Friday, March 25, 2011

Out of the truck and into the canyon.

The six hours to Prescott fly by. I stop by my Mom’s work to say hello, to let her know I’m safe. Then I head over to Chris’ house to hang out for a few hours, unwind a bit, before heading off once more to Courtney’s place to go grocery shopping for our Grand Canyon trip tomorrow. It’s a whirlwind, and by the end of the day I am exhausted.

 

Up early, and ready to roll north. I’m going light this time, about 12 pounds of stuff. I’m opting not to take a camera on this trip for one simple reason: I don’t want to worry about trying to get a magical picture this time down. I want to just enjoy the scenery without framing and f-stops running through my brain.

 

We hike down the South Kaibab trail, which is in amazingly good shape. It takes us only three and a half hours to get down, which is pretty quick for us. We are staying at Phantom Ranch, with some of the employees whom Courtney knows. We are scheduled to stay one night, and so we settle in, kick off the dusty boots, and take a dip in the Bright Angel creek. Cold and invigorating.

 

We eat dinner with her friends, meet a few of the other guests, and spend the night partying down in the bunk house. Upon waking we are invited to stay another night, something which neither of us want to turn down. Sowe decide on a long day hike after helping with some chores. We hike six easy miles up the North Kaibab trail to Ribbon Falls. It is gorgeous, and we sit and enjoy the view of cascading water for a long while before lacing back up and heading back to the ranch for another amazing dinner. It’s a quiet night in the bunkhouse this time around, and we pass out early.

 

Up before breakfast, and we do the short river walk before heading to the cantina to eat up. Once again, we are invited to stay another night. Thrilled, we agree. Courtney decides to chill out for the afternoon while I go up the Clear Creek trail a couple of miles to a scenic overlook, getting a nice view of the river.

 

Another stellar dinner, and another quiet night. At breakfast they invite us to stay longer yet. Tempted, we both decide that it is probably time to get back up to the rim and back home, so we back it all in, and hike the Bright Angel trail out. It takes a while, Courtney is having some allergy problems with all the juniper in the area and can’t breathe. That’s okay though, we aren’t in any rush. So six hours later we get back to the car, and go eat at a local joint in nearby Tusyan. We end up getting a hotel for the night, since we are both exhausted.

 

Come morning time, we drive back to Prescott. Yet another successful Grand Canyon Trip.

 

(if you want to see photos from the last trip down to Phantom check here.)

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