Our campsite here at the South rim is wooded and cool. The site itself is narrow, with a tree smack in the middle of the pull-through. The ranger said he didn’t have another available and to do the best we could. Ultimate challenge to Lenny – he backed it in – boulder edging and all!! (did I mention that he actually parallel-parked this thing on the North rim?) He will get the driver of the year award!!
We managed to get an early start and go on the Fossil Walk with a ranger. It was so interesting and hard to believe that the canyon at one time was ocean – as evidenced by the marine fossils found.
Leaving Ed to scout out dinner (always planning on the next meal!) the three of us ventured down the Bright Angel Trail. This may sound familiar, because we did it on the North rim. We realized that - alas!- the trails transverse the canyon bottom and come up the other rim! We encountered camper/hikers who spent 2-3 days hiking from north to south- truly adventurous. We were happy to travel a bit more than a half mile down, leaving Lenny behind. Marie and I felt it was not an easy trail, even though it is one of the more popular ones.
When we finally called it quits, we had to return up and believe it or not – we got pretty good cell reception in that most unlikely place. We rendezvoused with Ed and began our trek back to the campsite via the rim trail. Again, it was hard to believe we were really there. The mountains seemed so fake against the beautiful backdrop of sky. That night we had dinner at the El Tovar Lodge restaurant – on the canyon rim. Quite delightful, though we were exhausted and missed our shuttle back to the camp stop. We had to wait for the next one - and then walk an additional mile to the RV.
1 comment:
Post a Comment