Breath - taking.....literally!!

 Monday, October 12, 2020

Brrrr...we woke up to 32 degree weather...cold enough to take your breath away!  (Spot has not adjusted to the time change, so we are usually up at 5am due to his demands.)

Today was our first day to really explore the Canyon.  This year it is celebrating 101 years as a national park!  The Canyon is one of the seven natural wonders of the world...and truly a land of wonder!  The canyon size is immense--277 miles long, one mile deep, and covers a total of 1,900 square miles.  Wow!  We drove in and parked at the visitor center (which is closed due to Covid) and ventured out to Mather Point, which is the most frequented overlook in the park, due to the scenic vistas and easy access.  The views are breathtaking.  

We walked along the Rim Trail for about a mile, taking in the scenery and also watching crazy people get so close to the edge for pictures--what are they thinking?   

I discovered I might be afraid of heights...at times I had butterflies just looking over the edge with a guardrail in front of me.

That's me by the guardrail!

We began shedding layers as the sun warmed the day.  It eventually got up to 75 degrees!  The shuttles are not running from the visitor center to the Village (Covid) , so we drove the few miles to the village, and were lucky to find a parking spot right in front of Bright Angel Lodge.  We visited the Lodge, and checked out the Trail but didn't go far.  Things have changed a lot since our last visit.   It is definitely busier, and they have made a lot of improvements in trails, traffic flow, overlooks, etc.  We extracted the bikes from the back seat of the car (since we don't have a working bike rack) put them together and loaded them up on the front of the shuttle bus.

We rode the shuttle for 9 miles--all the way to the end of the line--Hermit's Rest.  It is a structure built in 1914 as a resting spot for travelers, and is now a historic landmark.  This arch would greet visitors as they arrived.

After a rest stop at the rest stop, we began our bike trip back.  It's the hardest ride I've ever done, but also the most spectacular ride I've ever done!  We thought it would be mostly down hill...but that was a serious misconception.  There were so many steep hills, we were gasping for breath by the first stop! 

 We stopped at every major overlook along the way, taking in the unbelievable sights (and trying to catch our breath).  At one point, it was so quiet you could hear the roar of the rapids from the Colorado River below.  Jim thought to bring binoculars, and we were able to pick out hikers along the trail, and see rafts on the river, and see the suspension bridge; but it was all too far away to get pictures. 

Two and a half hours later we were back in the Village, out of breath, but so glad we decided to do the ride. Here is a schematic from Jim's garmin activity watch that shows our route.  We travelled 6,000 ft. of elevation--that's the up and down I mentioned that took our breath away! What a day!