Day Five
Friday, June 22, 2018
Our day started with a 4:30am alarm. We hustled to get dressed and get sleeping bags rolled up and put away so we could go to Mather Point for the sunrise. We were parked and walking across the visitor center parking lot at 5am. I worried that we might miss the sunrise after we discovered the long uphill walk to the overlook…but we made it! In case anyone had any doubts, the canyon is gorgeous at sunrise!
We took a few pictures from the first open spot we found and then walked down the rim trail for a bit, in search of a better view. We chose a spot between some trees and around 5:15, the sun broke the horizon.
I’ve never understood why anyone would want to get up super early to hang out with a crowd of strangers to view a sunrise from a popular location. I’m fairly certain we had a much better experience, with far fewer people, from this random spot on the rim…and pretty sure the view was just as good! We walked down to the overlook after the big reveal and it was packed full of people and tripods. No thanks!
I’ll admit, though, that I am more of a sunset admirer. I am happy to simply experience a pretty sunset from wherever I happen to be at the time, rather than making sure to get up before the sun. I enjoy the changing colors of the night sky fading to dark and then looking at the stars. But…this was the Grand Canyon, and we needed to be up early anyway so we could get a hike in before we left.
After sunrise, we headed back to the truck to load up on snacks and water. Several deer were grazing beside the parking lot, not a care in the world that we were right there.
We hustled to the shuttle stop when we saw the first shuttle pull in the driveway, only to find out that it would not be leaving until 6am…time for a nap! We arrived at the Bright Angel Trailhead in no time and were on the trail by 6:20. We noticed the mule riders getting ready for their trip into the canyon and wondered how long it would be before they were on their way.
Hiking on Bright Angel Trail
We had been told to take lots of snacks, which we did and we stopped to rest every time there was shade. I had not planned on hiking into the Grand Canyon, but after the little taste of it that we got the evening before, we all wanted to see more. We decided to hike for an hour and turn around. I knew that it was supposed to take double the time down to get back out, so that would be three hours. I also knew there was a rest area at 1.5 miles down and I thought it would be pretty cool to be able to say we made it to that.
It didn’t take long before we heard a loud rumble from above us and quickly figured out that it was the the mules we saw earlier. They were making way better time than we were! We stood out of their way to let the group pass, and as quickly as they appeared, they were gone.
It’s funny how your perspective of time and distance are influenced by the terrain and level of difficulty on a hike. When we reached an hour into our hike, I contemplated whether or not to turn around there. We were all doing ok with the hike, so if the rest area wasn’t far, I really wanted to make it to there.
I started asking hikers on their way up how far it was to the rest area. The first one said we were over halfway there. Yikes! That didn’t sound good! We kept walking and the next person said it was about a mile…so apparently, it was getting further away as we hiked? Considering that the rest area was at 1.5 miles, and we had already hiked an hour, it didn’t sound good either way! The pedometer app on my phone claimed we had walked a couple miles already that day, so that was no help. We pressed on and continued asking. It was like a game to see what the next person would say! Other responses included “about 45 minutes” immediately followed by “maybe 20 minutes or so” and who knows what “not too far” really means!
One person pointed out the three mile resthouse and told us you can’t see the mile-and-a-half resthouse. It didn’t look that far away, but we would be lucky to make it to the first one. We kept going and finally the last person we asked said it was just around the next corner and it was! Thankfully, we have since found the Gaia GPS app to track our hikes. It shows all sorts of stats, including how far we’ve hiked and where we are.
We made it to the Bright Angel Trail Mile-and-a-Half Resthouse! The stop included a vault toilet, a water spigot, and a shelter. We thought it was kind of funny that there were no benches for resting in a place called a “resthouse.” We found a shady spot in the shelter and ate a snack. A couple joined us, so we asked them to take our picture.
Time was ticking, though, so we refilled the water bottles and had someone else take another picture. Then we set off on our uphill climb back out of the Grand Canyon.
I don’t think uphill climbs are as tough as going downhill. After our hike to Timpanogos Cave last year, I had invested in trekking poles. They were worth every penny for how much they saved the knees on the way down and for the leverage on the way back up.
It was getting warmer as the morning went on, so we continued stopping at each shady spot for a rest and to cool off a bit before continuing on. I was surprised at how many people wander into the Grand Canyon in flip flops, with little or no water with them. I don’t think we overpacked with one quart for each of us. I wondered if we had enough to make it back out, even though we refilled our water bottles at the rest house spigot, and I had an extra quart in my backpack.
On the way down we discussed how maybe someday we should come back and hike down to the campground at the bottom. By the time we were halfway out, we were debating if we ever needed to do this again. I’m still undecided!
We met a family on their way back from camping at the bottom. The dad told us it had been 115 during the day and it remained at least 100 overnight. Nobody got any sleep because it was so hot. Sounds like a good time! Ha! We passed them resting several times and they passed us several times. Eventually, we were to the point of telling each other “it won’t be long now.” Who were we kidding? We all decided the shuttle could come pick us up at anytime.
