Cross Country Tour – Day 15

12 September 2016

OK, I’m getting good at this. I did 9.73 miles today on the West Rim trail at Grand Canyon, South Rim.  Admittedly, it was a very easy trail and paved most of the way and the temperature stayed below 80 F and there was a great breeze.  Still, it was almost 10 miles at an elevation from 6,000 – 7,000 plus. I climbed to 1300 plus feet over the distance.

The night before had just gotten started when I woke at 10:45 pm and needed to pee. I used the second key card that was in the packet given. I had been warned not to put the key card near a credit card or electronic device.  This one had not been near either.  I completed my business and tried to re-enter the room.  No go.

I walked to the lodge office and had to wait while a man explained his problem. As near as I could make out, he had been hiking the Bright Angel Trail and had sprained his ankle.  Someone loaned him a pair of walking sticks and at 10:45 pm, he had just gotten to the rim.  He was leaving the walking sticks for the person who loaned them. He was exhausted.

He asked if there were any rooms available in the park.  The answer was one room but it was a 15 minute walk away with good ankles and the desk closed at 11 pm.  He then asked about a taxi to take him to the visitor’s center 5 miles away.  I started to tell them if he took the taxi, he could make the 11 pm desk closing and get a room but the desk clerk didn’t seem interested.  Apparently he parked his car at the visitor’s center and walked down the Bright Angel Trail without any gear!  The park website warns it is a dangerous hike and it has lead to several deaths.

In any case, I got my key card re-imaged and got back to my bed around 11:15 pm. I got up around 5:00am and was on the trail by 7:30 am.

For the most part, the west rim trail is paved. There is a section in the middle that is more typical of trails. It seemed every bend in the trail brought a more spectacular view.

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Near Powell Point I met an artist painting the scene, Dawn Sutherland. She’s part of this weeks art-in-the-park where artists from all over the U.S. Come to paint to raise money for the Grand Canyon Foundation.  We had an interesting conversation (I needed a rest) and we exchanged contact information.

The trail only had a few early birds at first and some regulars either passed me or I passed them along the way. One couple was taking the shuttle from overlook to overlook and I kept a running conversation with them.  Towards the end of the trail, a good many people were coming towards me, but I don’t think very many people hiked the entire trail. I rode the bus back from Hermit’s Rest and most got off and one off three stops back to the lodge, so they were using the shuttle on a regular basis.

Hermit’s Rest is an interesting end-of-the-trail building designed by some famous architect with an amazingly large fireplace inside.  It has been converted into a gift shop and deli for the shuttle crowd but it still retains it’s charm.

This has been a very exciting day for me.  I did a long hike, saw beautiful country, met new people, and re-fell in love with the canyon.  Tomorrow I’m off to Joshua Tree National Park for one night en route to Kings’s Canyon/Sequoia National Parks.  Any one up for scheduling a white water rafting trip down the Colorado?