Kayak trip prep

That's pretty much all we did today. I did a bike ride pretty early, it's now 7:30, the sun has set and we just finished getting ready. As usual I don't think it's remotely possible that we can get all of this stuff in our boats. I'm disgusted. I'm always disgusted with our load when we start out. I've got 2 weeks of food that I think we'll need. The problem with that plan is Jenny won't eat what I will so we will invariably have a lot of food left over when we arrived back here. Anyway, here's the plan: We pick up our shuttle driver (Vaughn) at 8 in Page. We drive 5 hours to Hite, which is on the Colorado river arm of the lake. It's 150 lake miles back to the dam. The money pit will be parked in a big lot near the dam. We'll take 10 days to 2 weeks to paddle what amounts to the length of the lake. When we get here we beach the boats, get in the MP and drive it to where Vaughn has left the car (his uncle's house in Page). We camp in Page one night and then begin the drive back to S.A. . Of course Jenny will probably call a divorce attorney as soon as we get cell coverage. That reminds me, we will be out of touch for the duration I suspect. Maybe not but probably so. I will be sending Spots. I know you all look forward to those. I'm sure the boats won't float with all the stuff I have to put in them so you'll probably hear from me tomorrow.

Lake Powell

There was some serendipity going on today. We got here pretty early with no problems. I had made an appointment with a dentist in Page to have a look at the crown that fell off a week or so ago. My temporary fix was real temporary. I told the hygienist our story and that I needed someone to shuttle us to The Hite marina on the Colorado river. A 10 hour (at least) round trip. Story short. I hired one of the dentists nephews. They couldn't fix the crown because my teeth had already shifted a little. We decided to just forget it until I get home. I have been de-crowned. I didn't even abdicate. Jenny is busy roaming around the campground taking pictures of the clouds as the sun sets.

Dave does a beer run

Today we just chilled. Greatly needed. Except for doing laundry that is. Tomorrow we leave. 26 days in The Grand Canyon. Half of that below the rim. We feel like residents. It's sad, but we gotta go. Tomorrow is Page AZ and Lake Powell. I made a beer run to the market and bought a 12 pack of Grand Canyon beer.

Back from Horseshoe Mesa

Here's the synopsis: The Grand View trail is very steep. You loose 2500 feet in 3 miles. Jenny doesn't do downhill too well, especially with a heavy backpack. A couple of hours in it started to rain. The steep rocky trail became a muddy river. It was pretty gross. It took 4 1/2 hours to cover the 3 miles to the camp site. I knew then that my 4 day plan wasn't going to be possible. We decided to base camp at our Horseshoe Mesa camp and day hike. The problem with that was water. I was going to have to spend 2 1/2 hours every afternoon doing a harrowing hike to a spring. Starting on day 1. I did that hike 3 times. It was a trail suitable for a mountain goat. It rained all night that first night. Day 2 we hiked to the tip of the west fork of the mesa. It is a special place. I had been there before and wanted Jenny to see it. On the way back we looked for and found "The cave of the domes" it goes back 1/2 mile under the mesa. We went in maybe 200 feet. The cave is not marked on charts and visiting it is discouraged by the NPS so I was happy we found it. The next day we hiked down to cottonwood creek and around the western tip on the Tonto trail and then back up. We were out 5 hours. Today we hiked back up the steep Grand View trail. It took us only 4 hours to get up. Jenny does uphill better. We're in trailer village again. This time for 2 nights. I didn't take my phone so no pics for the blog. Tomorrow will definitely be devoted to the Laundromat.

Backpack tomorrow

Had a good long hike along the Rim trail today. We rode the shuttle to Hermits Rest because we have been there several times and never seen the building Mary Coulter designed. It's on the rim and its a really neat building. We walked back 5 miles to a bus stop and rode the rest of the way. After lunch I spent the rest of the day getting our packs together. Our permit # is 12-04561. We'll be hiking down the Grandview trail camping at horseshoe mesa. Day 2 will be Hance creek. Day 3 Cottonwood creek. Day 4 out and back here to trailer village. I'll be sending spots. Seth & Lindsay, you should hear from us on Saturday the 25th.

Rim trail

Watch "Jenny on the edge" on YouTube

Down day

I've tried to avoid the utterly trivial minutiae that occurs daily in The Money Pit, but I can't resist this. I lost a crown this morning. There seems to be an endless amount of----well---crap, that happens to occur to me/us with predictable regularity. That being constantly. In my zealous planning I have some glue that is specifically for crown failure. I performed this dental procedure, and, knock on wood, it stuck. I did another bike ride after my oral surgery. I talked some foreigners into taking this pic. After lunch we tried to set up our Lake Powell kayak shuttle for the end of the month. It will be a 10 hour drive for someone. It doesn't look like plan "A" is going to fly. I've got a plan "B" and even a plan "C" so I'm not to worried. We're having hors d'oeuvres for dinner. Gotta go.
 

What a rack!

