We all got up whenever and enjoyed a lazy morning of reading and steel cut oatmeal before saddling up for a hike into the canyon on the Kaibab Trail, 1.5 miles down and 1.5 miles back up. Joy stayed back reading because she wasn’t feeling too well. Skye hung out with her because dogs aren’t allowed below the rim. We each took a pair of liter bottles of water with us, some trail mix and granola bars, as each of the trails posts a sad story at the trailhead about a 24 year old Boston marathoner who died on one of the longer trails because she and her friend neglected to take enough water and separated when they got in trouble.
We took the shuttle because they don’t allow cars to drive to the trailhead, and stepped off around noon. The views were spectacular, except for the panting, gasping refugees who straggled up the trail as we strolled down. We exchanged no words but their eyes told a weary tale. Along the way, we stopped every 15 minutes for water and tried to limit our picture taking lollygagging. Okay, I tried to limit it (as the chief picture taking lollygagger). We passed work crews from the Civilian Conservation Corps busting up rocks and working on the trail.
The breeze felt good, as most of the trail was fully exposed to the sun. it was hotter below the rim, but only about 85 when we reached our destination a mile and a half below the rim, a place called Cedar Ridge that offered unobstructed views on all sides. It took us about 45 minutes. We sat down under a shrub/tree and fought off the shameless begging squirrels while we snacked, before walking out to the end of the point of land that offered a panoramic view of the canyon. After taking a bunch of pictures and taking in the view, we saddled up and started the 1140 foot climb back to the trailhead and shuttle stop.
We took lots of pictures and rested every 15 minutes, so the climb back wasn’t as horrible as the gloomy looks on the hikers’ faces had suggested. We saw trees and plants growing out of cracks in the rocks, and passed streaks and layers in rocks formed tens of millions of years ago, when the Colorado Plateau was an ancient seabed and seashore. On we climbed and skipped the last rest stop when we could see the trailhead, which took us just over an hour to reach. We resisted the urge to celebrate with high fives all around with the other hikers, and simple climbed back into the shuttle for the ride home to a shower and nap!
Later in the afternoon, we hit the grocery store for snacks for our road trip tomorrow. The AC is not working in the truck again, so the 500 mile trip to Santa Fe might be hot and windy. Who knows? Maybe the dye they put in the coolant in Moab will help the next repair tech actually locate the leak in our system. If that’s all that fails mechanically this trip, we will count ourselves blessed.
After supper, we took the shuttle to the Bright Angel Lodge and hiked a half mile to the trailview overlook to take some pictures of the canyon as the sun set on our last evening here. The crowds made it feel a little like we were back at DisneyWorld, but once we got away from the bus stop to Hopi Point, we had to share the trail only with straggling pairs of young lovers drinking in the ebbing light of the day. After we got back to the trailer, we looked at the pictures we have taken for the past three weeks and went to bed.
