Grand Canyon

We arrived at the Grand Canyon about Noon on Tuesday after having breakfast with Harry and Ann in Prescott. We scouted around and found a camp site in the Park and set up our tent. After putting ourselves on the wait-list for Phantom Ranch, we spent the rest of the day sightseeing from the Rim of the Park.

On Wednesday, we got up a 5:40AM and broke camp and went to Bright Angel Lodge to check on Phantom Ranch. The guy the previous day had intimated that we could find out around 6:30AM however we had to wait untill 7AM. We had breakfast at the lodge and then found out that we could get two bunk beds and dinner at Phantom ranch (bunk's for $30/person and beef stew dinner for $24/person). This was great news since we would not need to carry as much down the canyon.

We then packed what we thought we needed and caught the shuttle for Kaibab Trail down to the ranch. The Kaibab Trail is over 7 miles long and descends from 7,200 feet to about 2,400 feet. It took us about 4 1/2 hours to make the trek down and before it was over, Pat's knees were killing him. Lots of steps down in 4,800 feet drop in elevation!!!

You cannot get an appreciation of the magnitude of the Grand Canyon from the top. It's 12 miles wide and over a mile deep in parts. You could hide the Empire State Building in the canyon. In fact, you could hide Yosemite Park in the Grand Canyon!!! The trail we took down had great views of the canyon, where little vegetation exists.

We got to the bottom, checked into the dorm and found to our surprise that we did not need to bring our sleeping bags!!! The bunk beds had sheets and blankets and the dorm had a hot shower. Pat immediately took a nap. He was exhausted.

We then went to a Park Ranger's presentation of the history of the Grand Canyon and then took showers before going to Dinner. Dinner was family style and we met a lot of nice folks. Everyone was very friendly. After dinner we went to another Ranger presentation of the history of the Colorado River and how the dams have changed the ecology of the park. In addition, we learned how to find scorpions using a black light. It seems that there are scorpions in the canyon but we did not encounter any. We then called it a night around 8:30PM since we were getting up at 4:30AM the next morning.

On Thursday, we got up at 4:30AM and had breakfast at the Ranch at 5:00AM before beginning the trek out of the park to the rim. Breakfast was also family style, with bacon, eggs, pancakes, fruit, juice and coffee.

We began the trip up the Bright Angel Trail in the dark with flash lights and the stars above. We were not sure how long it was going to take and wanted to leave ourselves plenty of time if we needed rests along the way.

We got up close and personal with some Big Horn Sheep on the way up the canyon and got some good pictures you will want to see. The trip up the canyon went smoothly and we made it to the top in 6 and 1/2 hours, tired but without any pain or exhaustion! All that worry for nothing!!!

We treated ourselves to coffee and something to eat before leaving the Grand Canyon for Williams, AZ. and a motel for the night. You can see pictures here of our experiences in the Grand Canyon.