Still with images of the Grand Canyon in the eyes, we left it and drove back to Las Vegas. Another long (and boring) drive within the remote countryside of the US.
Once in Las Vegas airport we discovered than depending on which side you arrive (city or outside) you will have or not signs showing you the way to the Rental Car Return parking. If it wasn't for the u-turn we had to make after driving through the whole airport and not finding any direction, we would have never seen the signs. One would think that returning a rental car is something people do often in an airport, but I might be wrong there.
We then took a very short flight to Los Angeles. Arriving at night gave us the opportunity to see the lights of the city from the sky. Man, LA is huge!
Once we had the luggage, we took a shuttle to Avis to get our rental car. I know we just dropped one.
The representative at the counter was very friendly and tried hard to sell us some extras:
- "you're such a nice couple. how about a convertible for only 20$ extra per day" - I don't think so, especially when one of the passenger is a girl with long hair (remember Bridget Jones)
- "how about an SUV, for only 10$ extra per day" - No, thank you. We're happy with our compact.
- "how about a GPS?" - No, thank you, we brought ours (aren't we so prepared? Thx Wolfram)
- "do you want the Avis 24H assistance for only 5$ per day?" - You mean the one we took for "peace of mind" in the Death Valley and realized that without cell phone network, this assistance will be useless as you cannot call them? No, thank you.
Pissed after trying all the extras, he gave us a Nissan, which at least is more reactive than the Ford. Less space but better engine... not sure it's so bad.
40min later or so (and after a stressful drive by night in the LA fast traffic which Wolfram somehow managed) we arrived at my cousin's.
I happen to have a pretty widely spread family around the globe. Conveniently, my cousin Evan lives in LA and kindly offered to host us during our stay. I always find it better to stay with family/friends when I travel for leisure. I guess I see to many hotels on business trips and want something else when it comes to vacation.
Janet and Evan welcomed us warmly. The family moved in this new house 12 days ago. Note: this new house located in Glendale has a swimming pool and a view on downtown. It was so nice of them to invite us to stay despite the recent move. They claimed the house was a mess but honestly it looked pretty ok to me (I guess they were in the operational stage).
Kids were already in bed, but they had baked cookies for us. Yummy. I just love home made cookies!
Now it's time to sleep. After all we woke up at 5am today, hiked a bit of the Grand Canyon, and flew from Las Vegas to LA. I believe we deserve some sleep.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Grand Canyon - Half of South Kaibab Trail
As you may recall my big frustration with this trip to the Grand Canyon is that we couldn't get a room at the Phantom Ranch, down at the bottom of the Canyon. This means we cannot hike the Canyon all the way down, unfortunately.
But I hadn't given hope on hiking in the Canyon, to some extent. Luckily for us one can take the South Kaibab Trail down until Cedar Ridge. With a ranger, one can have the possibility to go down the trail and descend 350m below the rim. That's not all the way down (1500m or so) but that's better than nothing. The round trip is only 5km so feasible in half a day. The only tiny little detail is that you have to be at the starting point at 7am...
So, once again I dragged Wolfram out of bed at an impossible early hour (5am) but with a very good reason: we were about to go hiking in the Grand Canyon.
As recommended we took the shuttle at 6:05am to reach the starting point. Now at such an early time of the day, the shuttle is pretty empty so we arrive on the rim at 6:25am.
We took a couple of pictures... No we didn't have yet the Grand Canyon under the rising sun of 6:30am.
The hike with the ranger was to start at 7am only. With half an hour to kill we had 2 options: wait or get started. I pushed for the latter. The trail is clearly defined and there is no chance to get lost. On one hand you have the rocks and on the other hand the void. The trail is the only possible place for you to walk.
The trail is pretty steep (obviously). It was a good idea to come so early and walk in the shadow. This same trail under direct sun must be really hard. The further down we were going the more wild the path was. No more steps, just the earth. Are we hiking or what?
