Doing laundry at the Grand Canyon is far more fun than laundry in West Palm. As I sit and listen to the whir of the washing machines and the gentle hum of the driers I feel as if nothing can touch me. As we hoped, Sunday was a relaxing day. We grocery shopped, recharged, fixed the problem with the car chargers (2 blown fuses, who knew?) and backed into a car at the gas station. It's always an adventure, remember?
Once back at site 148 we made some dinner, situated ourselves and found an elk wandering through the woods behind our site. Turns out those huge deer I mentioned seeing on our way up the mountain were actually elk. That explains their girth. Kt LOVES all the animals we are seeing. She has chased down multiple ravens, elk, and squirrels for pictures who seem less than thrilled about their photo-ops. I'm exaggerating a little, I don't think she actually took a picture of the squirrel.
Later, we went to the rim of the canyon for a pink and orange sunset passing two more elk that were within 10 feet of the car. As we sat on the edge, feet dangling precariously close to the 300 foot drop, we quietly waited among people of all nations for the sun to fall below the rocks and drop the sky down to a lavender blue. Talk about feeling invincible.
As the sky dimmed from purple, to deep blue we attempted to go back to our campsite. I managed only to drive to the exit twice before finally finding the way back. This has become a normal occurrence for me as the signs here are less than par. Nonetheless, we did make it back and quickly started our fire, made s'mores and drank a Grand Canyon Ale. The neighbors we alienated the night before by hammering our tent stakes in at midnight, wandered over and managed to forgive us as we shared our fire. Ironically, they were also from Florida and one of them even frequents the Port St. Lucie Walmart where we made our first stop. They gave us some good tips for Yellowstone and even left us with a gift of their extra camping supplies (thanks Micheal and Alex!). They also gave us the suggestion of biking to Hermit's Rest, which is a trail restricted to shuttles, pedestrians and bicyclists.
We woke up refreshed Monday morning and rented bikes as suggested. After loading them onto the shuttle, we were dropped off at Hopi Point and began our 5 mile ride to the end at Hermit's Rest where we would be picked up. This really is one of the most amazing things I have ever done or seen. (Do I keep saying that?) The GC is bigger than any picture shows and dwarfs everything near it, including people, cars, rivers and rafts. Every point provides a different perspective that is equally impressive.
We made it safely to Hermit's Rest and hiked about a quarter mile down before turning around. Traveling into the canyon changes your perspective again as dots become trees and bushes, and rock formations seen from afar become ledges and turns in the trail. Once back to the top we decided to ride back to Hopi Point instead of waiting there. What we didn't realize was most of the ride had been downhill. Uphill is not as fun. We walked the bikes a few times and at one point I heard myself telling Kt to save herself, one of us needed to make it out alive. Turns out we both did.
We crawled into bed early last night and plan on hiking the Kaibab trail this afternoon. Tomorrow we pack up and head towards Joshua Tree. I think it will be hard to leave the beauty we found here, but I know there is more waiting for us.
***I know I keep promising pictures, but my internet signal is too weak to upload right now. Patience! Also a big congratulations to my sister who got engaged this past weekend. Congratulations!
