Grand Canyon Day 8: Driving to Caballo Lake State Park

Today we woke up at 6:30am, ate instant oatmeal for breakfast, packed up camp, and left Mather Campground shortly after 8am.

Driving out of Grand Canyon National Park was bittersweet. We had such an amazing 1.5 days there, and did so much in that time, but yet I feel like there is so much more to see and do, and that we only scratched the surface.  The Grand Canyon is certainly one of the most - if not the most - beautiful places I have ever been.

We stopped at Desert View, since Sebastian already had to use the bathroom.  Some of my car decided to go too, so we jogged to and from the bathroom too.

We drove through Flagstaff, stopped for lunch around 3pm 50 miles out of Albuquerque, around Albuquerque, and to Caballo Lake State Park.  I drove the rental Tahoe the entire day - 561 miles!  We arrived at Caballo Lake State Park around 7pm.

It was really windy at Caballo Lake! Emily set up our tent, and Dan and Juan set up their tent.  Everyone else chose to either sleep in the cars or out in the open.

Tommy and Sebastian cooked chicken soup with the leftover chicken, vegetables, spices, and tortillas (as well as some newly purchased rice and broth).  Cole worked to build a windbreak for the people sleeping outside.  I went to call JT.

 Caballo Lake from near our campsite at dusk

As we were eating, Emily said we were going to leave at 5am the next morning - which is the earliest we can drive under university regulations.  Upon hearing this, I decided to go to bed right after dinner.  I even skipped the marshmallow apples dessert since I didn't want to clean my dishes after that.  I felt somewhat guilty about not helping clean up dinner and pack up the kitchen, but also was really tired from driving all day and knew I'd be one of the starting drivers the next morning (with Emily and Tommy).  Everyone was still up and talking loudly once I got in the tent and tried to go to sleep, so I put in my earplugs.

Grand Canyon Day 7: Bright Angel Hike

Today we woke at 6:45am - but we had been awake for a while since the 12 people doing the longer hike had left at 6:40am. Despite sub-freezing temperatures overnight, I slept well and was not cold.

We had a quick breakfast of instant oatmeal and cookies, and added the remaining cookies to our lunches that we had packed the night before.  Most people packed peanut butter tortillas, but that really didn't seem appetizing to me, so I just packed lots of granola bars and an apple.  We all guessed when we thought the entire big group would return to camp.  The others guessed 6:30pm, 7pm, and 7:30pm - so I guessed 6pm since I figured this gave me a good chance of being right (but noted that logically I should have picked 6:29pm).

We took the blue shuttle from Mather Campground to the Bright Angel trail head.  We started hiking around 8:30am.  The four of us hiked down 4.5 miles to Indian Gardens at a pace of about 1.5 miles / 45 minutes.  I know this is a weird way to state a pace, but it makes sense since there were composting toilets and rest areas at the 1.5 mile and 3 mile marks, and Indian Gardens was 4.5 miles down.  The trail down was pretty well maintained and groomed - pretty much like a long ramp.

View from near the start of the Bright Angel trail

Composting toilets at 1.5 miles on the Bright Angel trail

Indian Gardens was really an oasis - lots of trees, grasses, and a river.  We visited the ranger station - which was an unmanned shack with books and information.  They did have a National Parks passport stamp though, so I stamped a sheet of paper and will paste the stamp into my passport once I get home. :)

Self-serve ranger station in Indian Gardens

The guest register at Indian Gardens (photo by Emily)

After wandering around Indian Gardens (our motto all during the hike was 'we've got time', since our idea was to take the shorter hike and not feel pushed), we hiked 1.5 miles to Plateau Point.  This was a neat overlook for the Colorado River.  It was pretty awesome - amazing views in every direction.  We ate lunch at Plateau Point, and took lots of pictures.  As we were taking pictures, a squirrel stole two of our cookies.  Although they were not my cookies, and it wasn't my fault, I feel guilty that it happened and that I hadn't checked to make sure everyone had secured their food.  I hate thinking that we contributed to feeding wildlife.

 Interesting purple cacti on the way to Plateau Point

At Plateau Point, looking back at the trailhead

Looking north-west from Plateau Point

Looking back at the trail head from Plateau Point

Looking north-east from Plateau Point

Looking north from Plateau Point

We hiked back to Indian Gardens, used the composting toilets, and filled our water (and I preemptively used my inhaler).  As we were getting ready to start uphill, we spotted the first people in the fast group reaching Indian Gardens after coming up from the Colorado River.  This certainly added a sense of urgency to our small group - we didn't want to be completely passed by the bigger group.

The other three in my group started up the hill around 1pm at a quicker pace than I wanted - so I just stuck to a comfortable, consistent pace and focused on keeping my breathing consistent.  For a while I would catch up to Emily, Diana, and Andrea when they stopped for breaks, but eventually they disappeared. I continued to move steadily up the hill slightly slower than 45 minutes / 1.5 miles - so only slightly slower than we had descended.  When I reached the trail head at 3:25pm, I was really proud of myself, but not exhausted.  My group, as well as a few people from the longer hike, were waiting at the trail head.   I stretched, and then my small group took the blue bus back to the campground.

Looking back into the Grand Canyon from near the Bright Angel trailhead

My victory picture, immediately after hiking out of the canyon on the Bright Angel trail

We gathered clothing and shower supplies at the campground.  As we were getting in the car to go to the general store and then the showers (at the camper services building), the two cars with the larger group returned.  They returned around 4:10pm - way earlier than any of us had guessed (but I was still closest).