We walked down, at our pace, taking pictures every now and then. Sometimes the slope was so steep that gravity was pulling you down and it was hard to control your walking speed. Clearly the view from within the Canyon with on top the sun rising was a no miss.
After 1:15 hour walk we stopped a nice spot in the Canyon for a breakfast with view. We had walked a bit further down than the Cedar Ridge point, and enjoyed the luxury of sitting all alone in the Canyon. Not a single person around, not a single sound: pure silence.
Well we were not completely alone as a couple of squirrels quickly joined us, very interested by our biscuits.
We spent roughly half an hour down there enjoying the view and realizing once again how lucky we are to be able to sit there, in the middle (or so) of the Grand Canyon.
As time was passing by, sun was rising and we could see the shadows disappearing revealing always more of the Canyon.
Then started the way back up. That was hard. The rule of thumb is to plan 2 times longer to go up than down. Took us 1:30 hour without pictures of steady walk with regular breaks for me.
On the way up we met several hikers who were going all the way down. It's funny the unspoken understanding there is between all those hikers who got up super early to hike the Grand Canyon. Without words we understand each other.
We met one father and son pair who were going down (German of course... seems half of Germany is at the Grand Canyon). He told us that he booked the room at the Phantom Ranch 13 months ago. He gave up on the online system and called directly. He spent 40min on the phone to find out when was the first available room, which he booked and planned his vacation around it.
I guess that's what I need to do. Call and book now for maybe next summer or the following and ensure I'll get the hike of a lifetime.
But I hadn't given hope on hiking in the Canyon, to some extent. Luckily for us one can take the South Kaibab Trail down until Cedar Ridge. With a ranger, one can have the possibility to go down the trail and descend 350m below the rim. That's not all the way down (1500m or so) but that's better than nothing. The round trip is only 5km so feasible in half a day. The only tiny little detail is that you have to be at the starting point at 7am...
So, once again I dragged Wolfram out of bed at an impossible early hour (5am) but with a very good reason: we were about to go hiking in the Grand Canyon.
As recommended we took the shuttle at 6:05am to reach the starting point. Now at such an early time of the day, the shuttle is pretty empty so we arrive on the rim at 6:25am.
We took a couple of pictures... No we didn't have yet the Grand Canyon under the rising sun of 6:30am.
We walked down, at our pace, taking pictures every now and then. Sometimes the slope was so steep that gravity was pulling you down and it was hard to control your walking speed. Clearly the view from within the Canyon with on top the sun rising was a no miss.
We spent roughly half an hour down there enjoying the view and realizing once again how lucky we are to be able to sit there, in the middle (or so) of the Grand Canyon.
Then started the way back up. That was hard. The rule of thumb is to plan 2 times longer to go up than down. Took us 1:30 hour without pictures of steady walk with regular breaks for me.
On the way up we met several hikers who were going all the way down. It's funny the unspoken understanding there is between all those hikers who got up super early to hike the Grand Canyon. Without words we understand each other.
We met one father and son pair who were going down (German of course... seems half of Germany is at the Grand Canyon). He told us that he booked the room at the Phantom Ranch 13 months ago. He gave up on the online system and called directly. He spent 40min on the phone to find out when was the first available room, which he booked and planned his vacation around it.
I guess that's what I need to do. Call and book now for maybe next summer or the following and ensure I'll get the hike of a lifetime.
Grand Canyon - Something else than rocks
If you were to argue that this blog has become an endless collection of rock pictures, I could only accept this fair feedback. But what I can I say. It's the Grand Canyon and most of what there is to see are rocks :)
Now if you look a little bit closer you can meet the luckiest squirrel on this planet. I'm talking about this one squirrel that can lie down at the edge of the Grand Canyon and enjoy the view, anytime.
