Today was a long and fun day. Shir woke me up at 4am. Since I was planning on a solo hike early in the morning, this was a truly early start. After 2 shuttle buses, I was marching down the South Kaibab trail at 5:10am. It was still dark, but the full moon did not yest set, so it was like hiking with a huge overhead flashlight. The hike itself is not too difficult, 6 miles round trip, goes down a bit and then comes back the same way. The views, as you can imagine, were awesome. The light on the canyon walls and rock formations changed every minute as the sun was rising. I was going crazy with the camera, someone please hold me back. I think I have a blister on my shutter release finger.
As I was hiking back up, I took some really close up pictures of condors, number 36 and his wife number 87. Yes, they are all numbered and have transmitters. A ranger later told me that they are trying to get hold of 85; turns out he has been hassling park visitors for the last few weeks. When the rangers catch him, they’ll give him a good scare and convince him to stay with his natural pals.
I was back at the RV by 9:30 and we set off to our next destination. The kids and Paola had woken up at 6:30, so within minutes all three were napping. This gave us a nice 100 mile stretch of quiet driving with some of the best views I have ever seen. Here and there glimpses of the Grand Canyon, distant snowy peaks, forests, Red rock formations. We were driving most of the time through the Navajo Indian Reservation. There were no signs but every few miles there were roadside stalls selling arts and crafts. The dwellings that dotted the scenery reminded us a bit of the Bedouins in the Negev, except they looked a little sturdier.
When all three of the kids woke up, we stopped at a scenic overlook and prepared a tasty omelet lunch. The view from our dining room window was gorgeous. We then drove on for another 25 minutes until we reached Horseshoe Bend Overlook on highway 89, just south of a tourist town called Page. This is an amazing viewpoint that you need to walk 1km to get to. The Colorado river makes a full U-turn and then some. It looks just like a horseshoe! I had to switch to a new memory card, but there I was, snapping away with the camera. I really wished I had a 10mm wide lens because the 18mm I have fell just short of capturing the entire composition in one shot. Nonetheless, I was able to take some really cool shots.
The walk to the viewpoint was afforded to us due to our super-duper twin stroller. We walked up and down hills, over rock staircases, and through sand, but the stroller took the punishment and kept on rolling. Without the stroller we would not have made it to this great vista. Now is the time to honorably mention Ron, who despite the heat, difficult terrain, and the fact that his sisters were being chauffeured around, walked the whole trail (2km round trip) without a single word of complaint or wish for “hoopah†(read: daddy’s shoulders). And he even drank all his water.
After returning to the car, we drove another 20 minutes past Page, the Glen Canyon Dam, and into Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. This is where our campsite is for the next two nights. We walked down to the shoreline and the kids played with the sand and the water, while Paola and I took in the great scenery. More about Lake Powell tomorrow.
We returned to the campground, and wishing for a shower with a little more convenience than the RV cubicle can afford, headed to the campground showers. These cost $2.00 for 15 minutes, paid in quarters at the shower stall. What do you do if your time runs out and you are still getting the shampoo off? Happily for us, this campground has family shower rooms where we can all fit into one room that has a shower. We managed to get me and the 3 kids done in 11 minutes. Paola then put in 8 more quarters just to be sure and after 5 minutes she was done too. All those years of military style showers finally paid off…
After an uneventful dinner of hamburgers and veggies we bid you all a good night.
Hemi