Grand Canyon, South Rim, Red Route

The plan was to take off for Phoenix this morning, but not so early that I couldn't get in one more early morning hike.

Steve dropped me at the depot where I caught to Blue Line bus to the exchange for the Red Line out to Hermit's Rest, a trailhead to the bottom and the furthest stop to the west. My plan was to hike back along the Rim Trail as far as I could before I needed to catch the return bus to meet Steve and Mom at 11. 

It was 7:15 when I boarded the Red Line bus, and I couldn't resist another sunrise picture.

I was the only person on the bus for the entire trip, and the driver and I got to chatting. Steve had commented yesterday that driving buses here must be the most boring job on earth. Turns out that is anything but the truth. My driver, who was only a few years younger than I am, loves her job more than anything she has every done. She hopped out with me at the stops where she was supposed to wait a few minutes to stay on schedule. Our conversation got more and more personal. She came out of a difficult home situation, turned to drugs in the 70s, met her husband in rehab and met Christ when they chose a private Christian school for their kids. She radiated joy. By the time we reached Hermit's Rest, I asked if I could pray for her. We embraced despite masks. As I walked 4 miles back along the rim, I prayed that she would be a blessing to everyone she met today.

At Hermit's Rest I found this plaque posted. It fittingly describes the way I have felt the last few days here.

The view from the shop at Hermit's Rest.

If you are looking for an intimate experience of the edge, take the gravel rim trail between Hopi Point and Monument Creek Vista.

It passes the Abyss, which drops 3300 feet straight down.

If you have a fear of heights (or your legs are too wobbly after so much hiking) you might be best off to stick to the asphalted Greenway. My legs were wobbly, but...

When I hopped a bus at Mohave Point to get back in time to meet Steve and Mom, who should be my driver? The same woman. We both felt like it was a God thing.

Last shot of Grand Canyon. Well, at least for 2021.

Cedar Ridge Trail, Grand Canyon

After watching the sun rise from Yaki Point (previous post), I headed for the Kaibab Trailhead. The bus stops there on the way out, but not on the way back. No trail is marked on the map, but the bus driver (who had told me rather abruptly that I would have to walk) kindly pointed me to a shortcut along the rim, so I wouldn't have to go the long way around by the road.

It was 7:30 when I started down the trail, and the rocks were still rosy with the dawn.

The trail begins with a series of switchbacks.

The place where people are gathered near the center of the picture below is called Oo Ah Point for obvious reasons. I was amazed at how many young families I saw there on my way back up. I'm sure they had to carry the kids back, and they undoubtedly weighed more than my pack.

Here is the view that elicits the oos and ahs.

I had planned to hike 1.5 miles to Cedar Ridge. That doesn't sound like much, but the trail drops 1340 feet. And then, of course, there is the return. From Oo Ah Point I could see the rest stop at Cedar Ridge which looked to be pretty much at the same level as the enticing red butte in the middle of the picture. It's not. It probably took me another hour to descend from Cedar Ridge to the pyramid and return, but it was worth it. I sat in the shade and drank tea and ate cheese and crackers and watched the more ambitious hikers continue toward the bottom.

Then there was the return to the rim...

I had no commitment to meet up with Steve and Mom until supper, so I had plenty of time. The day began with a stocking cap and gloves as well as my jacket. Temps were in the 30s. The floor of the canyon was predicted to reach 90. By the time I reached the rim, the jacket, gloves and cap were stuffed in my backpack, and I had unzipped the legs from my hiking pants so that I was wearing shorts. I stopped at every shady rock. I enjoyed the views, sipped tea or drank water from my camel pack (a backpack with a plastic bag of water and a built in "straw" that reaches around so I can drink without taking the pack off). I readily stepped aside to make way for anyone coming down hill. They thought I was being nice. In fact, I was taking every opportunity for a break.

Stuff does fall from the cliffs.

Mules use this trail. I was happy not to meet any, but there was evidence that they had been there.

I made the rim by noon after 4 and a half hours on the trail. (I took too many tea breaks to claim 4.5 hours of hiking.) After calling Steve to let him know I was back on the surface, I walked the rim trail as far as Mather Point near the visitor center. Then I hopped a bus to transfer to the red route and see the other end of the park--the part that isn't accessible to cars these days.

