Well it’s late and I sat down to post about last weekend when we went to the Grand Canyon, in Arizona. But I got so amused reading the comments to previous posts that I’ve lost all track of time and now it’s getting late. How funny!
So anyway, last weekend Nicholas and Melanie and I went camping on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Wow. The campsite was right on the edge of the canyon… like really on the edge. We were maybe 30′ from the edge? As in go sleep walking and fall to your death close to the rim. It was very nice. Trees around our camp site so it’s not like every step we took we could see down the canyon. It was really a smaller side canyon, a grand canyon but not THE Grand Canyon.
It was a family camp for Nicholas’ Boy Scout troop. He is in Troop 555 here in Las Vegas. There were 4 families on the Boy Scout side and our brother pack, Pack 555, was there also with 5 families.
It was very nice, warm but not too hot. It did rain Friday night and that put a damper on things Saturday when we had to dry out the tents and our clothes and our sleeping bags and the sleeping pads….poor Melanie, her tent leaked like a sieve! And I said rain… I think it would be more accurate to describe it as a torrential downpour. You know, like they get in tropical jungles? Based on water that collected in the wash tubs and stuff left out, we’re thinking nearly 2 inches of rain overnight. And that is a lot of rain!
Talk about exciting, lightning and thunder at 6,800 ft is more than just a spectator sport. You feel like a participant at that altitude!
We went to a ranger program Friday night, but it was raining again Saturday so we skipped the program and played cards in the mini van. Ok, so it’s not scouting, but remember it was raining? Earlier that day we got up and drove out to Cape Royal which gave us some wonderful views up and down the canyon.
On the way back to camp from that we stopped to check out the North Kaibab trail. We had originally intended to hike down to Coconino Overlook (1.5 mi round trip) but w/ the rain the night before we were afraid of mud so we skipped it. We did walk down the trail for a while, 15 down and 30 min up. Maybe 300 ft down? The trail goes from the north rim down to the Colorado River, 14 miles away. I can’t imagine hiking 14 miles…and you have to remember this means 14 miles UP HILL on the way back!
So we were at the canyon Fri thru Sun and came home Sun about 10. We stopped on the way home and drove through Zion Canyon in Utah. Glorious! It has its own kind of grandeur, just like the Grand Canyon has it’s own beauty. In Zion we didn’t have too much spare time but we did spare an hour to ride the shuttle bus a short way, did a short hike up to some hanging gardens, and then went and walked in the river. The Virgin River flows through Zion, it’s the same river that Tira and I and all 3 kids used to save our sanity when we were there last in 2001. It was easily 110 or 115 in the canyon that day and we played in the river for like…oh…8 hours? It was our only relief from the heat. But our trip this week was much nicer. 90 degrees, overcast… even got some rain. Really a nice visit.
And then we went home. Pictues follow…
View of the Grand Canyon from North Rim Visitor Center
Scott, Nicholas and Melanie at Bright Angel Point near the Lodge
On the way to Pt Royal. Nicholas walked out a little to get a better view.
The bench. One of my favorite pictures. And yes, we stopped and sat and viewed.
I like the pictures. One of these days I hope I can get there. I know ND has hills, at least in the Western part, but nothing that compares to anything around Vegas.
Thanks Brandon. You know you’re welcome anytime. No job and Heather is in school? Come on down! 🙂 we have an empty room you know!
Gee thanks dad, I really appriciate that!!
what? huh? I didn’t mean YOUR ROOM… ummm… I meant there was room in the back of the garage, yeah, and he could ummm.. you know, stay there and not ummm… touch your room stuff or anything and well, it was not really like we like Brandon more than you. I mean he ummm…. he is not you and we like you and yeah, WE LOVE YOU… yeah, that’s what I meant. 🙂
(Brandon, call me off line!) 😉
So, when is a good time of year to visit this marvelous looking place. We will have some vacation time and would love to drive down and see Nevada – I mean family. Remember I’m a heat wimp! I don’t want to visit at the same time as Brandon, I’m thinking he will be making a shrine of Heather’s room or something and we need a place to sleep although we could stay in a tent if you prefer. . .or the hotel down the road (NOT)
Well, thanks dad, I’m soooo glad we could clear that up. Just make sure when you put Brandon in the garage, that its cold and dark and full of spiders with babies on their backs!!! That’s the best he diserves for going behind my back and making my family like him!!
You really missed out on the North Kaibab trail. It is a great walk. The secret to avoiding having to come all the way back up is to hike up the South Rim, it is 1,000 feet lower. It worked good for me except getting back to the truck, that was a little harder.