YCGL - Sunday, March 12, 2023 - Onward to Home, Kind of, Grand Canyon

I was able to get one night at the Mather Campground at the Grand Canyon for tonight (Sunday).  The site opens at 12:00 and I want to be there as close to that as possible, which was the reason for leaving LV last night (and to just get out of town.  I think I mentioned before, I don't like Las Vegas.)  So, I'm about halfway here in Kingman, and on Route 66 for a while.  Tomorrow, I head off to Navajo National Monument, which is where Betatakin Pueblo is located.  That is the painting we have in the kitchen that Sally and I bought in Santa Fe during my Master's Graduation camping trip with mom and dad in 1978.  (I need to write about that trip also!)  I'm there for two nights, then to Monument Valley for two nights.  I had hoped to get a full day tour of both Monument Valley and Mystery Valley, but no one is doing both yet this year or they require a minimum of two people signing up together.  So I got a 3.5 hour tour of Monument Valley.    Then from there, hustle back to Fruita, CO, spend the night at Jere and Tom's and then a long haul back to Laramie.  I would like to be back on Saturday night, so I can have a day to unwind and then I'm teaching a new session of our Aggregate Workshop on Monday-Wednesday.  

So the hits keep on a'coming.  More news as it happens.

Well, the plans of getting to the campground early didn't pan out well.  I left at 9:00 which should have given me plenty of time to get to the campgound between noon and 1:00 even driving the Route 66 segment between Kingman and Segilman (the longest continuous strip of the mother road still in existence.)  Except, I forgot this was a National Park and the crowd load they have been having since Covid.  When I got there, there was a two hour line of vehicles waiting from Tusayan to the park entrance.  It was after 3:00 when I got to the campground and it was 4:30 by the time I set up and got the bicycle unpacked.  It took almost a half hour getting into the campsite, even though it was a pull through.

There were two trees on each side of the inway to the site, and I tried three passes to snake the pickup and trailer through the gap.  I finally decided to make it a back-in, and again, trees and the narrow width of the pavement made it tricky to get into.  And I couldn't get my backup camera to work.  But I finally made it.  Unfortunately, the elk had beaten me to the site, and I was parked right on top of a pile of sign. which I was able to kick most of out of the way.

Then, off to the canyon!  It was nice on the bike not having to worry about truck parking around the Village.  However, they don't allow bicycles on the path next to the canyon itself, which was fine, but they also don't have bike racks to tie up to.   Which was fine also, it's not that much bigger than some of the baby strollers people are using now.  And you still have the view!

From the sidewalk by Hopi House and El Tovar. (You need to click on this picture!)

 I thought this was funny, it's a far piece from Boston.

As you can tell by the shadows, it was already later in the afternoon, and it was almost 6:00 when I left on the Hermit's Rest road by the Bright Angel Trailhead.  

I stopped at every overlook and point along the road.  I took pictures at every overlook and point on the road.  I'll try and keep it to just a few.  I think everyone knows what the Grand Canyon looks like, but their MY pictures, dang it, and not somebody elses!  So you gotta see a few!!!!

Maricopa Point

The pink face in the center of both of these pictures (taken about a mile apart) is important because in the middle is a cave where a pair of condors have nested.  

This is also one of the few points where you can actually see the river.  Picture taken from Hopi Point.

Colorado River lost in the pastels of the Canyon.

Sunset from Pima Point at 7:30.  

It was one more mile to Hermit's Rest, which I've tried to get to several times over the years.  But the sunset picture also indicates that I am miles from the Village and even further from the campground.  Also my battery had dropped from four bars to three bars (out of five) really quickly and it was getting colder, and I had never ridden with my headlamp, and there were buses to contend with, and I was turning my headlight on and off to save battery, turning it on when I heard a bus behind me.....I was doing about 15 mph driving back, and it was spooky.  And my bike chain was not working properly, and by the time I got to the Village, it was dark.  And my hips hurt from peddling as this was the longest distance I had ever ridden by far.  And I was handholding my phone for the GPS so I could find the bike trail back to the campground.  And I made it safe and sound.  I got back about 8:15, cold with two bars on the battery so I was ok.  I don't remember what I ate for dinner that night, but I sure slept well....

What a great day!  Damn, that was fun!!!