Camping in Grand Canyon

Sunday 10th November

A more relaxed start today and we were both in agreement that the Travelodge free breakfast provided the best value for very little money so far. It was with some slight pangs of regret that we left our comfortable room behind and headed north for the 90 minute drive to the Grand Canyon National Park.

It was an attractive drive up through Kaibab National forest reaching an elevation of 8046 feet before we started to drop slightly again as we neared the National Park entrance at Tusayan. Some slight road rage occurred here as Martin chose the wrong queue and we had to wait whilst the person in the car ahead of us asked seemingly endless questions but after about a 5 second delay we were in and heading for the Mather campsite.

Any fears we had about it being full were completely needless. It was almost deserted and our spot amongst the trees with the sun filtering through was perfect - especially as the noisy Italian people at the next site with a radio blaring were packing up to leave! We felt slightly remorseful about resenting their loud voices and music when they gave us a load of fire wood which they had left over!

It was so pleasant in the sunshine that we took our time setting up camp, made coffee and looked at the park guide and map before setting off on a bike ride along the "Green Way" - a paved cycle trail which runs for several miles around the Grand Canyon village and amenities. We followed it to the east and then picked up Hermit Road which is closed to traffic other than shuttle buses, back country camping permit holders and bikes. This was a gently undulating route along the rim of the canyon with tantalising glimpses into it's depths through the trees.

Eventually we arrived at Hermit's Rest and followed a stony lane to the trail head. A slight altercation occurred as I leant my bike against a fence which I intended chaining it to. Martin said this was pointless as one hefty kick would break the fence, he demonstrated said hefty kick and the bike fell over delivering a painful scrape to my right leg. I made a few comments, none of which were very polite and we chained the bikes to the information board post instead.........

We set off down Hermit's Trail with no clear idea of how far we intended going. It is a rough, rocky trail which descends very steeply but the views down to the western end of the canyon are stunning. It had been sunny but slightly chilly so far today but as we descended the temperature rose and after slightly less than a mile we found some comfortable rocks just off the trail for our belated lunch - yet another stunning picnic location in the series we have so far enjoyed.

After we had eaten we decided to retrace our steps. We had already cycled over 10 miles and still had to make the return journey. Also we were conscious that we have a tough day planned for tomorrow and the brief part of the Hermit Trail we had so far seen had whetted our appetite to come back for a proper hike when we could start early enough to make it worth while.

On the return cycle we stopped off at some of the view points we had sailed past on our way out which afforded wonderful views of the canyon down to the sparkling green Colorado river snaking along 5000 feet below us. We stopped off at the store for coffee and also went to the Visitor Centre to try and get a trail map. Alas they directed us to the book store where you are expected to part with cash for such luxuries! We leafed through various books and maps gleaning the information required.....but didn't quite find anything we wanted to buy.

Back at our delightful camp site we made preparations for a night under canvas at the forecast -1 degree and for yet another dawn start in the morning. Martin set the slack line up and we played around with that for a while as darkness fell.

Courtesy of our former neighbours we had a lovely fire as we prepared our salad and peanut satay noodles, washed down with Blue Moon. We are definitely becoming more efficient at this camping lark! We lingered as long as possible by the glowing embers of the fire and then rushed headlong into the tent trying to conserve some warmth. Alarm set for 5.30 we settled down for another rather early night.