We set our alarm to wake up early today so we could go on a ranger-led hike into the actual canyon. We were running a little late and so we had to be patient with the free shuttle buses that took us out to the trailhead. We soon caught up with the group as they made their way down the windy path down into the canyon. It was a great hike down South Kabib Trail to Cedar Ridge with Ranger Mike. The walk down was quite cool in temperature and at one point we had to hug the canyon wall in order to let the mules slip and slide their way down the steep steps (how’s that for alliteration!). Apparently they like to stand on the edge and most people’s reflex is to the same, so we were told not to otherwise they would just push us straight off! They like to be on the edge so that they can see predators from above and not be under the cliff face and vulnerable to mountain lions etc. My reflex was actually to get as close to the wall as possible, rather than standing edge side!!
We stopped several times for Ranger Mike to tell us information about the canyon and it was interesting to know that most people don’t venture into the actual canyon itself. Apparently from the visitor centre you can see the trail we were on and most of the time they comment on how ‘no one goes down there.’ So Mike said to go over there after the hike was done and comment on how we’d gone down there! He also stopped to tell us about the magical plant from which tequila is made! He said it can grow up to two foot in a day and then when it dies it spreads its seeds down the hill in the hopes some will grow. Apparently the particular variety of plant we saw doesn’t make nice tasting tequila – one of his friends tried to make his own with this plant and it was pretty disgusting he said! It is called an Agave plant.
We continued walking and were finally out in the sunshine. It was incredibly windy at ‘Ooh Aah’ point (Ooh, aah McGrath!), which had no sign, but showed a lot of the eastern side of the canyon and usually makes people go ‘ooh, ahh’ – hence its name. We had to hang on to our hats otherwise they would’ve been blown away! It was just as windy at Windy Point. A few more crazy hairpin twists and turns and we were at Cedar Ridge. It was a large flat area with restrooms and little squirrels wandering around trying to steal food. Apparently they can be pretty forward and aggressive and aren’t afraid to steal! We were going to continue on to Skeleton Point which is the furthest they recommend people hike in one day, but it was so crazy windy that Will convinced me we should just hike back up and then along the rim instead. All the buses and brochures and even a few signs on the trail told people not to try and walk to the river and back in one day as it’s just too far! It doesn’t look that far so I could see why people could be tempted! The hike down to Skeleton Point would have made our round-trip about 10 miles rather than the easy 4 to Cedar Ridge. In retrospect I’m glad I listened to him because it was a super-steep climb back up to the rim from Cedar Ridge! It is tough being able to walk down into the canyon – which is the easy part – and then when you are tired, having to walk back up again! The weather was definitely cooler than it had been the previous day when we melted on the rim, but the wind was horrible. We powered up the hill, which seemed so much steeper on the way up, pausing for rests and drinks. We leap-frogged our stops with other people – all of us were suffering! Finally we were back at the top, after a punishing forty minute climb. Another drink stop and we refilled our water bottles from one of the many stations scattered around the park. A great initiative, designed to stop people throwing away their water bottles. I am a sucker for BPAs though and usually just reuse my bought plastic bottles until they die. They had some crazy statistics on how many plastic bottles are bought a year – I know it is ridiculous, but until they make recycling as wide-spread as countries like Germany, then people will still purchase plastic bottles and not recycle them.
We had a rest and a snack – lots of salty food to replace the salt we’d lost through sweating on the hike. Fine by me – I love chips! It was healthily balanced with a banana each and then unhealthily balanced with Will’s new favourite chocolate bar from Walmart. Wafer biscuit and peanut butter covered in chocolate. Like a Reese’s peanut butter cup, but in a bar with crunchy wafer! I also spent some time reading the noticeboard at the top of trail and was stunned by the story they had posted up there. Apparently a ‘gifted medical student’ had perished in the canyon not long ago. The stupid girl and her friend had planned to hike to the river and back in one day, but their anticipated 16 mile hike was actually a 26 mile hike as they didn’t read their map properly or check our the situation properly. She had 1.5 litres of water with her and one apple and a snack bar. It was the height of summer and her and her friend got 10 miles into the hike, ran out of water and collapsed in the 40 degree heat. They realised they were in trouble, separated (dumb idea) and this girl’s body was found a day later. The other girl had waited out the heat by staying in the shade all day, then found her way out. Gifted medical student my butt. Obviously people can be pretty stoopid and I can understand why she died. As it was, Will and I were there in Spring when it wasn’t hot, we had nearly 5 litres of water between us, three bananas, a bag of chips and several amazing wafer bars. And we had only intended to hike 10 miles! I had even considered bringing lunch! But this story just reminded how stupid people can really be – use common sense people!
Then we continued on along the rim of the canyon, stopping take pictures as we went. Will is loving the new camera! In all the time I’ve known him, he’s never taken so many pictures – even when we were in Europe last year. Yay! We saw some official looking ranger people out on a ledge taking pictures with fancy cameras and tripods. When they left I decided I needed a picture out on the ledge too – but not as far out as they went! As Will was taking the picture, an American couple came and offered to take the photo for us. The guy was really good and even made us take our hats off (my hair was pretty sweaty and gross so I didn’t want to but he insisted) and told us how far out on the ledge to go. The photo he took was awesome and now is the photo at the top of this blog! He also reset a couple of things on the camera and taught Will the beauty of using the viewfinder to take pictures, rather than the digital screen. They also told us that we must go through Nashville, Tennessee, as that is where the lady is from. We’ll see how we go, but I must admit I’m not a huge fan of country music!
We continued on, with our poor feet getting sorer and sorer. There were lots and lots of people walking along the lovely, paved path (no rough mule track for their lovely clean shoes) which is what I think most tourists do. Finally we made it to the touristy-est part of the trail and we took our photos amongst the throngs. It was a pretty good point to be taking photos from though. Then we made it back onto the shuttle bus and caught it back to the camping ground. An awesomely refreshing shower later and it was time to rest our poor feet! A nap turned into four episodes of Teachers and then we had awesome flame-grilled burgers for dinner for about the fourth night in a row! Thank goodness we didn’t have to pay $7 for a pathetic bundle of firewood!
That night we went back to the Shrine of Ages for another lecture – this time about weather in the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately the giant stuffed stag was gone so I didn’t get a photo with it L. The lecture was quite interesting, mainly about the weather patterns in the canyon and how it is actual a monsoonal cycle. The Ranger also told us how about 5 people are killed a year from falling into the canyon – all of whom are males between the ages of 21 and 35. I gave Will a look at that comment – don’t want him to become a statistic like that J. We also saw a crazy picture of a lady standing on the rim during a storm. Her hair was all standing on end because of the static electricity in the air prior to a lightning strike. Crazy woman. The Ranger showed us how the weather moves in from the east and also from the southwest and meets over the canyon, creating weird weather patterns. It was very interesting, although I’m not sure how much I actually absorbed! The auditorium was nowhere near as packed the previous night.
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