Day 40 – Grand Canyon to the Hoover Dam

Wednesday, October 20^th 2010

It rained again all night but I stayed nice and dry in my car after hiking back out of the Grand Canyon. I’ve been very lucky so far, not getting caught outside in any bad weather overnight since I left NJ. I suppose by writing that fact down in internet ink, I just about guarantee myself a sleepless night in a heavy rainstorm, inside a leaky tent, sometime in the next few days.

I got in touch with a friend of mine from FMC today. Kevin was going to be flying into Las Vegas to work booth duty at Supply Side West, a large event for ingredient, flavor, technology and service providers. He was scheduled to arrive sometime around midnight. Before I left on my trip we talked about how it would be great if we were both going to be in Las Vegas at the same time. Lucky enough, it turns out that our schedules synced up perfectly. Kevin and I were in Las Vegas for a conference about 12 years ago but unfortunately I can’t talk about that. You know the motto “what happens in Vegas, ………..”. Let’s just say we had fun. Our boss Graeme is also attending Supply Side, but he’s flying from Belgium, so the nine hour time differential might be causing some ill effects on him. Anyway, now that the next leg of my trip is set up, I’m excited to see these guys and I’m sure we’ll have some interesting Vegas stories to share, amongst ourselves that is.

I left the Grand Canyon area sometime around noon. On the way out of the park, I saw a couple of large, multi-point mule deer and two elk foraging for food. I made my way south, back in the direction of Flagstaff on US-89, en route to Las Vegas, NV, roughly 330 miles away. About twenty minutes before reaching Flagstaff, I came across my first encounter with snow on the road. I thought it was odd to see a snow plow driving in my direction only a few minutes prior. I had checked the outside temperature gauge on my dashboard and it was still 50F. Sure enough though, within two minutes I drove over a thin covering of snow on the road that only lasted about a mile. It must have been a small, concentrated weather pattern formed by the mountains nearby. Shortly after that, the sun came out and then quickly was covered up by dark thunderstorm clouds, followed by a strong hail storm. I took cover under an awning at a remote country store / gas station. This was some of the wackiest weather that I’ve ever encountered, all within a 10-15 minute time frame!

I headed west on I-40 and made it about as far as I could go without running out of gas as I was too stubborn to refuel at $3.39 near the Grand Canyon. I came across a truck stop in Williams, AZ to fill up at $2.79 and paid $10 for a much needed shower. I was back on the road and feeling refreshed but it was only about to get better. In another two hours I would approach the town of Kingman where I saw a sign for an “IN-N-OUT” Burger. I have been wanting to eat at one of these for far too long. I thought this was a chain only available on the west coast but my Uncle Phil alerted me to the possibilities that I could run into one in Arizona. My heart almost skipped a beat as I prepared to pull off at the next exit with the red, white and yellow sign just visible in the distance. I ordered the “Double Double” (double beef patty and double cheese), french fries and a chocolate shake. I’m a believer!

With a clean body and satiated appetite I turned north onto US-93 in the direction of Las Vegas. Along the way I noticed signs for Hoover Dam which is basically the border of Arizona and Nevada. I had never seen the Hoover Dam but it was already dark so I continued on across the border and stayed the night in Boulder City, NV, about 10 miles north of the Hoover Dam. I would backtrack to the Hoover Dam in the morning and then make my way to Las Vegas to meet up with Kevin and Graeme.

Mileage Update: 5,340 miles

Day 38 & 39 - Grand Canyon, AZ

Monday & Tuesday, October 18^th-19^th 2010

I arrived at the Grand Canyon a little after 11pm and headed directly to the Backcountry Information Center and found a spot in the parking lot to get some rest. The office opened at 8am so I set my alarm for 7:15 to give me a good shot at being first in line. It had rained all night and the forecast was for possible thunderstorms for the next five days.

Monday, October 18th

I woke up before my alarm and waited outside the office for an hour before they opened. Once inside, I inquired about a permit but none were available until the following day. There were about 15 people behind me, also hoping to get a permit. On my way out the door, a man and women walked in and asked if anyone wanted to buy their permit for today. I immediately grabbed it.

