Grand Canyon (slightly long winded)Jul 20, 2008
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Linds
BIGFOOT
Damn, that's a grand ass canyon
| So, this weekend was the Grand Canyon. Al I have to say is, WOW! We actually ended up staying in Rehoboth on Friday night so we could go to the Gallup flea market on Saturday. We were planning on going to maybe see Wall-E, but we decided to hit up Taco Bell instead. Who goes to a Taco Bell in New Mexico? Well, we do…we kept seeing commercials for Queso Crunch wraps, and we HAD to have one. Other than that, we just packed up for the big adventure. The flea market…ahh…the flea market. If you couldn’t find it there, you don’t need it anyways! They had everything you could ever imagine. We got some bootleg DVDs at 2/$5. We haven’t watched them yet, but I’m hoping there aren’t heads in front of use like someone taped it at the theatre. The jewelry prices couldn’t be beat. We each got a few pieces, and we saw ones similar the rest of the weekend for 10 times as much, no exaggeration. They had hay, produce, dogs, rabbits, food, saddles, blankets, antiques, hand-etched pottery, perfumes and lotions, clothes, shoes, tools, and much more. Other than jewelry, I got an antique medicine bottle (Piso’s Cure for Consumption) to add to my collection, some homemade salsa, and some beads to make jewelry with. On our way out of town, we got some fry bread for the road. The man selling them tried us into getting one each instead of sharing, but they are bigger around than dinner plates. They’re huge, greasy and absolutely delicious. On a side note…at the clinic we have a ‘healthy’ fry bread recipe that involves whole wheat flour and vegetable oil instead of lard. Let me tell you, they don’t go for it. The Grand Canyon was better than I could have ever imagined in a million years! It sounds cliché, but it was absolutely breathtaking. Pictures and words cannot do it justice, you have to see it to believe it. On Saturday afternoon we checked into the hotel after we drove up from Gallup. We lost an hour (time zone change) in the process, and so we arrived fairly early. I have to say, the hotel was probably one of the nicest ones I’ve ever stayed at. I wish we were staying there longer so we could have enjoyed all of its amenities. It had a game room, a bowling alley, restaurants, a gift shop, bars, an outdoor pool, a spa, etc. etc. Total, we were in the hotel for well less than 12 hours. After we checked in, and got in a little MySpace and Facebook fix, we headed straight for the canyon. Even with the haze, it was a first sight I’ll never forget. As you’re driving it, you get tiny glimpses of the canyon, really just a tease until you see THE canyon. You’re walking, and all of the sudden it’s just there. In the middle of nowhere, there’s a canyon hundres of miles long and miles across…formed by a river that’s now so far down, you can only see it at a few points along the rim. That night, we walked a mile or so along the rim, and it took FOREVER because we stopped for so many pictures. We were really anticipating the sunset, but it was so hazy we couldn’t really see it. The canyon still changes colors and it was still beautiful. On the way out of the park, we got to see some “caribou.” Actually, they were mule deer, but we like to call them caribou or elk or moose, it sounds much more exotic. We actually did 3 U-turns to see them more, but then traffic was starting to back up, so we decided to move along. We were starving, so we stopped along the way back at ‘WE MAKE PIZZA AND PASTA.’ As opposed to who else? Anyways, it was really good and we got to try a Grand Canyon Pale Ale. Lindsey didn’t like it very much, but I actually thought it was pretty good. We went to bed early, so we could get up for the big hike the next day. The next morning we went for continental breakfast (we’re pretty big suckers for continental breakfast these days). We really weren’t sure what the plan was for the hike, but we were just winging it. We decided to shuttle over to Bright Angel Lodge and hike down into the canyon rather than doing the rim first. There was a couple on the shuttle that looked exhausted and were covered in dirt. They told the bus driver that they had hiked down in the afternoon and hiked back up through the night with headlamps. Everyone I’ve spoken to says you don’t do it in a day, you just can’t. Knowing this, we decided to try to hike down to the mile and a half rest point and then come back up. The walk down is pretty easy. Right at the beginning of the trail, a man told us to get our cameras ready. I was like, well the view is great, but we already knew that. Little did we know that we were about to see big horned sheep just getting a little breakfast! We were so close, we could have touched them. Other than a few slips and slides, the rest of the trip down was fairly uneventful. Unfortunately, we were not far behind the mules taking people into the canyon, and I don’t think I need to explain that any further. It seemed like much further than a mile and a half down. When we finally got there, we used the bathrooms, got some food in our systems and hydrated. The squirrels, well you’ll have to ask Linds about them. Let’s just say they’re basically her favorite animal and she wishes she could bring like 10 home. The guides told us that the amount of time it takes to get down it takes twice that to get back up. Let’s just say we made it about 100 feet up and we were like…well, time for our first water break. It was tough, but as long as you stop when you need to and keep hydrated, it’s really not too bad. Some of the people going down, I wanted to advise them (strongly) to TURN AROUND! We ended up making it back up in the amount of time it took to get down, so I think we did pretty well. After a quick hotdog break and some professional gift shopping, we hiked a few more miles along the rim. We then called the day a success and decided to head back. Along the way, we stopped at the General Store for supplies (actually, before the hike Lindsey wanted to stock up on beef jerky and trail mix – fearing we would get lost on the trail and starve to death). I settled for some caffeine and a bag of chips. Oh yes, and a gallon of water to try to remove all the dust from my body (unsuccessfully I might add). I drove the first half while Lindsey slept and then we switched. I took a quick nap, but woke up during a monsoon that almost flooded us off the road. We stopped a little while it toned down and stopped quickly to get some lunch meat for the week. We also discovered over the weekend that we share a strange passion for puzzles, so we picked up a 1000+ piece to work on this week. I give it a few days and it’ll be done. Stay tuned for thrilling puzzle updates. In summary, the only way to truly believe the canyon is to see it. Period. I’ve added hiking to the bottom of the canyon and/or rafting, horseback riding, and camping at the bottom to my to-do list. Jonathon will LOVE it, and eventually we’ll make it out here I’m sure. Finally, this is a side note for Galen. I think Gallup may be your dream home. The golf course is getting so torn up by prarie dogs, that on Thursdays, they give you a rifle and a golf cart and tell you to go wild. It combines like your two great loves in life! |
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