Great Western Adventure: Days 16 and 17

Interested in what we did before we got to the Grand Canyon?
Days 1-4: Chicago, The Corn Palace, The Badlands, and Wall Drug Day 5: Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, and Devils Tower  Day 6: First Day in Yellowstone 
Day 7: First Camping/Kayaking Day in the Grand Tetons 
Day 8: Second Camping/Kayaking Day in the Grand Tetons 
Day 9: Back to Yellowstone and Visiting Old Faithful 
Day 10: The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and Lamar Valley
Day 11: Kayaking on Lake Yellowstone
Day 12: The Roosevelt Arch and the Old Faithful Inn
Days 13-14: Driving to the Grand Canyon, Parts I & II
Day 15: Fossil Walk, Condor Talk, and Lightning!!

Day 16: Hike into the Canyon and Pictographs

We woke up super early this morning in order to take a bus to the Kaibab Trailhead for a 7:00 am hike into the canyon with Ranger Eric, who happened to originally be from Lancaster, PA! Ranger Eric stopped us every so often along the trail to point out nice views, or what he called "ooo-ahhh" points, and to tell us some information about the different rock layers. He liked to say that we were going back in time on the hike, because we entered a different era of rock each time we descended lower into the canyon. The different colored bands of rock are each from a different era.

At about 1.5 miles down, we got to Cedar Ridge.

What an awesome view! We are all nerded out with our gear, which I was very thankful to have. After a bathroom and snack break, we started back up so we could get back up to the top before the shade went away. The last part of the trail was composed of a bunch of switchbacks. Can you see the tiny people on the trail?

 

Here I am battling the switchbacks.

 

By that time it was near 11:00 am and the sun was hot. Thankfully we got back up to the top without too much trouble.

After checking with our families, we found out that little Flick was just fine and that no one had any damage to their houses. We then felt relaxed enough to spend the afternoon napping and reading. It was a nice change of pace from the constant fast pace that we had kept up until this point on the trip. 

A little while later we took a short walk down the Bright Angel trail to find the pictographs on the canyon wall. They have blurred over time.

At the start of the trail we saw some more great warning signs.

We took a walk around the rim over to the artist studio that sits on the edge.

After a relaxing dinner and some more lounging, we turned in early to prepare for another early start the next morning.

Day 17: Driving to Colorado Springs

After a quick breakfast at the Bright Angel, we were back on the road at 7:00am heading north to Colorado Springs.

Before we pulled out of the parking lot, we made sure to fill up all of our Nalgenes with water from this free (FREE!) natural spring tap. It was delicious water.

On the way, we stopped at the Four Corners Monument, which is the intersection of New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. The other people that were there were simply standing on the intersection, but not us! We had a limb in each state!

 

Supposedly this isn't even in the correct spot, but let's just pretend that it is.

We saw some neat scenery on this drive, but not much else happened! We had a lot of trouble finding a place to eat dinner, so beware if you're ever making this trek. We ended up scarfing down some pizza at a restaurant next to our hotel in Colorado Springs and then crashing in bed, per usual.

Next Up: I almost pass out on Pike's Peak!