Sept 2009 Grand Canyon/Zion/Bryce Trip Report I really love the Western part of the United States so I decided to plan a trip for September 2009 that would visit the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, and Bryce National Park. In order to see as much scenery as possible I wanted to begin the trip in Arizona and end it in Nevada. Finding a cheap flight on Delta was easy but the challenge was finding a decent rate on a rental car. I could find a good rate if we were flying in and out of the same airport, but once you changed them the quotes skyrocketed. The cheapest rate by far was offered by Dollar. I was a bit reluctant to go with them but they actually worked out fine. Part 1 Phoenix to the Grand Canyon We fly into Phoenix and take the shuttle to the large rental car center. The Dollar clerk tries to up sell us to a higher powered car but we decide to stick with the low powered Dodge Caliber. They let us pick out which Dodge Caliber we want in the parking lot so we choose a red one that doesn't have too many scuff marks (hard to really tell in the dimly lit parking garage). It drives fine and even has an MP3 jack so we are able to plug in the IPOD. We stay at the conveniently located Hilton Airport Garden and call it a night as we Easterners are now on Western time. Our Dollar rental car on the road somewhere in Arizona Sept 12 Sat We get up quite early and get a quick breakfast and some lattes at Mama Java's in a non descript shopping mall in Phoenix. The cook slightly burns our food but the soy lattes are good. By 8am it is all ready getting quite hot in Phoenix. We get on the highway and pass lots of tall Sedona cactus. This would be good place to stop and take a photo although you may have to jump a fence to stand next to one. I make the mistake of thinking I can take a picture of a cactus closer to the Grand Canyon and don't stop but the landscape quickly changes and we don't see any more cactus for the rest of our trip! On the way to Flagstaff we stop at Montezuma Castle National Monument and admire the large cave "condos" high up in the cliffs. They were originally 20 room 5 story structures used by the Sinagua Indian people between the 12th and 14th centuries. There are signs warning visitors not to step off the trail as rattlesnakes like to sun themselves. Montezuma Castle National Monument, Arizona We also visit the nearby Montezuma Well, a flooded limestone sink hole about 55 feet deep. This was used as a source of water by the local Indians. We see a muskrat swimming around in the algae below. There are also ducks and 1890's graffiti to be found here. Some high school girls moan that all the walking required at the well is like being in Europe. It does not take long to complete a visit at either the Montezuma Castle or Well. Montezuma Well, Arizona Watch out for rattlesnakes along the sides of the trail at Montezuma Well, Arizona We continue on to Flagstaff and have lunch at the Black Bean Burrito Bar where they serve decent Southwestern-style burritos and a have nice outside patio. I read my guide to hiking in the Grand Canyon and the book notes that you should bring lots of "salty" snacks to make keep your body's electrolytes in balance. So we pick up some from a local hiking store in Flagstaff. Near the Grand Canyon we make a quick stop to take a photo of the tacky yet whimsical dinosaur statue outside the faded tourist trap known as Bedrock City. At the South Rim entrance we pay a fee of $25 to drive into the park. As we drive through the park we come to the first view point Mather Point (named after the first director of the National Parks Steven Mather, see Ken Burn's National Park special for some interesting stories about his nervous breakdowns and how the outdoors seemed to cure him) but it was so crowded with cars and people we skip it and just continued to our hotel The Thunderbird. Parking near the three hotels is a bit of challenge but we get lucky and find a spot not too far from our The Thunderbird. We wisely opt not to move the car again during our stay at the South Rim. We drop our bags off in our dorm-like room and then visit the famous Bright Angel trail for a few hours. Here I get my first view of the Canyon. Words and pictures cannot do this place justice, you'll just have to see it for yourself. There is a warning at the head of the trail noting that a young female marathon runner recently died trying to hike down to the river and back in one day. As this trail is so close to the hotel it is not a place for solitude. This trail is very crowded late in the day. We see a British women limping up the trail with a bloody knee who perhaps pushed herself a bit too hard. We have dinner at the Maswik cafeteria, which is walkable from the Thunderbird Lodge. The food quality is so-so, I get the marinara pasta. After dinner we enjoy a few drinks at the fancy bar in the El Tovar hotel (Paul McCartney once stayed here, you may know him from the band Wings). Bats fly under the patio lights in search of an insect dinner. Dinosaurs still roam the west near the Grand Canyon South entrance, Arizona Happy to be entering the Grand Canyon, Arizona Sept 13 Sunday If you want to beat the crowds at the South Rim, you need to be both an early bird AND skip the insanely popular Bright Angel Trail. So we get up at 5am and eat a quick breakfast in our room (conveniently the Thunderbird rooms have a fridge where you can keep to-go items from the Maswik cafeteria). Even at the early hour of 6am there is a large group of hikers waiting for the first shuttle bus to the South Kaibab Trailhead. The