I shut them down by responding to their digs in Tagalog (that I had the car keys and the credit cards... okay, maybe it was more Taglish than Tagalog). But it was fun, they all laughed, and were so surprised to learn we had once lived in Manila.
can you see the Colorado River below?
My errant partner did show up on the next bus, the marriage was restored, and we toured the Hermit's Rest Lodge together. What an interesting old building - constructed in 1914 as a rest stop for carriage tours. We could still smell smoke from the massive fireplace.
these days you could get a souvenir, a sandwich or an ice cream here.
After the BLUE LINE reaches the terminus at Hermit's Rest, it returns directly to the Grand Canyon Village, where there are many hotels, inns, shops and restaurants. This area also has some of the most iconic views of the Grand Canyon.
I snapped the above photo (with my phone) at 1:09p, just when we arrived to the Village area. We were so hungry - it had already been a long hot day and we were tired. In the few minutes it took us to look inside one shop and decide which restaurant we should try, the sky turned black. Lightning. Thunder. Rain.
Weather is crazy at 7000 feet!
We chose the Arizona Steakhouse because we could smell the burgers on the grill. Hiking makes normal people ravenous people. I think in the evening this dining room may be a bit upscale, but during the day, hiking attire is fine. I had the burger (no bun) and Dave had a shaved prime rib sandwich with au jus - basically a French Dip on Ciabatta bread. For two people who never clean their plates - we devoured our food.
It was so stormy after our lunch. We caught the BLUE LINE back to the huge Market Plaza area (very near our campground), mailed our postcards from the on-site Post Office, did a bit of shopping in the General Store, then walked back - in pouring rain - to our camper. A very long day - it was nearly 4p by the time we arrived home. No dinner for us tonight. We watched the Dodgers lose AGAIN, showered and called it a night.
More travel tomorrow!
Until my next update, I remain, your rim-walker correspondent.
Campsite Information: Trailer Village. Full hook-up sites, but the pesky ravens love to poke holes in the plastic pipe - so don't leave your sewer hose out.