Thursday morning started early for all of us at 8am.
We dropped Lexie off at the Kennel at our campground. This was a much nicer kennel than the one at Carlsbad Cavern: The kennel was roomier and it had an outside run for her. But Lexie was glad when we came to get her, the kennel does not compete with Rover.com
Our next stop: we got to see a wild west show with scoundrels and a sheriff and card cheats and shootings and bad jokes. It was a fun little show that exploited the local history of a wild west.
Next Vicki and I boarded the train. Our trip north was in the observation deck so we got a great view of the terrain on the way to the Grand Canyon. We saw a couple of pronghorn deer (so I am told, they moved very fast) and a lot of cattle. San Francisco Mountain was very visible for the first half of our trip, as were other mountains. The terrain changed from desert scrub with cattle to ponderosa pines with elk (again, so I am told). The ride was long, taking over 2.5 hours to travel the 50 miles.
We pulled into Grand Canyon village and then boarded our tour bus. We had about three hours to spend, mostly with the tour bus, at the Grand Canyon before we needed to board the train for our return trip.
The tour bus started us with a buffet lunch at the Maswik lodge. The food was filling (it’s a buffet!) and delicious. Quinoa salad, santa fe chicken, green beans, vegetarian pasta bake and pulled pork.
After lunch, the bus took us on a tour of the village, describing briefly the life of the villagers and their children. V: since it’s pretty far from any nearby town, the park workers and their families live in the village year-round.
Our first stop (and real view of the canyon) was at Yaki Point. The view was fantastic. And moving along the rim changed to another breathtaking perspective.
V: My first glimpse of the Grand Canyon live was one of astonishment. I had seen lots of pictures over the years but nothing prepares you for the vast, colorful view stretched out over a great distance. First view was from the southern rim. I enjoyed all the views behind rails (no weak knees) and even inside the observation room at the main visitor’s center.
Our next stop was at the Yavapai Point and Geology Museum (and gift shop). At this stop we could see tiny parts of the Colorado River (and the bridge that crosses it.)
That was all the time we had at the Grand Canyon because of the train schedule. We headed back to our train and got onto the lower class (coach) and lower level seats. The view was still phenomenal, we were looking at the rocks and trees at our level instead of being above them.
Friday morning, Steve drove out to the Grand Canyon and hiked down Bright Angel trail to the first rest stop (1.5 miles horizontal, 1100 feet vertical.) The change in vertical was enough that some of the canyon features were now at the same level as the hiker. The Bright Angel trail is a nine mile trail that takes two days to go down and back up. But Steve took a shortened version of the trail. The path was respectably wide but definitely inclined with many switchbacks. Steve had no problem going down and up but he got weak in the knees when he tried to take a picture of the cliff above him.
Steve saw a couple of mountain goats that were nestled inside a switchback, and many squirrels. He did not see any California condors, sadly.
V: My acrophobia has intensified with age (I think it is just wisdom keeping me away from those cliff edges and crazy trails) so I am happy for Steven to be the billy goat, do the climbing and bring back the pictures at places like the Bright Angel trail. Lexie and I relaxed and had some cleaning to do back at the RV.
Steve arrived at the Grand Canyon entrance around 9:10 and there were only a couple of cars ahead of him at the entrance. When Steve left (1:00 pm) the line of vehicles waiting to enter was around a mile long. Moral of the story: get the national parks early.