Vegetation starts to invade the Canyon and every now and then you can see bushes and trees :)
And sometimes even cactus:
Now if you look a little bit closer you can meet the luckiest squirrel on this planet. I'm talking about this one squirrel that can lie down at the edge of the Grand Canyon and enjoy the view, anytime.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Grand Canyon – Yavapai Point
Last stop of the day was Yavapai Point. It seems we cannot get enough of the Canyon. But what can you do when a every stop you discover new things?
One more time an amazing view on the Bright Angel Fault, but this time we are standing right on top and in front of it. The little geologist in me was very happy to see such a fault.
Somewhere down there is the Phantom Ranch, where we tried to get a room.
One more time an amazing view on the Bright Angel Fault, but this time we are standing right on top and in front of it. The little geologist in me was very happy to see such a fault.
Grand Canyon – Yaki Point
Next stop in our journey on the West side of the South rim was Yaki Point. Once we arrived there we found out that you have to take a shuttle to reach the viewpoint. This meant driving to Mather Point (which view point turned out to be closed due to some works) and take the free shuttle from there. We decided to park and walk. What we didn't know is that we were looking at 20 good minutes of walk. Fair enough we had used the car the whole day so a bit of exercise would not kill us.
Another great place to stop and have a view on the Canyon (I know, there seem to be so many of them).
From there you can see the Kaibab Trail that goes down into the Canyon... yes that one we will not take :(
Another great place to stop and have a view on the Canyon (I know, there seem to be so many of them).
Grand Canyon - Grandview Point
A bit of historical background on sightseeing at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Once again the view was breathtaking and strangely you don't get bored or tired of it. It's just so beautiful that you can't help staring at it. It's so big that each time you look at it you see something new or different.
Now at each viewpoint I go over the fence and sit at the edge. From there not only do I get a better view but I also have the "king of the world" feeling. I'm sitting there, legs hanging down, on top of the Grand Canyon.
I guess this is called pure hapiness.
I guess this is called pure hapiness.
Grand Canyon – Lipan Point
After spending quality time at the Desert View, we finally left this edge of the rim and started our way back towards the village. Of course we would not just drive back the 23 miles but had planned to stop at several other viewpoints on the road.
First one was Lipan Point, where one can have the best view on the Colorado River of the South Rim and one of the major rapids (so they claim... for some reason descriptions are sometimes a bit too enthusiastic, but to be fair at the Grand Canyon, you can clearly say that you have the biggest, largest, oldest, and more).
Grand Canyon – Desert view
This time we explored the east side of the south rim starting with Desert view.
What you should expect to see:
This time, no clouds in the sky, bright sun only and one could see even further down in the Canyon.
Starting from the right side with the palisades of the desert.
Looking down at the Colorado River (this time I saw more of it).
And looking towards the west part of the Canyon.
I was already amazed yesterday, today I cannot describe what I see. It’s so beautiful I just feel like sitting there, watching it and keep quiet. Speechless is what the Grand Canyon can do to you.
At this edge of the cliff there is a watchtower which we visited. I was expected an empty tower and was positively surprised to discover some Indian painting replicas.
In the tower there was a young man playing Indian music with a traditional flute. It was very relaxing, inviting you to meditation even.
From atop you also get an even more amazing view on the Canyon.
You could also meet some local Indian sitting in his big chair, also know as Big Foot Leo :)
PS: we stopped at the Market Plaza to buy water and snacks. On top we also got postcards and stamps. This place is so well organized that there is a full supermarket (slightly overprice but still ok), a post office and a bank, on top of the usual souvenir shops and restaurants.
What you should expect to see:
Starting from the right side with the palisades of the desert.
At this edge of the cliff there is a watchtower which we visited. I was expected an empty tower and was positively surprised to discover some Indian painting replicas.
PS: we stopped at the Market Plaza to buy water and snacks. On top we also got postcards and stamps. This place is so well organized that there is a full supermarket (slightly overprice but still ok), a post office and a bank, on top of the usual souvenir shops and restaurants.
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