I happily walked back to my car, permit in hand, and started to pack my backpack. I was going to take the South Kaibab trail from the South Rim (elevation 7,200') to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, staying overnight at the Bright Angel Campground (elevation 2,400'). In order to get to the trailhead, I took a free shuttle from the Backcountry Information Center to the Visitor’s Center. From there, another shuttle to the South Kaibab trail. I started the hike at 10:15am. The South Kaibab route is a 7.1 mile trek downhill through steep and rocky terrain. The hike along the switchback trails offered amazing views the entire way down. It looks as if it is actually a canyon within a canyon, inside of another canyon with several layers of mesas, or shelves which drop off into another lower level. At some points along the trail, you can see 360 degrees around, taking in all the colors of the Kaibab, Mauv and Redwood Limestone and the Cococino and Tapeats Sandstone. After a few miles down, the Colorado River would begin to reveal itself, greenish and turbid from the recent storm. The majority of the trail was how I imagined it to be, rugged and dry with occasional small brushy plants and few trees here and there. About a mile or so from the campsite, the Kaibab suspension bridge enables hikers and mules to cross the river. Finally, the last mile was pretty flat to the campsite. The steepness and uneven trail over the last six miles were really taking a toll on my knees. I’m sure it didn’t help that I was carrying a 40lb pack, 15 of which was from my tent, poles and rainfly, made more for car camping than hiking. I will be looking for a smaller, lighter tent in the next few days. After crossing the Colorado River, the trail meandered along a new, flourishing habitat of tall trees, all types of grasses and vegetation, lots of wildlife and the roaring sound of the fast flowing Bright Angel Creek. I reached the campsite in a little over 4 hours and chose a site about 15 yards from the creek. I immediately set up camp, washed up in the creek, kicked off the boots and napped for an hour or two. After giving my legs a rest, I hiked around a bit more before dinner. I filtered some water from the creek and made some chicken and rice with a side of a blueberry Cliff bar and beef jerky. There were some dark clouds coming in over the canyon accompanied by a lightning show so I put up my rainfly as a precaution. Lights out at 8pm.

Tuesday, October 19^th

My tired body slept well last night. There was some thunder and lightning but not a drop of rain. I took my time getting started this morning. I was going to take the Bright Angel trail back up to the South Rim and my sore legs weren’t too excited to begin the 9.3 mile hike uphill. By the time I got going it was around noon. Even though the Bright Angel trail was two miles longer than the South Kaibab trail I walked down yesterday, I thought it would be nice to get a different view, and the linear rise of the slope should be a little easier on the knees. Fortunately, about 90% of the hike was in the shade, with the tall, nearly vertical walls offering protection from the sun. The first two miles tracked close to the Colorado River before turning inward toward the canyon. The next three or so miles were along waterfalls, creeks and streams. The water gave the necessary nourishment to the park-like setting, very different than the dry and dormant environment that I had anticipated. The two trails differed in that the South Kaibab offered more “wow” vistas of the enormous canyon and the Bright Angel trail seemed more enclosed by canyon walls but with more differing landscapes. As is always the case, the last several miles were the hardest. I found myself eating more food and drinking more water just to lighten up my pack. At times I thought about ditching my tent, not seriously though, knowing that I was going to buy another one soon. I took my time, as my legs and knees were still sore from the day before. I met a guy from Telluride, CO and hiked most of the day with him. If you’ve been reading the blog, you know how I feel about Telluride and now I have a solid contact there! We made it back to the top of the South Rim, walking the last hour in the light of the moon that would be full in three more days. Once at the top, I had another ½ mile to get back to my car. I was bushed and it felt so good to get that pack off my shoulders. I decided to sleep right where I started in the Grand Canyon, in the parking lot next to the Backcountry Information Office. Dinner was a Cliff bar, dried apples and some fruit chews. After two days and 16+ miles, I was ready for sleep at 7:30pm.

Besides seeing all of these amazing places during my travels, I am really enjoying meeting some wonderful people. Here’s to Tim from Telluride, CO, Kent from San Diego, CA, Coline from France and Natalie from Switzerland for sharing their time and some stories along the way!

Day 34 - Phoenix, AZ

Thursday, October 14th, 2010

It was good to sleep in a bed again.

Kevin had already gone to work for the morning and William was off at school. Heidi and I talked about taking Henry and Caroline to the Spur Cross Ranch, a conservation area in Maricopa County. Heidi checked the weather and said “Oh, it’s going to be a nice day today, it’s only going to get up to 95 degrees.” I think we have different perspectives on what constitutes "a nice day". We decided to go on the hike earlier in the day before the sun was directly over head. I went out to my car to grab my water bottle and it was already hot, and it wasn’t even 10am yet.

