The Grand Canyon

The Night Before:

Packing up the car was relatively uneventful, we had plenty of space for everything, with room to spare. (Bringing the big screen!) just kidding. I'm most thankful for my new backpack, an impressive upgrade over my original A.L.I.C.E pack. My good friend Brad lent it to me for the trip along with a camel pack, which is a welcomed upgrade.
So we packed the car, cleaned up and went out with Rex and Laura Miller on their boat followed by a pleasant evening at the resort sipping wine, and visiting with what had to be half of the vino 100 wine club. After that a short time on the boat, a little impromptu swim and back home to get some rest before this thing got started.

Day 1:

5:00am

Up, showered, and out the door by 6:00am. The drive to the canyon was relatively uneventful, aside from making great time! The GPS said it would take 7.5 hours door to door, and we made it in an easy 6.5 hours. The last 50 miles are the worse due to the flat dry scrubby desert like terrain, until suddenly BOOM! You come out of the trees and it's nothing but spectacular views into the canyon. We imagined what it must have been like for the first travelers to come upon the canyon, with no way to cross and canyon as far as the eye could see.


Upon arrival at the canyon, we set up camp, which only took us about 5 minutes and headed off in the direction of the rim. The vistas are breathtaking here, photos won't do this canyon justice, but we will post some anyway. We hiked along the rim east, and found some nice places to step off the trail, or skip the guard rails and get closer to the rim.


We even caught a glimpse of the elusive and highly endangered California Condor.


Stopping for lunch at the parks grocery I also had the opportunity to see the extraordinarily rare bearded woman! (Sorry no photographic proof of this one) We also spotted a pirate riding an electric scooter today, people watching at the parks is going to become a nice pastime.


We hitched a ride back to camp to grab a quick bite before sunset (hot food this time) and promptly went back out to the rim for some sunset photos. Finding a nice spot at the tip of a jutting rock Zach set up his tripod and started snapping away.








He really seems to know what he is doing with that camera! He even got a few shots of other photographers and all those sheep like tourists.


No joke 95% of the people here are not speaking English.
Back to camp to prepare for the 10 mile hike down into the canyon tomorrow. We cannot have a fire due to the dry season, but we are having a nice Cuban cigar (thank you David) and enjoying the dim glow of our Coleman lantern. So until tomorrow.




MILEAGE:

Driven: 465mi
Total: 465mi

Walked: 2
Total: 22


- Joshua L. Olson