Grand Canyon Fall 2017

This is How Grand it is...Can you find David?

For as long as we can remember we have been making plans to go to the Grand Canyon. Finally we made it there. It was perfectly beautiful weather. Fall crispness kept the strong Arizona sun from baking us. David wanted to experience the Grand Canyon rather than simply drive by and look down in.  This was one of the look out points. It required scrambling down a small cliff of boulders. Some Russian college students were praising one young man for going down to that cliff. They tried to prevent David from going siting that it was too dangerous to do in flip flops. It was no big deal for him. The vastness of the Grand Canyon can not be comprehended by the eyes.
 

Boondocking in Kaibab National next to the Grand Canyon

Since our Grand Canyon adventure was impromptu the Campgrounds inside the park were all fully booked. We found an even better uncrowded site in the Kaibab National Forest just outside the eastern entrance to Grand Canyon National Park. Going east from the Park Gate take the 3rd little forest road on the right. It is an old abandoned camp ground with a network of great dirt roads out into the wilderness. It is legal and encouraged to camp free in National Forest and BLM lands. They call it dispersed camping. Campers call it Boondocking.  Boondocking is camping in undeveloped areas without any facilities, no reservations necessary and it is free. When we were kids we just called it camping. We were about 300 yards off the highway but it felt like we were really out there. We met some fellow campers there from the Denver area that were boondocking nearby.  They brought over wine and we had a nice visit. It is incredible to be completely self sufficient. Imagine the best most secluded spots and they are free if you are willing and able to go on the road less traveled in a 40 ft motor coach.
The next morning we woke up early and made a full breakfast and headed out to the Grand Canyon. Coming in from the east we had the great fortune to see Mary Colter's Desert View Watch Tower. The tower was inspired by Native American art and architecture from the ancient Pueblos from the surrounding areas.

This tower was beautiful inside and out. Our Trans West Bear, T.W., loved the view as well.

Thank you to Tim Williamson at Trans West RV in Belton, MO for selling us our awesome Rig and Chad for showing us a thing or two. She is rolling perfectly. TW and I also made friends with a  Grand Canyon Burro and a couple delightful National Park Rangers.

We love our National Park Rangers. They are always so excited about their park and us:) Thank you National Park Service! When I grow up I want to be a Park Ranger. Well maybe we will just visit them a lot:)

The Grand Canyon is surprisingly full of trees. They are just as beautiful dead and broken as they were when they were alive. In typical David and Kim fashion we wanted to really experience the Grand Canyon rather than drive up to the edge and look down. Since we did not have our serious back packs with us for a trip down to Havasu Falls (on the agenda for the next time we go to the Grand Canyon) we decided on a day hike to Horse Shoe Mesa. This trail is mainly used by overnight back country hikers. We figured we would hike to the view point and turn back. In this case turn up. Yes as you would guess hiking into the Grand Canyon is more like

descending a very long staircase. See the steps up behind us? This was just the beginning and well worth it. We took it slow. The wind whistling through the pines down in the edge of the Grand Canyon is majestic and refreshing.

The trail follows the wall of the Grand Canyon closely. We got to see what a goat's life is like. They have quite the view living on the edge.

Along the trail we met some resting hikers, a dad  in his 70s, two grown daughters and a son in law. While dad was resting the others were taking a ton of picks of this cool rock formation that we may not have noticed if they had not been there. We had our own fun taking some pics.

If you think it looks steep then you would be right! What goes up must come down but at the Grand Canyon what goes down must come up and up and up! If a person lost their memory down that trail they may think they were climbing all the way to Heaven. My thoughts were with those thirsty travelers that saw that river far below. We hiked for 2 hours down and only made it a fraction of the way to the bottom. The vastness is mind blowing from the edge and even more so once the descent begins. We met a senior hiker on the trail. He was well into his 80s or so. We had a most interesting conversation on the way back up. I was grateful for the slower pace that following him promoted. He was such an regular hiker of this trail we thought that he was way to close to the edge so we followed him up to safety. We had a delightful day hike down the edge of the Grand Canyon. Happy, tired and satisfied we made our way out of the south gate to another boondocking spot just outside the park. The weather was perfect and it was stunning to see the Grandness in full fall foliage to boot!