After lathering up with sun block, we packed their minivan with water bottles, snacks, bags and kid carriers to drive the 15 minutes to Spur Cross Ranch. I toted Henry around on my back using a kid backpack contraption and Heidi carried Caroline in a sling. We walked around for about an hour through fields of mostly different varieties of cacti, small sections of trees and grassy areas and across dried up creek beds. We were in the desert and it was hot. I slowed my walking pace considerably when I approached a tree presenting its small offering of shade. People always talk about the difference of dry air compared to high humidity; sure it is different, but hot is still hot. Not that I ever had any doubt, by living in a desert is not a place for these cold loving bones.

After getting back to the car and strapping in the kids, we blasted the air conditioning to cool off. November is only two weeks away and the average high temperature just recently receded below 100 degrees. I couldn’t imagine long summer days in the 120s.

On the way home, we stopped at an authentic southwestern restaurant serving American Indian / Mexican cuisine, called Indian Village. Based on the owner’s recommendation, I ordered the #14, Navajo Taco. It was a pile of red chili beans, cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion on top of an old Navajo recipe for soft Fry Bread. A few splashes of their hot sauce and it was just right.

I spent a good part of the day uploading some additional pictures, updating links and trying to work on adding some video to the blog, something I’ve been meaning to do for a while, but just didn’t have the time, or the resources. I have now added a tab to a new page where I will post links to videos I’ve taken a while back. I will also embed these videos in the blog post from the day they were shot.

Day 33 - Flagstaff, AZ

Wednesday, October 13^th, 2010

Since I arrived in Flagstaff late last night, I wasn’t too picky about where I was going to sleep. I found a quiet, dark, neighborhood street to pull over on. Little did I know that everyone that lived on the street would be up and about by 6am? I crawled out from the back of my car and into the driver’s seat and made my way to a Denny’s to have breakfast and send some emails. After breakfast, I would go and have a look around.

The first thing I wanted to see was the Arizona Snowbowl, just seven miles north of Flagstaff. There was about a six mile, 2,200’ uphill drive to get to the base elevation of 9,200’. The Snowbowl is located on the San Francisco Peaks, part of the Coconino National Forest. The mountain range was formed by once active volcanoes that are now extinct. There was a nice view from the base overlooking the western side of the largest contiguous Ponderosa Pine forest in the continental US. But what was even nicer to see was the two snow capped peaks! Surprisingly, it snows an average of 260 inches here in this part of Arizona, not much less than many Colorado resorts.

From the Snowbowl, I was back in downtown Flagstaff (elevation 7,000’) in about twenty minutes. I parked my car a few blocks from the main section of downtown and walked around for an hour or two, stopping occasionally from store to store. It's a nice town with lots of shops, pubs and eateries. The weather was very comfortable for a place considered a high altitude semi-desert. I got to travel, even though only for a short bit, on the famous Route 66. Flagstaff is about 150 miles north of Phoenix an 80 miles south of the southern rim of the Grand Canyon.

From Flagstaff, I needed to make a decision about where I was going to go next. Logistically, it probably would have made sense to drive the 80 miles north to the Grand Canyon, but I have a cousin, Kevin, who lives on the outskirts of Phoenix, in Cave Creek. Kevin was scheduled to be traveling in the next few days so I figured now was the best time to go south and see him and his family, Heidi, William, Henry and 7-week old Caroline.

It was about a two hour drive from Flagstaff to Cave Creek. Most of the drive was pretty baron and hilly, with brush and small, Prickly Pear cacti covering the landscape. A little over half way to Cave Creek the scenery changed and it all happened right around “Kid Chilleen’s Badass BBQ Steakhouse” on I-17. Could it be the sauce? It was here that the Prickly Pear cacti grew to about three times their original size and the, up until now non-existent Saguaro cactus, became over abundant. The Saguaro cactus is one of the defining plants in southern Arizona and western Mexico. They can live to be 200 years old, 40-60 feet tall and weigh up to 4,800 pounds! I also noticed the first palm trees of my trip.

I arrived at Kevin’s house at 5pm. I had dinner with Heidi, William and Henry while Caroline napped. Kevin came home around 10pm after a marathon shift at the hospital and we stayed up talking until about midnight. His next shift started in only six hours. Let's hear it for our doctors!

Mileage Update: 4,845.1