Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon National Park Highlights

Nights without a shower: 4 (we showered on Wednesday evening)

Bathroom Quality: Better than Zion.

On Tuesday morning, we got to the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. YAY!! We were so excited to be there. The area was heavily wooded and very nice. We got to our campsite and started to set up camp. We decided to take it easy that day, chill, explore a little and rest. We played dominos, visited the little grocery store at the campsite, went to the lodge to visit the ranger station and see what all the events were during our stay and made some kabobs that evening. We also attended the ranger-led program that night that talked about the history of the North Rim. We also went to the ranger-led program at the lodge - I fell asleep, but Chris really wanted to learn about the pre-historic creatures that lived at the Grand Canyon. Some of the differences between the North and South Rims are that the North Rim is forested, the trails are more difficult and it's much more secluded and the crazy black/white squirrel lives only in the North Rim.

The South Rim is the more popular place to go as you can see more of the intricasies of the rocks.

Also, on this great day, we found out there was a recycling machine that would give you 15 cents for every can or bottle you recycled. VERY NEAT! This became Chris' hobby of the day. He even went into the trash cans from around our campsite to get more bottles to recycle. Yes, my friends, this gives you a little insight into Chris. He gets into these interesting little projects. You could see the joy in his face once we recycled enough cans to buy himself a liter of water for hiking the next day. He was so proud of himself. HAHA!

Wednesday, oh , Wednesday!

The day came when we would do our grand hike. We would hike down into the Canyon in a decent of 3,000 feet and up the canyong 3,000 feet. It was regarded as an exremely streneous hike. But we were going to do it! We got our waters, lunch and clothes ready the night before. We got up at 5:30am and off we went. For me, the hike down wasn't too bad. The sights were wonderful! You can see the trail were were going on in this picture if you look closely:

We were one of the only ones on the trail that morning. Chris didn't have hiking shoes, so his feet were suffering a bit going down. I was getting hot and since most of the trail had no shade... the sun was really hard on you. Also, the deeper you got into the canyon the hotter it got. The air was very very dry and hot. There were areas where water was running down the canyon though and I would stick my hands in it to cool down and even took my shirt off and wet it and my cap. It was a nice relief. After 3 hours of climbing down the canyon, we got to our destination - Roaring Springs - which was a really nice waterfall. We had a nice relaxing lunch. We had about a 20-minute break and were headed back. About a minute into our hike back, Chris stopped in front of me and was very still. He later told me that it was a snake passing us by. I, of course, started to freak out and wanted to run my way out of the highly vegetataed area. We soaked our hats in the water one last time and off we went onto our up-hill climb. This is the view we had in front of us - the view of what was in store for us to climb. You see the top of the tree line in the center - that's where we were climbing to. Only 30 minutes into the climb, I was getting very tired... and only 1/4 into it, I was ready to stop hiking. The heat was getting to me. I was only taking baby steps and was stopping every ten minutes for a rest and sometimes for a drink of water. Chris was understanding and patient. This is a picture of our narrow trail (yes, I look exhausted because quite frankly, I was).

For me, the half-way point, the point where I would feel that I didn't have that long to go was the bridge we crossed. Again, I look exhausted and terrible - because that's exactly how I felt. See how Chris looked nice and refreshed... hehe

Well, what I didn't know was that the worst was ahead of me. The steepest, most difficult part of the trail was left. We don't have picture of this, but the trail was pretty much sand (fine, like you would find on a beach), very steep, full of pieces of wood that would simulate stairs and MANY switchbacks. It was hard on a mental standpoint because you would get to a point where you think you're making progress and then you could have to almost turn around and go the opposite way. Like a big S. I was so tired that I wanted to cry... but I just didn't have the energy to cry. Chris would tell me frequently, "This is the last leg" or "We're on the home stretch," but we weren't. We still had a long way to go. LONG way to go.

When we finally got to the top I found myself not being able to walk faster than a baby would. I was taking every moment very slowly. We actually didn't do so badly. It took us 4 hours to climb out of the canyon... with a total of 7 hours total to hike that day.

Our prize was a nice hot shower and a nice meal. We were supposed to eat at the Lodge that evening, but because they were booked, we ate a nice steak dinner at the campsite. Needless to say, we went to bed early that night.

On Thursday, we got up later, made a nice breakfast and took a mule ride along the top of the canyon and went on a short hike to get a grand view of the canyon.

We got to eat a SUPER romantic dinner at the lodge at the time the sun was setting (we got a window seat facing the sunset). It was our first meal at a restaurant in several days.

On Friday, we woke up very early and heading East to Mesa Verde National Park. This was our last park before heading home.