Day 5
This morning we slept in until 5:00! I watched the sunrise from bed! Really could have stayed in bed much longer knowing it was cold out again, but Joe was up and about. In fact, he left the room after his shower only to come back to tell me about the five large elk in front of our hotel! He had the pictures to prove it! In fact, we looked our the window in our room to see them just laying there on the grass out front! After I got dressed and we went out to the car, they were still there! What is up with that? We got pretty close to them. Given my recent encounters with alligators, geese, and sting rays, I was afraid they would come after me because I was eating a breakfast bar. Mind you, they are huge with big, big horns! However, I safely passed by them.
We took a short stroll along the canyon, and picked up a trail, the Bright Angel. Knowing our limits, we chose to descend only for one hour. The trail was not so steep for the first third of it, pretty steep for the second third of it, and not so bad for the third section. Along the way, we had to stop and let teams of 9 or so mules and their passengers pass. They are the ones who go all the way to the bottom of the canyon and stay on a ranch before coming back up the next day. Needless to say, along the way our hike was filled with interesting smells, and many interesting "piles" we had to step over. We met many happy and interesting people. We saw a couple who were likely 15 years our senior, run past us on their way down. Grrr!! We saw many a squirrel who was way to tame. While there are signs all over about not feeding the animals, it is apparent that many a tourist must feed them as when we would take a break on the path, they would come running when they heard us crinkling the wrapper of some treat! In fact, along the way we saw some young yahoo having a laugh at a squirrel whom he had gotten to standing on his hind feet as he dangled a treat in front of him. He went so far as to try and train the squirrel to dance in a circle! Now, you can't tell me that those big old alligators in the Hillsborough River have not been thrown a tasty treat or two by some naive kayaker. It is one thing for a squirrel to come up to you in the Grand Canyon for a treat, and another to have an alligator approach your kayak for a handout. People can be so dumb.
Back to our hike: Of course, amazing scenery. Can't really be put into words the magnitude of this place, and pictures won't do it justice. But, once again, it was like every few steps the scenery would change. You have to stop and look. You can't look as you are going b/c you have to watch your step. One false move and you could blow an ankle, knee, or drop suddenly 300 feet! No exaggeration! Today's bird sighting included the California Condo, that we got to see up close and personal! We got to hear their call which is not a sweet, classy call, like a cardinal, rather a brash noise, like a horn. Definitely drew our attention. We got to see many of them soaring about. More exciting, we got to see a pair of them up close as they were on a large rock we had to walk under. (See photo) Again, flashbacks of the Canadian Goose that attacked the back of my head flitted through my brain as I walked by. I wondered if they were guarding a nest nearby, and if they were ticked off at me for merely being on the path below them. After getting a good look at their enormous, sharp, hard, beaks, I couldn't help but imagine the damage they could do to my scalp. With baited breath, I cautiously walked beneath them and breathed a sigh of relief to have passed them uneventfully!
Very quickly, the cold morning wind gave way to warmer temperatures. Not 15 minutes into this hike I started peeling off the layers of clothing I had started with. 16 minutes into the walk I was hugely remorseful for wearing jeans. 16 minutes into the hike I began to regret that I didn't hit the bathroom before beginning our descent, and at 17 minutes I was beating myself up for not putting on sunscreen! Not the Nature Girl I thought I would like to be. Wisely, however, Joe and I did make sure we ate snacks and remained hydrated. So at the end of a quick one hour descent, we turned around to begin our hike back up. It was not as difficult as hiking up Bryce Canyon. Still, it was tough enough. At the time, it felt good. Like an accomplishment. Even when we saw youngsters with overnight backpacks hiking uphill having gone the entire nine miles down, having spent the night at the Colorado River, and breathlessly carrying their packs back up, we still felt a sense of accomplishment! Each step brought us closer to the top, where when we finally got there, I proudly did some stretching in front of folks who, having slept until 7:00, were just starting out!
We rested on this cool bench made out of a huge log split in half, and had a snack. A woman sat next to us. She was traveling alone for two months having left D.C. to move at her leisure to San Diego. She was afraid of heights. Joe walked over to the edge with her to look for condors. She was interesting, but I sensed, sad. I said to Joe later, clearly there is a story with this woman. Perhaps she had a very long affair with a married man, who for years promised her he would leave his wife for her, only to discover that she has wasted ten years of her life, and now it was time to move on.
Joe and I proceeded on to the shuttle down to Mather's Point. Again, indescribable scenery, lots of walking, interesting people and some stupid people. I could not believe the people who ventured far, far off the path to sit on a rock over hang. I was a wreck to watch them. Actually, one guy was pretty funny to watch. He walked in baby steps on this dangerous ledge. Then, very gingerly, slowly, using his arms for support lowers himself to a sitting position. I had Joe start video taping him in case he did something funny when he had to turn and walk back. What really happened we think was that he must have had a g/f watching him after that b/c when it came time to go back, he was full of confidence as he boldly walked back. Then there was this family of four who came and were hanging out next to us. The two 20 something year old kids left their mom and dad to go venture on this same over hang. The mom couldn't believe it and couldn't bare to watch and left. The dad stayed and watched his kids boldly venture out. The son was clowning around posing, and his last pose was belly down, spread eagle over the very edge. We were laughing and taking pictures. I don't think the dad laughed as much as we did. Silly kids. Actually, not many people far over the edge. But, when they do they do not survive!
After that fun, we did some shopping and had some lunch. Then we hung out at hotel, picking a new place to stay in Vegas, etc. That was it for the day, except for a nice conversation with David who was watching the sunset over the Niagara River in Buffalo. Later we sat in the rocking chairs on the porch watching some kids on a school trip going on a Scavenger Hunt.