Watch "Bull Elk eats tree" on YouTube

The day after

We slept in today. After the river, 6 is sleeping in. We got up at 5 during the raft trip, shooting for a 7 start. Yesterday we had a simple breakfast so prep and cleanup were simple. We got on the water at 6:30. Our guides said it was a record. Jenny and I are sort of soaked in tired. The abrupt transition from intense activity to hotel room seems to have disrupted our spirit. I'm dragg'n. We are back in trailer village for 3 nights. Our energy levels should be back to normal by the time we leave again. We have one more short 4 day backpack trip in the canyon before we leave. We got here on the 1st of August. I feel more like a resident than of a tourist. The raft trip was really good, the guides were really good, the food was really good, the group was really good. Thanks go to Cindy Shipley for putting this together. At this very moment we're doing laundry again. This time the clothes are seriously dirty. Here's a pic of Kelly & Stan Shipley, Kathy Lott and Jenny.

GC raft trip day 3,4, & 5

We, the clients, were brilliant this morning. We were seated in the boat at 7. I haven't been keeping track of the names of the rapids or of the side canyons we've hiked because my mind has been in neutral. There has been many of both. There are many places inaccessible to hikers that we have spent time in. Some days it's been very frequent. At this moment the trip is over. We are on a bus bouncing along on what will be a 5 hour drive back to the south rim. Keeping the blog up to date at night after dinner has not been possible. The food was endless and with the beer and wine, staying up wasn't going to happen. We should be in phone contact soon. This was a great experience. 

GC raft trip day 2

We apparently didn't make enough miles yesterday due to our relatively late start. The head dude "Jamie" wanted an early start. He told us 5am get up with 7am on the water. We were pretty close to that. We did a bunch of rapids, including the one that has killed the most people, crystal rapid. They didn't tell us of its reputation until we were through it. We covered all of the canyon that I am familiar with today and we are now in a section I am unfamiliar with. We had several stops with short hikes to interesting spots. Today was a good day. There are 4 desert bighorn sheep about 100 yards from camp pretty cool.

GC Raft day 1

No one got any sleep last night. The Maswick isn't air conditioned and it was a little warm, plus there was some anticipation of the impending adventure. We met at the Bright Angel lodge at 5am, got our briefing and got going at 5:15. The hike took around 5 1/4 hours for most of us. Jenny & I went to the Phantom Ranch to drink some of their spectacular lemonade and buy a couple of T-shirts. There was a couple that took several hours longer to make the descent so we hung out at the boat beach and waited. After we finally got going we went through several rapids, Horn Creek, Salt Creek, Granite and the biggest, Hermit Creek. Even though the boat is huge everyone gets wet. The Rapids take on a different perspective when your in a boat in the middle of them. This is the boat, the beer and the guides.

Raft trip prep

Today was one of those transition days. I did a good bike ride this morning (have I mentioned what a fantastic place this is to bike ride?) We loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly. Not really. We moved the money pit to the back country office parking lot. It has taken us quite a while to get our act together. We are not used to not having to take everything with us we need. We our using day packs, mostly clothes. It's a 4am getup for a 5am show at the Bright Angel lodge. We will meet our hiking guide at that time. It will be a 9.5 mile hike losing 5000 feet of elevation. Forecast temp at the river 107. This is Jenny's loaded pack.

Raft group assembles

Late yesterday afternoon we had 4 of the hearty rafters over for a cool one at the RV before dinner at the El Tovar. I know some of the group from High School. Jenny met the non school participants at a get together in Dallas sponsored by the instigator of this adventure, Cindy shipley, a lifelong friend originally from S.A. We got back to the campground so late. (It was dark) that I pretty much conked out immediately upon arrival. No blog post. This morning we biked pretty much all of the Greenway trails east of the rim lodges. It was 2 1/2 hours and 14 miles. It's now after lunch and we're doing laundry again. Jenny and I have been trying to come up with a name for the RV. She thinks "money pit" I like that one but we're certainly open to suggestions. Tomorrow we leave the campground and move into the Maswick lodge. A 1 night stay is included in the rafting package and anyway we have a 5am showtime at the trail head on Tuesday morning. We can stumble out of the lodge at 4:45 and make it on time. This is a pic of me using my time efficiently. Simultaneous blogging and laundry.

Another Grand Canyon bike ride

Watch "Yaki point Greenway" on YouTube

Tusayan AZ

RVers have a AAA service called Coach-Net. When I discovered the outboard left rear tire was flat I called them. It took a while but they finally found someone who could come to our assistance. It was a gas station 80 miles away. He showed up on time and very efficiently put on the spare. We determined that the guys that put on the valve stem extensions in Albuquerque screwed things up. I think we fixed it but it's now the spare. We now have 7 fully inflated tires I think. Hope. This morning I rode my bike on the Arizona trail. That trail spans the State from the north to the south.  I saw the sign on the previous post while I was on the ride. Tomorrow we move back to Trailer Village in the park.  Also tomorrow, the rafting group begins to arrive. We are going to have a cocktail hour in the RV for the arrivals, and then dinner at the El Tovar. Jenny is drinking some local "Kokopelli" champagne tonight.

