We got our permit to camp in the canyon. We plan to head out about daylight tomorrow and to be on the canyon floor by afternoon to check out the river and Phantom Ranch. We will break the hike back up into two days with an overnight at the campground at Indian Garden. With any luck, we will be back on the rim by late Tuesday afternoon…..evening maybe? Watch for any update Wednesday or so, after I recover a little.
That was the Ranger’s smartass response when I asked how we might know if they, heaven forbid, lost control of their managed fire. Great sense of humor these guys.
We noticed heavy smoke along the south canyon rim as we made our way to the East Desert View entrance to Grand Canyon. They posted it, managed fire next ten miles, do not report. No problem, we have seen that before. We settled into the campsite in the national forest and headed into the park to check out the visitor center and backcountry office. I saw flames not far back from the road and a big knot of fire rangers and park rangers chatting along the roadside. They looked pretty un-busy so we stopped for that all important question; Are we too close? “Oh no, mama, you are at least a mile and a half away.” I guess for a guy who has been out starting fires and tromping around it, 1 ½ miles is a LONG ways. I would have felt a little better if it were 5 miles or so. But he reassured me, you will probably notice a little smoke but all is really just fine.
A megaphone announcing raffle winners then a movie showing on a 50 foot screen. I will be looking for the comment cards tomorrow morning!
Bright sunshine and temps in the 70s…this is lake weather. We got some sun. Exercised the rods and reels and blew the carbon out of the outboard. It was wonderfully relaxing.
A quick side trip to the North Rim….for a night on the ground.
We were close so we figured we’d check it out. We left the rig and packed the tent and sleeping bags into the Miata and headed out on the drive through fir and aspen forest with open meadows, quite different from the South Rim where its scrubby juniper and pinion pine. It’s 1000 feet higher over here than on the south rim. They had a big snow a couple days ago….just traces in sheltered areas today. The views from the rim are wonderful; the very best was from Walhalla plateau….a broad bowl shaped amphitheater with great color. We hung out for a beautiful sunset.
We still plan to head to the South Rim in a few days.
Perspective from within.
A “day hike”. Wow…the north Kaibab trail to Roaring springs. 13 miles round trip descending; then or course, re-climbing, 3050 feet. I got a very real feel for how huge this canyon really is. It would have taken another 3 or 4 miles on the trail to even get out of this one canyon of majestic stone walls and the roaring spring that flows from mid-layer along the cliff.
”The Point”, Antelope Pont Marina. It appears to be the affluent private marina. There are some HUGE houseboats tied off there. We walked through but their “welcome center” was actually a management office and member greeting area. Sort of out of our league. We will be using the public ramp across the lake.
It took three stops at Navaho bridge but we saw two of the California Condors perching on the bridge superstructure. They are a homely as their pictures. We were close enough to read the wing tag numbers.
A trip to the one place in over 500 miles where you can get to the Colorado River shore (without jumping off a huge cliff). Lees Ferry. It was a nice hike along the river checking out the first ferry crossing and early homesteads. Highways don’t do a lot for the landscape but it sure beats the path across these cliffs and rivers early settlers used.
One of those gotta dos; so do it on a chilly day…..New tires on the Mazda. We have been working her pretty hard but she is holding up well. Nearly always needs a wash though with all the gravel roads.