Day 28 – May 1 continued

We walked for a while along the rim of the canyon stopping frequently to take pictures but feeling challenged to take in the magnitude of this place. It is truly one of the most incredible demonstrations of natural beauty that I have ever seen and the quiet that overcame our normally vocal group spoke volumes of our shared impressions.

What can I say

We returned to our campsites and the quickly dropping temperatures. The warmth of the afternoon was fading and we retreated to our respective RT’s to add some layers. Snacks around a pre dark campfire and then we retired to the spaciousness and warmth of the BRT for our first full complement communal supper of Greek chicken fajitas – don’t ask for the recipe, it’s one of those nonrecreatable dishes. As we are dry camping for two days we were trying to conserve power so a variety of flashlights appeared and were pressed into service, creating a very pleasant dining atmosphere with great friends.

Day 29 – May 2

A somewhat sluggish start after perhaps partying a bit too late the night before saw us heading to catch one of the park shuttle buses just before 10:00. In a very successful effort to reduce traffic congestion in the park three interconnecting loops of free shuttle busses make all parts of the park easily accessible. Our plan was to hike the South Kaibab Trail partway into the canyon. A surprisingly narrow path, whose edge is marked only with a row of boulders winds its way down the sides of the vertiginous cliffs, absent of any form of guardrail. It is a well worn path, with many rocks and imbedded logs creating steps in some of the steeper inclines required close attention to footing, which was contradictory to our desire to absorb the incredible scenery that surrounded us. Literally one false step could be your last. Although you might not actually fall all the way to the bottom of the canyon, the fall to the next fetch up point below would probably suffice to dispatch all but the most rubbery of hikers or leave survivors wishing that they hadn’t.

No tripping please

An additional challenge was presented by the trains of donkeys that were ascending from the canyon bottoms. Signs advise hikers to keep to the cliff side when confronted with an approaching train. The signs seemed absolutely unnecessary to me as only someone with a death wish would try to stay anywhere but pressed into the cliff side as these animals and riders passed. In future years geologists may puzzle at the butt-like impressions in the cliff face that I left as I avoided these slow moving beasts.

Beware of Trains

Breathtaking view after breathtaking view presented themselves as we walked down into the trail. Slowly the multiple layers of clothing that the cold early morning temperatures required began to be peeled off in response to the effort of hiking and as the heat of the day built and the wind felt at the rim subsided.

This is not a trail I would recommend for sufferers of vertigo. There were many spots when we opted to hug the cliff wall rather than stare over the edge and there were places where the path seems to disappear into space as you round a switchback corner. Keeping in mind that the trip up was going to be more far more arduous than the descent we hiked down for about an hour before stopping for our lunch on a little flat spot at the end of a switch back. We agreed that our simple sandwiches, water and fruit took on a special quality at what may be the most spectacular and yet at the same time most simple venue we might ever eat at with its rock chairs and tables.

Our ascent back to the rim was paced and less taxing than we had anticipated. The late afternoon was filled with various chores, showers, blog updates and possibly a stolen nap or two. We planned to take one of the shuttle buses along the rim to a vantage point noted for its views of the sunset. With a combination of good timing and blind good fortune we caught the last bus for Hermit’s Rest and arrived at one of the several view points along the route to a ‘click’ of photographers who, with cameras running the gamut from IPhones to a 120 film Hasselblad, were poised to capture the moment. I have decided that the collective noun for a group of photographers should be a ‘click’ – in an earlier entry I referred to a group of ‘Birders Americanus’ with the collective noun clutch. After some reconsideration and closer observation of the species I have decided to change that noun to a ‘gawk’, my apologies).

As the sun descended parts of the cliff sides were painted in ever deepening shades of pink and red while others passed into darkness. The finale of the show was the explosion of pinks in the few clouds overhead, contrasting against the ever deepening shades of blue in the canopy of sky beyond. Another unique and spectacular view of the Grand Canyon.

Sean and Carla provided steak for dinner. In fact steak doesn’t do this cut of meat justice, it would have been quite at home in the Fred and Wilma’s kitchen in our earlier Flintstone campsite and was beautifully prepared by Sean on his shiny new barbecue. Again, low temperatures moved us into the BRT which, with appropriate choreography, can host 6 for supper. The added bonus was the preheat all those bodies provided prior to an anticipated near freezing temperature overnight.