Traveling with the Munschs: The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon, the focus of so much of our thoughts and planning for this years trip. So it happens that things don't always work out as planned and we had canceled our hike to the bottom before leaving our last stop at white sands. So we drove in late after stopping at the Petrified forest. We came in from the south so didn't get any view of the canyon at all on our drive in. It was getting dark when we pulled into our campsite so were happy to get setup before the sun set. Some elk meandered through the campground just after getting in and lifted everyone's sprites after the long drive through the desert.

Guess what doesn't look the the desert? The top of the grand canyon, there were trees and it all sort of looked like the black hills. Don't know why I thought it was all small shrubbery and desert like at the top but far from it. While it was still hot and over 100 during the day here the nights cooled off better and it was our first real reprieve from the desert heat we've lived in for the last week or two.

I already got into it in a previous post about our cancelled hike to the bottom so won't rehash that now but it was still weighing heavy on my mind that first day we were supposed to descend into the canyon, I had my mind made up that my first view of this natural wonder would be when were were at the top starting our descent. So turned out I was a bit of a pouty brat when we drove up and walked to the edge to see this marvel for the first time. It was amazing but all I could think of is what we lost by cancelling our hike. Looking back I regret it and glad I bounced back and got over it all when we hiked to the trail in the evening and the next day.

There was a death on the trail the day were were supposed to hike in and we ran into a hiker with heat exhaustion being helped up the trail by a ranger that next day. The day after we left the temps returned to normal and the heat advisory was lifted so we just had some bad timing is all and in hindsight I feel we made the right call but at the time it was a real struggle.

Since we didn't have the hike and had seen the canyon we decided to modify the trip again and head north a day early looking for some cooler temps.

Here are some of my pictures from the Grand Canyon.

Just after pulling into our campsite a visitor strolls through

Our spot in the RV Trailer Village Campground, got in right before dark

First views of the Grand Canyon

The Grandest of Canyons

Family out on a ledge they don't have fenced off, a little nerve wracking

The family, notice how Luke is a step forward he was having a very tough time with the hieghts

Fathers Day meal, we were supposed to have backpacking meals at the bottom but steaks and mashed potatoes at the top was a good substitute.

I went for a short stroll by myself and ran into this guy. He took a intense interest in me so after watching him a bit I decided to take a alternate route.