The buses are handicap accessible, but the depot was too far from the parking for Mom to walk. When I asked the bus driver what he recommended, he told me we could get a code that would allow access for the car to any place the buses went. I hopped off at the next stop and called Steve. He brought Mom, got the code at the entry gate, and met me at Hopi lookout. We continued down the road stopping at every overlook or pull out. Mom got to see lots more without having to leave the car.

But not getting out of the car, is not my thing. So again tomorrow Steve agreed to bring me in to catch the bus west before we left for Phoenix.

Sunrise at Grand Canyon, Yaki Point

Steve brings me to the visitor center shuttle bus depot where I catch the 6:30 AM orange line to Yaki Point. The bus is surprisingly full for the early hour. At 70, I am probably the oldest person present. Most get off at the Kaibab Trailhead. About half a dozen of us continue on, including a gray-haired couple.

When we leave the bus, there is a hushed silence. No one speaks above a whisper. I settle myself on a rock just above this gap in the rim to eat my granola bar, drink my tea, and pray as I wait.

To my left a young woman wears such an expectant expression that I ask her permission to take this.

Someone wanders to a point further east. Others soon follow.

And then the sun begins to touch the peaks.

The light grows. The color spreads. And a new day at Grand Canyon begins.

Grand Canyon, South Rim

We felt the vastness of the Grand Canyon much more at the South Rim than at the North. It's also more crowded.

We found a picnic spot at an overlook...

...where we enjoyed the incredible view

It's often hard to glimpse the Colorado River so far below. I am amazed at God's patience in carving out this place. I had to pinch myself over and over. I'm really here.

I took a gazillion more pictures, but I won't bore you. Besides, I'll have a gazillion more tomorrow. I have been mentally stringing them all into a movie with instrumental Christian music in the background. That will have to wait until we get home.

We saw elk several times.

We settled Mom in the hotel room a few miles from the rim, and Steve and I returned to Yavapai Point to watch the shadows change as the sun set.

On the schedule for tomorrow? Sunrise and an early morning hike.
 

Grand Canyon, North Rim

Our National Parks book (companion to the scenic highways book) says the North Rim can be closed in November. By the time we got to the gate (which was open), Steve said even if it had been closed, the drive would have been worth it.

Hwy 89A is not marked as scenic on our maps, but the views of the desert and Vermillion Cliffs followed by a winding mountain road through Ponderosa Pines were awesome. In fact the marked scenic byway south to the park entrance, was much less scenic with much of it having been burned over in 2000.

 

The park is at 8000 feet. On the climb, we saw patches of snow in the shadows, but a light jacket was fine in the sun.

 

“Awesome” is not a big enough word for the Grand Canyon. Everyone we met seemed to have a silly grin of delight on their face. I overheard one seven-or-eight-year-old boy as he got his first glimpse. “Whoa!” Exactly. My one complaint about the main lodge area is that there was no way to get Mom closer than eighty steps from a viewpoint. She laughed when I suggested it. Fortunately, Cape Royal  allowed parking close enough for her to see, plus plenty of pullouts that were not too crowded at this time of year for Steve to pull in parallel to the curb where she could view without getting out of the car.

 

This is NOT the Grand Canyon. It’s only a side canyon, Roaring Springs, where we had our lunch at the only viewing point Mom could get to. Even that involved a couple steps.

 

 

Walking out to where the world drops off.

 

 

This is the Grand Canyon, or at least, one little corner of it.

 

 

Steve walked the Bright Angel Point trail, despite his fear of heights. (I later ran into a woman who refused to go out there.)

 

 

He even crossed this part. Very carefully.

 

 

While we’re doing panos, how about staying in this lodge?

 

 

Or maybe one of these cabins?

 

 

After our picnic lunch, we drove around to the campground, where Steve and Mom dropped me off to hike the Transept trail 1.2 miles along the rim back to the main lodge.

 

 

This was the perfect spot to stop for a cup of tea.

 

 

When I got back to the lodge, we headed for Cape Royal and Imperial Point, the highest viewpoint in the park at 8800 feet. Far off, you can see where the Colorado river enters the canyon.

 

I've lost track of where these pics were, and I'm too tired right now to figure it out, but I hated to scrap them.  I'll try to get back later and label them better. In the meantime, enjoy.

According to the guidebook, only one in ten visitors to Grand Canyon National Park comes to the North Rim, making it much less crowded and commercialized. The assumed reason is that the road from one rim to the other is 203 miles. But they are 203 very scenic miles, so I strongly encourage you to do it. Tomorrow we head to the south rim. But not before I take another early morning hike here.