Day 8 – Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Miles driven today: 3 Cumulative miles: 1824 We were awake by about 6:30am today. Got up and had a quick breakfast, then did the dishes (including the ones from last night’s dinner – no way was I going to stand outside and contend with the moths last night just to wash dishes). Daniel and I both decided this would be a leisurely day for us and we would take it easy on the hiking since we were both still aching from the Supai hike and horseback riding (my right knee, the one that got smashed multiple times between the horses, is slightly swollen and quite stiff). We headed up to Market Plaza around 9:30am and browsed the “General Store” (a combination souvenir/ camping/ hiking gear/ grocery store) just to see what they had and pick up some coffee for Daniel too. Got on the shuttle up to Yavapai Observation Station where we began our hike along Rim Trail. We walked 1 3/4 miles to the Bright Angel Trailhead, seeking refuge from the heat in the air-conditioned shops and studios along the way. We picked up a dice game called Farkel and some score sheets to go along with it. We grabbed lunch at the Bright Angel Lodge while were there and also visited Kolb Studio. This studio was set up and run by the Kolb brothers in the early 1900s. They were the first to really take pictures of visitors to the canyon (and the canyon itself) and sell them to the tourists. Because there was no water at the Rim, one of the brothers would hike down to Indian Gardens (the closest water source) to develop the pictures and hike back up to the studio afterwards. The exhibit at Kolb Studio right now is “I Am the Grand Canyon,” and exhibit featuring the history and culture of the Havasupai Indians. Having just come from Havasu Canyon, home of the Havasupai, it was very interesting. I really had no idea the struggles that the Havasupai have endured, even as recently as the 1970s, to regain tribal lands and maintain their culture. (There is a book, also called “I Am the Grand Canyon,” that explores this topic further for anyone interested in learning more.) After the exhibit, we hopped back on the shuttle and debated what to do during the hottest part of the day. After some consideration (that being “Do I go commando or should we do some laundry?”) we opted to sit in the air-conditioned laundry mat and get all of our clothes clean (we’ve still got 4 days before we make it to my cousins’ place in Albuquerque where I’m sure we could do laundry). We broke out the Farkel game for the next hour and a half while we did laundry. Got it all washed, dried, and packed again and went back to the campsite to make some PBJs so we could put off dinner a while longer. Back in the car, back to Market Plaza, back on the shuttle again, this time to Yaki Point to take pictures of the canyon at sunset. We made it there at 6:30pm, about a half hour before sunset. We got off the bus with about 30 other people who all went left, so we went right. We spent the next hour or so taking pictures, long after everyone else had caught a shuttle back towards the village. When we decided it was getting too dark, we headed back to the shuttle bus stop. Before we were able to get there, we heard the bus come and go. That meant another 15 minutes before the next bus would come along. So, that meant 15 minutes of waiting at a bus stop with no shelter or light and thunder and lightning storms surrounding us on 3 sides. It was a good show to watch, but a little nerve-racking, especially with the thought of ‘did we miss the last shuttle?’ that kept entering our minds. The shuttle finally came (there were only two other people on it) and we went back to Market Plaza where our car was parked. It was about 8:00pm when we got back and we were both pretty hungry by this time. However, the thought of battling Mothra’s minions again at the campsite just didn’t really appeal to either of us. So, we dumped our camera gear in the car and went into the Yavapai Cafeteria for dinner. It was fairly packed with tourists and at any given time you could hear at least 5 languages being spoken around you. Headed back to the campsite about 9:00pm and went to the tent to write in my journal before going to sleep. The campsites on either side of us were both empty when we got in our tent, but about 15 minutes later, the Labor Day crowds started showing up. We apparently had “Guys' Weekend” on both sides of us and got to listen to hours of not-so-intelligent conversation (really, you would have thought it was 12 year old boys instead of grown men next to us). Finally managed to doze off sometime after 11:00pm. Wildlife seen: California condors, lizards, mule deer, moths Miles hiked: ~2.0