Vaca 2021, Day 8 - Below the Rim Hiking At The Canyon That Is Grand

I woke up shortly after 4am with a strong need to go potty and got back into bed only to find that I could not go back to sleep. I flip from one side to the other, wash, rinse and repeat. I woke Lesley up shortly thereafter and she too, had trouble going back to sleep. She is smarter than me and decided to get up and get showered to help the other 3 of us get our lazy butts up and moving.

At one point, she cleverly announced that she was going to get breakfast, which includes coffee, and me, being tuned into her "vibe",  knew exactly what was expected and what would result if the assumed expectations weren't met (ie, the boy's butts had better be ready to go when she got back!!).

I went first getting ready and was clever enough to again wake up the boys  and let them know exactly where Mama was at and what was expected.  Luckily for us males, there was an elk up by the road where you turn to return to our moth infested  hotel room.  

Big boy passing thru town.

It delayed her return by a bit, but we were mostly ready when she got back.

We were stuffing our pie holes as we got the van loaded to hit the road! The breakfast burritos were HUGE!!!   And better yet, they were really good!

This morning, after checking out, we're heading back North to the South rim of the Grand Canyon for a "below the rim" hike.

We started the "hike" from the parking lot down to the bus terminal when Rob and I witnessed a lady vomiting into the bushes just before you get to the actual waiting area for the buses.  Hmmm...  omen, maybe?  Who knows...  I'm sure it's fine.

So we wait for just a few minutes before the bus rounds the corner and unloads hoards of humans so that we can get on.  We get to our trail head without incident and start down the trail.

Early photo from when we were just starting the hike.  Can't beat the beauty even though pictures can never do justice to nature!

We would learn quickly about what we were going to be faced with.  This sign about mules was one lesson and we encountered a LOT of mule poop on our descent.

I don't have a great picture of it, but much like Carlsbad Caverns, you're on trail switch-backs to get you down to the real hiking level.  This is the edge of one of those switch-back corners.  Watch'cher step, youngins!!!

The next corner down from the photo above.

Now we're leveling out some...  

Mama taking a photo for another family with young kiddos.

That family returned the favor and took a few pics of our ghastly mugs!

Another place to watch your step!  One stumble and you're on the fast track to the Colorado River. My bum left knee is keen on my mind in spots like this!

Another drop from the edge of the trail.

Dad looking at the last picture that he tried to take as my phone was starting to act differently around this point, whether it was a recent update or not, I don't know.

This is what we were hiking too.  I can't remember the name of it for sure.  Peek-a-boo point maybe? It was cool but too many people...

 

My little gray squirrel buddy.

Caleb sitting on the edge of the world.  Now that I see the sign that he's resting his hand on, I remember that this is called, "ooh, ah, point".

Rob found himself a place to crawl up to away from the people.  Like father like son.

Caleb, who is dreaming of jogging back up.

Lovely!

This was taken after a good hour of two of driving to Desert View Watchtower.

There's the watchtower that we traveled too, only to find that you cannot go up the tower. Why?  Covid, of course.  But what can you do?  You can cram your butts into the gift shop and ice cream store where they will happily take your covid infested money but you cannot climb up the FREE tower because these over-conscientious b@st@rds are concerned about our health...  stupidity all the way down.  I was a bit honked off!