When Does 11.3 Miles = 5 Hours Drive Time?

*New critters we’ve seen on our 2009 trip so far: black bears, grizzly bears, elk, fox, wolf, moose, beavers, groundhog, prairie dogs, big horn sheep, buffalo (bison), white tail deer, chipmunks, pronghorn, burros, pika, moose, Uinta ground squirrel, mountain goats, mule deer, longhorn beetle, otters, northern whiptail lizard, jackrabbit, rock squirrels, collared lizard, Kaibab squirrel
*New birds we’ve seen on our 2009 trip so far: bald eagles, golden eagles, wild turkeys, osprey, western meadowlark, mountain bluebird, sandhill cranes, Canadian geese, American white pelicans, trumpeter swans, killdeer, common merganser, great blue heron, raven, yellow-headed blackbird, Brewer’s blackbird, brown-headed cowbird, double-crested cormorant, Clark’s nutcracker, common goldeneye, white-breasted nuthatch, Steller’s jay, black-chinned hummingbird, Cassin’s finch, Cassin’s kingbird, peregrine falcon, western scrub jay, blue grouse, gray-headed dark-eyed junco, red-tailed hawk, California condors
*National Parks/Monuments visited on 2009 trip so far: 30
*State Parks visited on 2009 trip so far: 4

Though it’s only 11.3 miles across the canyon, going from the North Rim to the South Rim requires driving 215 miles and takes 5 hours. As usual the scenery was beautiful as we passed the Vermillion and Echo Cliffs, the Painted Desert, drove through the Navajo Indian Reservation, and crossed the Colorado River.

After settling into the Trailer Village Campground located within Grand Canyon NP, we caught the shuttle to the Visitor Center. A free shuttle bus operates four routes on the park’s South Rim with a stop at the campground that made getting around quite easy.

Across from the center is Mather Point, the first view most people get of the Grand Canyon after entering the park. Cars line both sides of the road leading to this area as people want to take in that first view, which makes navigating difficult at times, thus the shuttle is a huge benefit.

Wed. morning we caught the blue route shuttle which would take us to Bright Angel Lodge. We planned to get off a stop ahead at the Train Depot but were delayed a couple minutes as the driver had to wait for elk to cross the road. A couple of them had the largest rack of antlers we’d ever seen! After looking in the El Tovar Hotel and the Hopi House, both built in 1905, we walked along the Rim Trail towards Bright Angel. The canyon views at the South Rim are definitely more expansive than on the North Rim, but there are definitely a lot more people. While there were probably only about 300 people at the North Rim, there were thousands at the South.

After eating lunch at the Lodge, we walked back out towards the rim and passed the Buckey O’Neill Cabin. Built in the 1890s, it is the oldest surviving structure in the Grand Canyon. Just past the Cabin is the Lookout Studio. Built in 1914, it is basically a gift shop now but has natural stone stairs out back leading down to an area overlooking the canyon. As we descended, we noticed some people towards the back looking straight down, and discovered there were two tagged condors on a ledge below! We had learned from the condor talk about a website that will give you all the pertinent info on the condors if you know their tag numbers (www.nps.gov/grca/naturescience/upload/Condorchart20090718.pdfv/grca/naturescience/upload/Condorchart20090718.pdf ) so we planned to check out #27 and #H2 when we returned to the RV.

After watching them sunning and preening for awhile, we headed back up towards the trail and decided to watch a little longer. From this different vantage point we noticed a young man nearby setting up a tripod and scope, and as luck would have it, he worked for the park service as a condor researcher! He informed us that #27 was the mother and H2 was her chick, how old they were (14 and 1-1/2), and allowed us to view them through his scope. As we watched, mama spread her wings apparently to get some sun and appeared as if she was shading or perhaps protecting her chick.

Thurs. we took the shuttle to the transfer exchange area for the red route that would take us the 7 miles out to Hermits Rest. No cars are allowed along the red route and only accessible by shuttle. Each bus is only allowed to transport 39 passengers from the transfer station to the first overlook stop so there’s room to pick up passengers at that next stop. However, to avoid waiting in the long line, the driver announced that it was a short, easy walk to that first overlook. Well, not exactly! Some work was being done on the walkway, so a temporary path had been created that was not paved, had plenty of rocks, and was actually steep. Once reaching that first overlook, we rested and then peered down into the canyon to see a number of people hiking a long trail below us. More power to them! We hopped back on the bus, stopped at Powell Point, Hopi Point, and of course, Hermit’s Rest, then it was time to head back.

On Sat. our good friend, Mike, and Keith, a friend of the family, drove up from Scottsdale, AZ, to see us. He’s Mikey’s namesake, and it had been years since we’d seen him though we talk weekly. Keith had never been to the Grand Canyon and was awed by what he saw. We walked the Rim Trail, had lunch at Bright Angel Lodge, walked the first few yards of the 9 mile Bright Angel Trail, and stopped at the Lookout Studio with hopes of seeing the condors again, but no such luck. After a brief visit back at the RV, it was time for them to make the 4 hour drive home.




















Most of the next day we hung out at the RV but late in the afternoon we headed back over to Lookout Studio hoping for one more glimpse at those condors. When we arrived, we didn’t see any but did see a female big horn sheep and her lamb on the boulders below. We watched as they gracefully made their way along the ridges, amazed at their agility.

As we began to walk back towards the bus, we spotted some birds in the trees below and stopped to check them out. We determined that they were turkey vultures, and there were about a dozen in one tree. Suddenly a huge black bird came flying by them, and as it landed in that same tree, all 12 of those vultures took off at once, most landing in nearby trees. What a sight that was to see! That big black bird was in fact a condor, #83 (another female who was 4 years old…looked it up later). Guess condors have the right of way! Unfortunately I couldn't get any really clear pictures of this bird. We watched awhile longer as the sun began to set before heading back to the RV.

Mon. it was time to head east to St. Louis, ending our 3 month tour of the National Parks of the west. We drove 1,500 miles in 3 days traveling along I-40, which also doubles as the Purple Heart Trail and follows Historic Hwy. 66, and crossed the Continental Divide again. We made a quick stop at the Petrified Forest National Park (www.nps.gov/pefo) Visitor Center to get our National Park book stamped and spent our first night in a rest area 30 miles west of Tucumcari, NM, watching a magnificent sunset. The second night was spent in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Joplin, MO, and we finally arrived in Eureka, MO, around 2pm on Wed., Aug. 19. While in Joplin, we had dinner with Curt and Linda as they live only 15 min. away. This will be just the beginning of visiting with friends for the next 5 weeks and continuing to enjoy our journey.