bus passes some large elk hanging out in the parking lot on the way out. At the South Kaibab trailhead most of the group on our bus stop to use the single port-a-potty so we have the descent pretty much to ourselves. The trail is very well maintained and offers spectacular views of the Canyon. There is little shade on this trail and thus it is more open than the Bright Angel Trail so some think the views are superior on the South Kaibab. It is recommended that you bring at least two quarts of water per person for this hike. We fill up two Camel Baks and have plenty of water left over. We descend about 8 miles today. There is a restroom at Ooh-Ah point and just past Skelton Point you can see the Colorado River far below. Of course the slog back up is hot and tiring. Most folks we pass ask if we made it to the river but as I mentioned earlier the National Park service really tries to discourage people from doing this in one day for safety reasons. We finish our hike around 11:30am. Oh Ah point on the South Kaibab Trail, Grand Canyon, Arizona Struggling to maintain a grip at Skeleton Point on the South Kaibab Trail, Grand Canyon, Arizona Resting on the hike back up the steep South Kaibab Trail, Grand Canyon, Arizona Giving a mule an apple core at South Kaibab Trailhead, Grand Canyon, Arizona After a long shuttle ride back to the Thunderbird (the driver pauses at several bus stops and shows off her new "Electric Cigarette" to a coworker), we have lunch at the Maswik cafeteria. This time I try the black bean tacos, they remind me of the tacos at a place called Rita's in Breckenridge, CO. We get back in the rental car and drive up highway 64, passing some nice canyon vistas. 64 east is rather barren and cuts through many Indian reservations (there are lots of tacky road side stands). We continue through the painted desert (ever heard that song of that name by 10,000 Maniacs?), Narajo lands, past Vermillion Cliffs, and Lee's Ferry (just south of the Arizona/Utah border). It rains on and off. We continue through the pretty Kaibab forest where we see a peregrine falcon, some mule deer, and a few coyotes. The North Entrance to the Grand Canyon is much smaller than the South Entrance. We check into our very simple log cabin at the Grand Canyon Lodge. The small cafeteria here serves surprisingly good veggie pizzas which we get to-go and eat in the saloon with a local micro brew. Our cabin has paper thin walls and I can clearly hear everything our neighbors are saying so earplugs are recommended. We tune them out by a watching a few episodes of "Mad Men" on my laptop with headphones. We are awakened in the night by a small mouse that is eating all of our hiking supplies. It disappears into to a hole under the radiator when I shine the flashlight at it. View from the balcony at the Grand Canyon Lodge, North Rim, Arizona Sept 14 Monday We get up at 5:30am and plan to have an easy day with minimal hiking. We take the car along the road near the Cape Final Trail and see some wild turkey on the way and also a vulture feeding on a mule deer carcass. At the end of the road we do the short and easy Cape Royal trail. A photographer with a large frame setup jumps the barriers near the edge of the rim and walks out to the very end of the rock outcropping to take some risky landscape photos. We drive back to the Cape Final trail and see the famous Kaibab squirrel (look for the large white bushy tail). There are lots of mountain bluebirds in the forest. Many of the trees here are burnt and we see lots of holes drilled by the sapsucker. The end of the Cape Final trail has some nice views and one lucky person gets to camp here per night (the park only hands out one permit per day). We relax on the Grand Canyon Lodge porch in the afternoon. A lady sees my Zion guide book and says that I have to try the Narrows Trail. I didn't think we had the right equipment for a river hike but she says you can rent all the necessary gear at Zion. We have a very expensive meal at the lodge. The restaurant was recommended by the guide book for the view but it is really no different than the view from the balcony. My salad and mushroom pasta are really good. Everyone appears to be on the balcony taking photos of the sunset. I read about the scary-sounding Angels Landing trail at Zion, a fellow tourist tells me he never realized he was scared of heights until he did Angels Landing last week. This guy jumped the barrier to get a good photo of the Grand Canyon North Rim, Arizona View at end of Cape Final Trail, Grand Canyon North Rim, Arizona Sept 15 Tues Our mouse friend is back in the cabin. It gets stuck in the trash can in the morning so I tip it over so he can get out. We get a latte and bagel at the saloon and drive to the North Kaibab trailhead. This a 9.4 mile hike and as it is still dawn when we start we do not encounter many folks on the way down. It is fun to walk through the Supai tunnel, there is also a water fountain near the tunnel. At the waterfall, we have lunch near a hissing water pipe and then start back up the trail. On the way back we enter lots of people coming down the trail showing that it really pays off to get an early start if you want to hike without being surrounded by the masses in the Grand Canyon. Supai tunnel on North Kaibab Trail, Grand Canyon North Rim, Arizona North Kaibab bridge, Grand Canyon North Rim, Arizona North Kaibab trail, Grand Canyon North Rim, Arizona We have a quick pizza lunch at the Grand Canyon Lodge and then hit the road to head to Zion National Park. On to Part 2 Zion National Park Trip Report Index