We also ran into this little fellow. Judging from the size of him, I’m sure he was hoping we were stopping for a snack and he’d join us if we did. I love how in the second picture, he’s looking out over the Grand Canyon. Do animals enjoy the scenery as much as humans? He seemed to be contemplating the world from his perch.
Eventually, we spotted the switchback where we had turned around the night before. At that point, we knew it would be about a half hour from there.
We made it to the top in two hours and 12 minutes. Joey timed us on the way back up. The time was 10:50am. It took us just over four hours to hike to the Mile-and-a-Half Resthouse and back on Bright Angel Trail. Even if we didn’t hike all the way to the bottom, it felt like we had accomplished something special that can’t be experienced from the rim.
We had our picture taken with the Bright Angel Trail sign, by a hiker who was eating a mini watermelon, and then it was time to line up for the shuttle. We needed to get back to the visitor center so we could drive back to Mather Campground and take down our tent. I’m not sure which would’ve been worse, taking down the tent at 4am before the hike or at 11:30am after the hike. Luckily, we have the tent removal process down to a science and it didn’t take long.
We drove back to the visitor center to check things out. The kids were sworn in as Junior Rangers by a fun volunteer who really liked that Megan had colored her pictures and she told Joey he had drawn the best dragonfly she had seen all day…and maybe ever. We didn’t look around much because we wanted to find shirts and get on the road. Of course, nothing is ever that simple. The shirts sold at the visitor center were not the most interesting ones, so we ended up taking a shuttle to Bright Angel Lodge to shop there. An hour later we were back to the visitor center to get the red shirt Megan wanted and then we were ready to get on the road.
Vermillion Cliffs
There are two routes between the Grand Canyon and Zion and we chose 89A. It claimed to be shorter miles and only five minutes more. I will say that the views were spectacular, but I have to wonder if the route through Page might have been a faster route? We really enjoyed the Vermillion Cliffs along the way, but it felt a little desolate out there. I would’ve liked to have stopped for more pictures, but our arrival time for Watchman Campground was ticking later each time we stopped.
Most people would probably recommend breaking this drive up into two days and visit all the pretty stops along the way, but since my goal of this trip was to visit Bryce Canyon and anything before and after was just bonus, I did not want to add that extra day. I do wish I would’ve skipped Zion and added that night to the Grand Canyon, but more on that later.
I filled up with gas in Kanab, UT and pressed on, knowing we were not going to make sunset after losing an hour at the border. It was a bummer, although not surprising, considering how much we pack into a day. We finally reached the Mount Carmel Junction, the turn to go into Zion. I had never been to Zion, but I had read about how busy it was and how you need to be there before 7am, and how you may have to wait at the tunnel. What I had not read about was the spectacular scenery along highway 9! Wowza! It. Was. Stunning.
Sunset Drive
Also unexpected was how gorgeous the drive was in the evening. People are really missing out by arriving here in the morning because the colors are rich and beautiful just after sunset. Since our campsite was reserved, and I knew it was not far away, I stopped at all the empty turnouts and snapped pictures as long as I could in the waning light.
There were plenty of people still out and about, so it felt safe and far more relaxed than I had imagined. I don’t think I could’ve chosen a more perfect time to arrive at Zion…and here I had been bummed about setting up after dark again.
Watchman Campground
We did end up setting up in the dark…again…but with the noise and activity going on in the campground when we arrived, I was glad we had not arrived any earlier. To start with, it was hot. The group across the road from us had a huge canopy set up with a bunch of bright lanterns and a loud game of Jenga going on. We set up our tent with the headlights and by the time we were done, we could hear a baby crying as the boisterous Jenga game continued. Goody! This was definitely NOT the peace and tranquility that we found in Mather Campground at Grand Canyon…or any other campground we had ever stayed in. This was the level of busy I had read about in reviews. We decided to go check out Springdale while we waited for it to cool off and things to settle down a bit.
Springdale is no Moab. It was not even 10pm and the town was dark. No shops open, no late night strolls with ice cream cones. Apparently no restaurants or gift shops are open late, but we did find a little grocery store that was open until 11pm. We decided on chips and salsa for supper and chose a variety pack of cheesecake for dessert. YUM! We drove the short distance back to the campground and chuckled on our way in at the sign listing all of the late arrivals. We are definitely not the only ones who pull into campgrounds after 9pm. I had to have a picture for proof!
Thankfully, things had quieted down now that it was after 10pm. The crying baby had went to sleep. Jenga was over. A couple adults sat at the huge table talking quietly.
We ate our chips and salsa with cheesecake for dessert and climbed into the tent for the night. Joey had taken quite a few time-lapses of our drives so we watched all of those before going to sleep that night. It had been a long day from sunrise at the Grand Canyon, the hike on Bright Angel Trail, a five hour drive, plus time change at the Utah border, the spectacular drive into Zion, and then landing at such a noisy crowded campground on a hot night. I wished we had stayed another night at the Grand Canyon, but hoped for the best for our next day in Zion.
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