Grand Canyon - September 9-12, 2023
Now, heading to Grand Canyon from the south side of Petrified National Park, rejoining I-40 in Holbrook. Travis was hoping to stop in Williams to trade drivers, but the highway bypassed it. We stopped at Wendy's for a Frosty just south of the Grand Canyon entrance. On our road trip, we have been listening to Bill Bryson's: I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away. He talked about going to the Grand Canyon as a child on a family road trip and then again as an adult for the book. We entered with our annual pass and then headed to Mather Campground to check-in and setup the tent before it got dark. The Ranger was very friendly with check-in, going over the normal rules. She noted that they had seen a bear in the campground recently, though not common or expected. They were changing the process, so we were not given a car tag, but someone else before us was given one. Our reserved site was marked reserved; pre-booked on recreation.gov. It turned out big and to offer several places that we could setup the tent. Here is what we picked. Our tent was on sale at Aldi, about $17; Travis had seam sealed it before. It worked well. That extra piece on the left was a shoe/boot storage to keep them dry if it rained (it did) that was accessible from the inside or outside. Since we had not had rain at home since some time in June, I noted that I would be annoyed if it rained the full time we hiked -- there was rain, but not hike interrupting. More on that later.
We drove and parked at the Visitor Center for our first look at the Grand Canyon at Mather Point. We walked further along the Rim Trail for additional views. The Visitor Center had hiking info displays outside, but was never actually open, it was crazy! It was open 8am to noon, Thursday to Monday. That is prime hiking time; again, crazy! We did not get to visit. The view:
Tonight, we did not cook at the campsite. We stopped at the camping store, called Grand Canyon Outfitters. We each picked a frozen burrito; they provided a microwave for use after paying for them near the butcher's area. Despite not cooking (and cleaning up) at the campsite, we still did not get ready for bed early enough before it got dark. It is just harder when it is dark; other nights we got ready earlier. Camping was a little chilly, some people playing guitars/the same song over and over which was annoying, and some loud barking dogs/dogs allowed at the campground. Other than those, camping was good. The first night was clear, and we saw the milky way. Another note, the women's restroom near us (but still a good walk) the door kept being left open, so there were tons of moths that had moved in. Moths...yuck; one flew down past me while I was brushing my teeth. I almost screamed.
The next morning we got up early to catch the shuttle to Hermit's Rest. This required the blue route/Village Route and change to the red route/Hermit's Rest Route at Hermit's Rest Transfer and getting on the blue route at a spot that we did not have to go all the way around before going to Hermit's Rest Transfer. All the shuttle drivers are friendly and helpful. This morning he advised the right direction to not go all the way around. We caught the first bus near the camping grocery store where we got dinner last night. There was also one at Mather Campground, but it was going the wrong way. Another tricky piece is that it was chilly in the mornings, but I did not want to hike carrying a jacket after getting hot hiking. Travis had long sleeves that rolled up, so that was perfect.
Today, the 10th, we were hiking Hermit's Trail to Santa Maria Spring. We originally planned to hike to Dripping Springs when we started, but changed the plan mid-hike since this trail does branch into a few options. I was not going fast enough, so this was a little shorter. Santa Maria Spring was 1680 elevation change, entering the canyon, and 5 miles round trip. The shuttle driver tried to talk us out of the hike at all. You can only fill up at the trailhead and do have to treat water from the spring (we had enough and had a simple/small filter just in case). The driver asked about water treatment and noted that the trail was not maintained. I did not think it was poorly maintained, but it was definitely more challenging than Bright Angel, with up and down rocks steps. Here are some canyon view and trail. This was also not a busy trail, so it was very peaceful. This was our first hike to get and try out trekking poles. Our knees are not getting any younger; I also found them helpful to use arms too to help climb up the rock stairs.
We arrived at the spring; it was flowing from a pipe and had tadpoles. At the rest hut, we met a guy hiking up from a stay last night at the river. To jump into that point late, we tried the months before get a backcountry pass to stay at the campgrounds on the south or north side in either September or October with no luck. The NPS has now moved to an online system, before when we submitted it was mailing in a form with a credit card number included. I heard later that 75% were reject. This guy was saying that it was much easier to Hermit's Trail down, but I think that is primitive camping. It was good that we did not get, I could not have done it (get to the river and back to the rim), especially on the north side, which is longer with not as well space campgrounds to space out the distance over different days. After the rest, we headed back up...the hard part.
Finally making it, I'm slow on the up, we stopped at the gift shop for ice cream (also my treat after hiking up from Indian Gardens, now renamed to something that I cannot spell, tried to look it up but the map had the old name too, 23 years ago). The menu sign said that they had sold out of ice cream, so I asked if that was a joke. He did not acknowledge the sold out comment, but he said that they had ice cream. We enjoyed. While finishing the hike, we could see some ominous clouds coming in, and others just starting the hike. After finishing the ice cream, a shuttle driver was yelling for everyone to get on the shuttle. What? This is nuts! I did not know if he was serious, but others were getting on, and he kept yelling, so we reluctantly got on. Apparently, it was a thing, an official evaluation of Hermit's Road -- what about the people down on the hike? I do not know if Hermit's Road is very prone to flooding or if lightning was the concern. The rest of the park did not shut down. The driver stopped by a bicyclist and said to drop the bike and get in the bus (huh, possibly a rented bike that needs to be returned?). He was just walking the bike and looked like about to load it on a car. He did not comply. There was a huge, loud thunder that made everyone in the bus jump. So, we did not get to experience the other stops with views of the canyon on Hermit's road (only open to shuttles and closed to cars, except in the winter). Hermit's Road does have very good views.
Still raining, we hid under the cover at Bright Angel Lodge for a bit, but then headed to the bus stop. With evacuation still in progress, the line at the Transfer station bus stop was still crazy, long, and slow. There were no waits in the mornings, but later in the day or with rain, that changed.
This evening, we, okay Travis, cooked at the campsite. We had frito pie with tortilla chips (to bring less), chili, and nacho cheese. Tomorrow's hike was Bright Angel Trail.
Again up early and on the shuttle to get an early start on the hike. We went down as far as the 3 miles rest stop; there was another at 1.5 miles. Both had a rest hut, restroom, and water. This one was definitely more crowded than Hermit's Trail.
In the afternoon, after finishing our morning hike, we went back to the Hermit's Road to check out some of the view points. We also walked on the Rim Trail between the shuttle stop and view points. The shuttle drops off/going toward Hermit's Rest at the end of the Hermit's Road stops at all stops, but only picks up at three going back to the main part of the park, so we planned for a good pick up point and chance to get a spot on the bus.
The hotel with the fireplace with all the layers of the Grand Canyon where some was not even accurate enough and were sent back to get better materials. Because of reading this, I had high expectations and was disappointed. The colors all looked about the same, but the Grand Canyon is many layers of color. I had overhead a daughter tell her father that the Grand Canyon was nice, but that she really did not like the colors orange and green together that they did not go together. The father just noted those colors occur in nature. I thought orange and green were very pretty together.
The daily train from Williams, AZ. The last night camping, we had cheese nachos.
Before leaving the Grand Canyon, we visited Desert View. The views from here were my favorite and a side that I had not visited on my first trip to the Grand Canyon. Great river and granite wall views. The visitor center was closed this day, so we missed out on the that. A Ranger was there making sure that no one turned toward the visitor center. The views and the Desert View watch tower.
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