I bought some Cheetos from the store, and then we went to camper services for showers.  I broke a $5 bill into quarters to feed to the showers - they cost 8 quarters for 8 minutes.  I opted for a 16 minute shower.  It was great to wash my hair (and body) for the first time since leaving Austin!  They supposedly had towels you could borrow for free, but I didn't see where to get them so I used my little quick-dry backpacking towel.  Everyone was happy after showering - it was an incredible morale booster.

Once back at camp we found that one of the neighboring campsites had boy scouts from Austin who had spent the week backpacking in the Grand Canyon.  The UT branded Suburbans do seem to be a conversation starter for us!

We left camp at 6pm to take the blue shuttle to go eat dinner together at Maswik Lodge.  There were plenty of options in the cafeteria, but the food was overpriced and not great.  I opted for chicken with mac and cheese and a baked potato.  I was still hungry after finishing this, so I went back to get fries.  I hurried to eat these, and ended up burning my tongue so bad that I got a blister.  I was hurrying because I wanted to go to the 8pm ranger program 'Night Rim Walk' at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center.  Andrea, Diana, and I left at 7:40pm to take the blue shuttle to the visitors center.  We ended up arriving at 8:05pm, and saw no one in sight.  We decided to walk towards the rim in an attempt to find the group. It worked!

The ranger program was crowded - we had to jockey for position at each stop to be able to hear the ranger.  The canyon looked beautiful in the light of the full moon - you could see much more of the canyon by moon light than we had expected.  The ranger actually didn't focus on the features of the canyon much, and mainly talked about constellations and park facts instead.  It was still an interesting talk.

The 1-hour ranger program went by quickly even though I was pretty cold the entire time.  We took the blue shuttle back to camp after the program, and arrived to find everyone sound asleep.  We all went to bed as soon as possible too, since we were tired after the long day.
 
I'm happy that I did the shorter hike.  Although I know I could have done the longer hike, it would have taken me longer than anyone in the larger group took.  Being in the shorter group allowed me to actually enjoy the time instead of just having to hurry the entire time.

Grand Canyon Day 6: South Rim Day 1

Today we woke up at 6:30am, broke down camp, ate a quick breakfast of bagels and instant oatmeal, and were ready to leave Lee's Ferry Campground shortly after 8am.

After saying goodbye to Steve and his dog Pepper, we were on our way to the South Rim.  I drove the rental Tahoe with 4 participants, tents, sleeping bags, and sleeping pads.  I was surprised to see pine trees appear in the desert as we neared the Grand Canyon.

We followed Josh to Grand Canyon National Park, where we got in for free since we had been doing volunteer work at Lee's Ferry with Josh.  We stopped at Desert View for our first look at the magnificent Grand Canyon.  It was really beautiful, but some of us were slightly put off by the many visitors (which apparently are significantly less than during the summer).

First views of the Grand Canyon at Desert View

 First views of the Grand Canyon at Desert View

Then Josh took us to Shoshone Point, which is technically open to everyone but requires a decent hike if you don't have a key to unlock the access gate.  I enjoyed driving the Tahoe off-road on the dirt trail too!

Josh unlocking the gate to Shoshone Point

Shoshone Point was incredible.  Such a great overlook, with no tourists or human-touch in sight.  So amazing.  We took group pictures, a guides picture, and individual pictures here.  The panorama was marvelous.

 Our group looking around at Shoshone Point

Emily chilling on a ledge at Shoshone Point

At Shoshone Point

Group picture at Shoshone Point (photo by Malika)

Guides picture at Shoshone Point (photo by Jena)

Then we said goodbye to Josh.  He's a really cool guy, and having him on the trip was a huge asset.  I wish I had been less sick and fatigued each night, and had been able to sit up and talk with everyone more.

Bye Josh! (photo by Joao)

We arrived at our two campsites on the Aspen loop of Mather Campground around 1:30pm.  We prepared lunch while everyone set up their tents and settled in.  Somewhat interestingly, all the participants set up their tents in the site containing the kitchen, while all the guides set up our tents in the other site. Lunch was pitas with peppers, hummus, chicken, salmon, and sausage, as well as cookies and Sunchips.

After cleaning up lunch, we had free time for a couple hours.  I drove the Tahoe to the general store, where I bought postcards, a magnet, a tee-shirt (a Grand Canyon Life is Good shirt!), and a mini bottle of milk.  Then I wrote and mailed the postcards at the Grand Canyon post office.

Then I decided to walk out to the Rim Trail while chatting with JT.  After walking a short while, I decided to just sit off trail a bit on a piece of rock sticking out into the canyon, and relax and blog.  As I was sitting there, it began to lightly snow! So cool!

 The view from my perch just off the Rim Trail

Then we all took the park shuttle bus to watch the sunset from Pima Point (recommended by Josh). Some people said it was the best sunset they had ever seen.

 Grand Canyon at Pima Point

 Grand Canyon at Pima Point

 Sunset at Pima Point in the Grand Canyon

Once we were back at camp, I started preparing my quesadilla meal. Lots of people helped by chopping vegetables. Emily and I grilled the vegetables, and then let everyone prepare their own quesadillas. We had corn and beans, grilled peppers, zucchini, and onions, chicken, sausage, and cheese. The cheese ran out too quickly since the cheese for this meal was not in the cooler and we instead took the cheese from Thursday's lunch. We're not sure if it was never bought/packed, or if it was used in another meal. Everyone liked the meal, but it left me somewhat hungry. I worked the grill the entire meal, but Emily prepared me a quesadilla so I did get to eat. After dinner we had smores and discussed plans for hiking the next day. We decided that one group would leave at 6:45am and hike quickly all the way to the Colorado River, while the other would leave at 8am and hike slowly to Plateau Point. Emily, Diana, Andrea, and I opted for the shorter hike. Emily and I finally got into our tent at 10:30pm. Since it was going to be a very cold night, I used two sleeping bags.