Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Grand Canyon 2017 - Day 5

It's a pre-Christmas miracle - I'm back at my blog after a 3-month hiatus for no reason other than I couldn't get motivated to write/caption/post.  Now to pick up where we left off at the Grand Canyon...

For the 5th day of our Grand Canyon road trip, Todd and I decided to hike down Bright Angel Trail.  We caught the shuttle into the park and once there took another shuttle, the blue line, to the trailhead. We started the hike around 9am, which in hindsight was way too late, but we did it anyway.

Our original destination was "1 1/2 Mile Resthouse" which is exactly that - a rest house 1 1/2 miles down the canyon.  Beyond that, the next point on the trail is the 3 Mile Resthouse.  Todd really wanted to do the 3 mile one, which means 3 miles down, then a 3-mile continuous climb back up for a total of 6 miles.  I thought this would be way too much, but we did it anyway.

The physical exertion and heat was extremely rough even though we had food and plenty of water.  Looking back, the one note I made while on the trail was "Dying."

Looking back up the trail while just starting out on the way down.  Think of this and worse, in the sun, for 3 miles.
A very good place to start
Todd accidentally looks like he's delivering mail
We went that-a-way
View from the top
Ok, here we go
First tunnel
Making progress - looking back
Down, down, down
People below us on the trail for some perspective
A steep switchback - looks more like a rollercoaster than a walking trail
Yes, we had to walk back up all of this
So that little point of rock sticking up just below the center of the photo?  That's the 3-Mile Resthouse - our destination.  OMG is right.

I think this was a Steller's jay:  Cyanocitta stelleri
Amazing views
We were up against the canyon walls at some points on the trail - gives an idea of how far down we'd gone
A little closer?
Trail shot
Zooming in...
...but we were still far off
A view to the left of the rock striations
Looking back at a series of steep switchbacks
We finally made it...
...to 1 1/2 Mile Resthouse.  The building you see is the bathroom.  Out of frame on the right is the rest house and a water spigot for refills.
Here is the rest house - a small covered pavilion with benches in which to take shelter and rest.  Cruelly, it's up a steep (but thankfully short) flight of stone steps.  I didn't even try to manage the steps when we were on the return trip.
Hike smart.  People die out here every year.
Look out of the rest house

We rested for about 10 minutes the continued on.  This is a zoomed-in shot of the 3-mile rest house.  The toilets are to the right of the peak
Looking back the way we came
Still pretty though
Here comes mailman Mike mailman Todd Todd.  This picture shows what much of the path is like:  broken up by rocks/logs across the path and filled with dirt/sand.  Even going down was still strenuous.  Going back up was murder.
It's farther than you think
The trail leads to the rest house, then beyond to the toilets
Canyon walls to the left
Canyon walls to the right
Canyon walls back the way we came
Trail shot
A closer look.  It's filled with dirt and rocks and is like walking on sand.  With rocks.
Beautiful
And we made it!
Looking back

Stopping to rest under the tree as the rest house is full of people
Hike Smart
Ok, time to head back
Stepping aside for a mule team of supplies heading down into the canyon



It's so easy going up.  I ran ahead and waited for Todd to catch up.
Except that's not true.  Going exceedingly slow was more wearing on me so I kept a steady trudging pace and struggled on until I came to a little spot of shade in which to rest.
A mule team is coming up from far below
Beautiful but deadly
Switchbacks
There's no fence or rail - being sloppy or careless is not an option.  Zoom in and you can see  the 3-mile resthouse and bathroom we left earlier.
A closer look
Stepping (carefully) aside for the mule team.  One of the mule drivers told us we should go back down around the corner to see a big horn ram and a ewe that crossed the trail.  Though we said "ok, sure, thanks", at that point he could have said there's a singing unicorn handing out diamonds and hugs and I still wouldn't have backtracked. 



We've come a long way
Still beautiful, and we didn't die

We finally made it back to the rim about 5 hours after we started.  We made our way to the shuttle stop on jelly legs and rode it back to the visitor center where we grabbed lunch at the bike shop.  From there we went back to the hotel and crashed until dinner.

After we ate we stopped in the gift shop so I could get a Bright Angel Trail pin.

For dinner we decided to try one more time for steak, and this time it was as good a success as we were going to get.  Just before 6pm we all headed across the street to the Canyon Star steakhouse at the Grand Hotel.  We were the first people through the door when they opened at 6.  I had a house salad to start, then a NY strip with carrots, asparagus and baked potato, and a Hob Nob Pinot Noir.  For dessert I had black forest cake followed by an Irish coffee.  The food was just ok, especially for the price, but our expectations were not set sky high to begin with so we weren't really complaining.  A little ways into dinner "Banjo Paul" took to the stage to play and sing and he was really good, so there was that.

After dinner it was back to the hotel and to bed.  We were wiped out, but proud of our accomplishment on the hike that day.  It was a great way to wrap up the visit to the Grand Canyon, as the next day we would head out for home.

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