On Monday we hit the road on the drive to the Grand Canyon. It was generally beautiful SouthWestern desert country with the occasional mesa, mountain, etc.
We made it to the Ten-X campground (yes, a strange name) just before dinner and quickly got the tent up and then headed to the Grand Canyon to checkout sunset. Our first views of the Canyon were stunning (neither of us have been here before). It seems like watching the sunset is a nightly tradition for most Grand Canyon guests as many were out sauntering about. We did the same but one-upped many because we had brought our dinner for a sunset picnic (ha!).
We headed to bed and woke up the next morning ready to do a hike down below the rim called Cedar Ridge. We had heeded all the warnings about extreme heat in the middle of the day and woken up at 5 AM. It was a fantastic hike down to a cool overlook where we relaxed for quite a while away from the crowds. We climbed back out of the Canyon around 10 AM and we were still able to stay (mostly) in the shade.
In the hot hours (like 10-2ish) we checked out the Visitors' Center, a geology museum and walked a bit of the rim trail. Here are some things I learned about the Grand Canyon:
-The rocks at the bottom (The Vishnu Group) are old enough that they probably existed before multi-cellular organisms. That's crazy.
-The canyon has been carving itself via the Colorado River for about 6 million years.
-Each year the canyon averages an inch or two wider along its lenght, although in reality this happens in larger chunks (a few feet? unclear?) randomly along its length.
-Geology is complicated. Lots of rocks...
After we completed our learning for the day (and it started to cool down) we rented some bikes for a 5 mile bike ride along the rim that we would do over a few hours because of various stops along the way. If you're looking for the ideal way to enjoy the Grand Canyon rim... THIS IS IT. Cruising along on a slight downhill in the Arizona heat checking out the sights is good times.
We were hungry (hangry perhaps) for dinner and ended up in Plaza Bonita in Tusayan. Don't make this mistake. While the food there has already turned into a running joke... the place is quite a disaster.
Fortunately for us, we were able to ramble back to the Grand Canyon to catch one more sunset before heading to sleep.
One more Grand Canyon thing I shouldn't forget. Both nights we heard coyotes (around 4 AM?) howling. Like... really howling at the moon. It was a pretty awesome, if not slightly terrifying experience. We didn't get eaten.
Looks like type 1 fun.
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