Between being quite busy and having minimal internet connection, I'm just now getting to write about our last week. We left last Sunday, July 1st, for the Grand Canyon. The timing was a happy connection between having the coach work done and celebrating our 30th anniversary (July 3rd). We reserved two nights at the Trailer Village inside the park and spent a third night boondocking just outside the park. The camping was pretty good and the park was just overwhelming. We arrived after three hours travel and stopped at the visitors center to get some advice on how to spend our time. Then we went out to Mather Point, which is just behind the visitor center, to get out first view of the canyon.
Being Sunday afternoon on a holiday weekend, the crowd was just enormous. We knew that we could ride the shuttle system around the park, so after we set up in the campground, we took the shuttle out to Hermits Rest hoping to be able to ride and watch the canyon go by. Well, riding the shuttle turned out to be like the school bus home after an away game, and, it didn't really go along the rim, just took you to places where you could walk to see the canyon. After a long, hot, tiring day I was just as beat as the folks around us as I pushed the wheelchair back up to the coach. On the way, we saw this guy ambling through.
By Monday morning, I had decided to let Diane sleep and I'd get out to take some pictures myself. I left the coach about 7:00 and took the shuttle back to the visitors center. It was a whole different place. I nearly had the place to myself and I spent a couple of hours walking slowly along the rim trail and taking pictures. This was how I had hoped it would be. So, I had found out that the trick to seeing the canyon on my terms was to be out before the crowds early in the morning. For the afternoon, I took Diane back to the shuttle.
These shuttles are pretty neat. They are powered by natural gas and are very wheelchair friendly. They "kneel" by letting the air out of the front suspension and then they extend a ramp to allow the chair to be pushed on board. Then the chair is secured with tensioned straps and off we go. They are also equipped to transport bicycles, which are available for rental in the park.
There are four loops of shuttles, each designated by a different color, red, blue orange and purple. That's easy enough, but you also have to know if what you want is on an Eastbound or Westbound route and wait at the proper pick up point. That takes a little getting used to and clearly a lot of people did not understand the system. But the shuttles run every 15 minutes all day long starting at 4:30 in the morning and running until an hour after sundown so getting around is not too bad once you get the hang of it.
So, Monday afternoon we took the shuttle to the Geology Museum and toured that and then went out onto the rim trail. I pushed the wheelchair West along the rim, stopping to take pictures and fill our water bottle from the spring water available.
Along the rim there are a great many old, twisted juniper trees that are just captivating.
I wound up pushing her all the way to Bright Angle Lodge, where we had an excellent dinner in the Arizona Room. I figured out later that I had pushed her a little over two miles along the canyon, so she got to see a good portion of it. After dinner we went to the adjoining gift shop and spent some more money and then stopped for ice cream at the stand around the corner. Thankfully, the shuttle bus pickup point was only another 100' or so.
There are two routes in the park that during the summer season are accessed only by the shuttle system, Hermits Rest and Yaki Point. I decided for Tuesday morning that I would go out to Yaki Point and watch the sun come up if I could. I was out there by six am but it was an overcast start to the day and picture taking wasn't the best. Of course, that didn't stop me.
On the way out, I got this grab shot of an elk cow through the window of the bus.
It was the closest I had come to be able to get a picture of an elk. I saw elk every day, but always from the seat of the shuttle bus where there was no opportunity for a photo, so when I saw this I grabbed it knowing it wouldn't be much of a shot. Interestingly, I saw several bull elk from the shuttle and each one was a mature bull with an impressive rack in velvet. Just none that I could get a picture of. Other people I talked to told of standing eight feet away and shooting to their hearts content with flash and everything but it just never happened for me. Finally as we were leaving the Mather Campground area on Tuesday, this guy was along the road and I stopped long enough to get his picture and really annoy the people behind me.
Anyway, after I had gone out to Yaki, I decided to give Hermits Rest another chance. I rode the shuttle out to Pima Point and hiked the rest of the way to Hermits Rest, a little over a mile. One of the nice things about this hike was that I got to see more of the Colorado River in the bottom of the canyon.
Hermits Rest itself is a stone building housing a gift shop and snack bar.
It also has an impressive stone fireplace.
As I was leaving for the shuttle return, a family asked me to take their picture for their Christmas card. In turn, I asked them to take mine.
Since Tuesday was our last day in the campground, I returned by shuttle to pack up and move out. But not before grabbing this shot as we went by the mule barns of some mules all saddled up and ready for a trip down the Bright Angel Trail.
Since this is getting a little long, I think I'll stop here and fill in the rest of the trip in the next posting.
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