Day 37 – Phoenix, AZ -> Grand Canyon

Sunday, October 17th, 2010

I’ve been enjoying the past few days staying with my cousin Kevin and his family. It’s a busy house. Between a 6 year old, an almost two year old and an eight week old, there is always something going on, or something that needs attending too. I’ve brushed up on my knowledge of the strengths vs. weaknesses of various superheroes, tuned my ears to the linguistics of two year old speak and have gotten pretty good at putting a crying baby to sleep. It’s certainly a radical change from my ordinary life, but it’s been great!

Over the last couple of days, I’ve had some time to catch up with a few things that are more difficult to do while on the road; things like laundry, eating off of plates with real utensils, sleep, emails, etc. I‘ve also been planning the next stage of my trip, to hike down into the Grand Canyon for a few days of camping. What I have come to find out is that a backcountry permit is required to do this and that people start to apply for these permits up to five months in advance. I’m not sure if this is a safety thing or just to have some control over the amount of people in the canyon staying overnight outside of designated camping areas? It doesn’t really matter what the reason is, the only thing that matters is that I don’t have one. After a call to the Backcountry Information Center, I found out that there are sometimes permits that become available, for same day use, and are offered on a first come, first serve basis. I was told that my chances of obtaining a permit are much better during the week compared to the weekend. The Backcountry office opens at 8am so I am going to drive their tonight and try to be first in line to get a permit, if one is even available.

Just as I am getting reacquainted with the modern conveniences that I have always taken for granted, such as air conditioning, microwaves, refrigeration, coffee makers and a bed, it’s time for me to go back to spending my days and nights within the confines of a car and a tent. Not at all as luxurious as home living, but it’s a lot better than it sounds, trust me.

So here's to the sleepless parents, Kevin and Heidi and their three great kids, William, Henry and Caroline for letting me stay with them for the past couple of days. Thanks for everything!

I have about 4 hours of driving to do tonight, just over 240 miles to get to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. I should get there around 11pm. Here's hoping there's a permit waiting for me in the morning.