Reasonable in AZ.

Royal Arch Route day 3 & 4

There is a lot to cover here. We got up at 4:30 and got going soon afterward. After filling up our water bottles we only had 1 gallon of the stash left. I was counting on a spring about 4 miles into the hike. I found it, but it was only dripping about 15 drops/minute. It wasn't enough. We pressed on anyway knowing there was water 4 to 5 miles ahead. The problem was that the trail deteriorated and our progress slowed to a crawl. We were hot, drinking our water rapidly and barely moving. I couldn't risk running out of water. We had a gallon behind us. We turned around. We had used ALL of the water we carried in our packs by the time got back. A gallon wasn't going to be enough for us to spend the night. We left one pack and did the climb to our car where we had water. We made it to the top at 6:30. Long day. I hiked down this morning to retrieve the pack that we left. The drive back was just as exciting as the drive out. There was no room at any of the park campgrounds so we're just outside the park. Oh, one more thing. We have a flat tire. We're working on that now.

Royal Arch route day 2

We weren't in a big hurry this morning because we didn't have to far to go. We did the steep descent with our backpacks so it was pretty slow going. We made it to the water stash around 11 and made camp under a couple of pinon pine trees. Today's goal was for me to climb a mountain that I noticed the last time I was here. Mt. Huethawali. Good luck pronouncing that. I did climb it. It took 2 1/2 hours round trip. That is now off my list. Here is a pic of that peak taken from our camp last night. 

Royal Arch Route day 1

This was a transition day. We went from RV camping to tent camping. Transition days are tough. We parked the land yacht at the back country office and began the drive to the South Bass trail head. The road isn't really a road in places. There are 3 feet deep ruts that run for 1/2 a mile and you are forced to straddle the damn thing. I'll just say that the 30 mile drive here was a challenge. There were no tracks in the road and we are here alone. I hauled 3 1/2 gallons of water down to where we will be camped tomorrow. The round trip took nearly 3 hours. We are a long way from anywhere. I'm sitting on a ledge watching the colors change as the sun sets. I absolutely love this place but hiking in it is just so extremely difficult.

Another Grand Day

It was kind of a rainy day today. I can't resist riding my bike in the rain so I rode. I did the Hermits Rest road, 20 miles. It's a bike riding classic. We've got the backpack tomorrow so we did the checklist this afternoon. As usual there isn't enough room in our packs. There will be a break in blog posts for a few days because we will be out of touch, below the rim until the 11th. Jenny treated me to a spectacular meal at the El Tovar hotel for my birthday tonight. I ate a big hunk of meat. I will be attempting to send 'spots' to those of you on my list. Don't worry if you don't get one, I need a lot of sky. 

Saturday is laundry day

There's a big Laundromat here for the campers. There were not too many English speakers doing laundry. Different countries must have different protocols in Laundromats. The next big deal for us is a 5 day backpack to Royal Arch creek beginning on the 6th. The trail head is 30 miles from here on a series of dirt roads through national forest and Indian reservation. The road has a bad reputation especially if it has rained recently. It has been raining alot recently. We have talked to a few rangers and they just shrug their shoulders. We drove some of the road this afternoon but the really bad section is 20 miles in. Tomorrow after the fantastically super birthday party Jenny has planned for me we will need to get our ducks in a row. In this pic Jenny just looks like she's not having fun, she really is.

Dave encounters a bull elk

Out & back day hike

Watch "Dripping Spring" on YouTube

Hermit trail/dripping spring

All day was devoted to visiting 'Dripping Spring'. We rode the bus to the Hermit trail head and began our descent. This is a trail that's sort of off the beaten path. Seth & I have hauled backpacks down this trail but I honestly didn't remember it. The descent was rough, steep and rugged. We realized we were going to have to climb up the trail we were decending. We made it the 5 miles in 2 1/2 hours. We found the spring and it was definitely dripping. We ate lunch and reversed course. Jenny just told me she's too tired to take a shower. When I said OK that I'd take one, she suddenly got untired.

Rim bike ride

The road to Hermits Rest has been closed to private motorized vehicles for many years. Shuttle buses take everyone up the road with stops at all the viewpoints. Bicycles are allowed so you have the road virtually to yourself. It was really neat. We rode all the way from Trailer Village to Hermits rest (13.5) miles and then loaded the bikes onto the shuttle bus bike rack and returned on the bus. We ate lunch in one of the tourist cafeterias and we are now in the process of preparing for a long, hot, hike tomorrow.

Grand Canyon National Park

We made it. There are a whole lot of people here with us. We are staying in trailer village. We were too long for Mather campground. This place has water, sewer and cable. Some people call this camping. There is no suffering involved so I can't call it that. Jenny and I walked to the El Tovar and had a drink on the terrace.