The 30th Anniversary Tour, 9.19.22 - 10.15.22, Part 6 of 12: Grand Canyon National Park
Run come see what this river has done. Carved the walls of Grand Canyon with the colors of the risin’ sun. “Grand Canyon Song” - Steve Goodman
Our campground on the south rim of the Grand Canyon was only a little over three hours from Monument Valley so we were in no particular hurry to get up and out. The scenery between the two is pretty boring from my recollection so there’s not much to report on there. As we approached the Grand Canyon it began to rain and by the time we turned off onto Desert Drive we were in the midst of a torrential downpour with thick fog. Luckily, by the time we reached our site in Mather Campground the rain had slackened. The forecast called for gradual clearing and the next day was supposed to be beautiful.
At the check in station we met up with Gina. She and I went to high school together and played in symphony band and marching band. We’ve now been friends for fifty years! She had a tent site right near our site. I liked Mather Campground. For a large, in park campground, there was plenty of space between sites and the entire campground was in a pine forest. There are no hookups but we were only going to be there two nights and there were restrooms right near our site. Of course dry sites are much less expensive so that was also a plus.
At this point in the story we got a double whammy of not so good news. First, when we tried to heat up some water for showers our propane heat kept failing. Upon further investigation I discovered that there was black soot on the exhaust near the pilot light and the pilot flame was more orange instead of blue. I’m no expert but it looked to me like something was blocking the tube and it wasn’t getting enough oxygen. A quick search and some phone calls confirmed that it is quite common for a spider or something to get inside the tube and block the flow. Bottom line was that until I got that fixed we couldn’t heat water. It really wasn’t that big of a deal because we also have electric heat for water and most of our future campgrounds had hookups so we really didn’t need the propane water heater for the remainder of the trip.
The second bit of not so good news was much more serious. With all the rain I had put in a call to the Arizona Strip Field Office. They are the ones who oversee a place called White Pocket which would be our next destination after the Grand Canyon. I had my hopes set extremely high that we would be able to visit White Pocket. It seemed like it had the potential to be the highlight of our entire trip. It is not an easy place to get to. Located deep in the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, the access road is quite primitive with areas of deep sand and rock steps to climb over. Most of the research I had done on getting to White Pocket said high clearance 4WD was mandatory and that it was highly recommended to air down the tires as low as 15PSI for better traction through the deep sand. All this was necessary even in good conditions. When I asked the ranger at the field office she said “No one will be going out to White Pocket any time soon. Rains have made the main road and the side road to White Pocket inaccessible with no timeline on when it will be in a condition to drive.” My heart sank at that point. I was crushed that the place I wanted to see more than any other on this trip would not be possible.
Not thinking clearly, the first thing I did was to cancel our RV campground reservation at Jacob Lake Campground which is closer to White Pocket since there was no point in going there anymore. We figured we could just stay at the Grand Canyon two more nights before heading to Zion. But after cancelling my reservation at Jacob Lake, we discovered that there wasn’t a single available site for the next two nights at the Grand Canyon. Doh! When I called Jacob Lake Campground back about re-reserving the site I had just cancelled, our site was already gone and no other reservable sites were available. Things were spiraling down fast. A quick check on my Campendium app showed another private RV campground just a few minutes from the Jacob Lake Campground. This place was called Kaibab Camper Village. They let us reserve a site with hookups so at least we had a place to stay for those two nights. Jacob Lake is the gateway to the main viewpoints on the north rim of the Grand Canyon so we figured we would go check out the north rim for a couple of days instead of our original plan of going to White Pocket. Whew!
Now that I had that taken care of, our focus returned to the Grand Canyon. Despite the heavy rain we experienced on the drive in, it was supposed to clear off before sunset. This boded very well for a possible great sunset so we proceeded with our plan and headed to the visitor center. The Grand Canyon surely is one of the most iconic places on earth and we were among people from all over the world. I love chatting with people from other countries and hearing about their stories and travels. It was crowded there but not nearly as bad as I imagine it gets at peak times. Around four-thirty we caught the shuttle out to the first point east of the Kaibab Trail called Yaki Point. This was one of the points in my research that was considered a good sunset spot. I wasn’t all that impressed when we got there. It had a nice view straight across the canyon but rocky outcroppings blocked the bigger views. However, walking along the rim maybe fifty yards to the east took us to a beautiful outcropping with a full view both up and down the canyon. I wanted a view with canyon walls to the east so they would catch the setting sun in the west and this had all the ingredients.
Bear in mind that this was the first time Bridgit and I had ever laid eyes on the Grand Canyon. The immense span and depth were incredible. The sun was still behind a thick layer of clouds so the whole canyon was in shadow but I could see a good line of blue sky underneath the cloud cover stretching down to the rim. We waited and watched and as the sun sank lower it slowly emerged from beneath the clouds and just lit up the canyon walls with rich evening light. It was a perfect sunset and one of the better sunsets we have ever seen.
Sunset from Yaki Point
Sunset from Yaki Point
Sunset from Yaki Point
Sunset from Yaki Point
The following morning was our thirtieth wedding anniversary. Watching the sun rise over the Grand Canyon seemed like an epic way to celebrate so Gina, Bridgit and I caught the 6AM shuttle out to the Kaibab Trailhead. There were about thirty other people on the shuttle, some of whom planned to hike down to the river and back up again. It is 6.3 miles down the Kaibab Trail to the Colorado River and you descend 4,860’ along the way. To make it a loop some planned to hike over to the Bright Angel Trail and ascend back up to the south rim that way. That loop is a total of 16.5 miles and of course you have to climb all that elevation lost on the way down as you ascend back up to the south rim. Another popular hike is what is known as a true rim to rim hike where you go down from the south rim and ascend to the north rim. Since the north rim is at a higher elevation there is even more distance and elevation gain for this endeavor. If I had insisted on doing that, our thirtieth anniversary would have very likely been our last.
To keep our marriage intact, I thought we would hike down the Kaibab Trail only one mile, losing six hundred feet of elevation to a viewpoint known as Ooh Aah Point. The trail gets down to business right away, dropping very steeply down a series of switchbacks before traversing along the canyon wall to Ooh Aah Point. It didn’t take too long to get there and I immediately found a nice perch to set up my tripod.
Shooting sunrise and sunset in canyons is challenging. There is major contrast between the bright sun and the dark shadows in the depths of the canyon. I found it better to wait until the sun had risen enough to fill in some of those darker areas, although there were interesting opportunities from dawn until several hours ofter sunrise.
Sunrise from Ooh Aah Point
Perfect place to celebrate thirty years of marriage
So happy to share our adventure with Gina
Sunrise along the Kaibab Trail
The hike back out wasn’t bad at all. It was only a mile back up to the rim and we took our time. Along the way we passed by a mama desert bighorn sheep and her baby.
Desert bighorn
The final switchbacks leading back up to the south rim
Since I now had gotten the opportunity to shoot both a sunset and a sunrise at Grand Canyon National Park, the rest of this day was for leisurely sightseeing. We went back to camp and cooked up a great breakfast and then hopped back on the shuttle. This time we headed west and stopped at all the eight points between Mather Point and Pima Point. Each had its own unique views of the Grand Canyon. Mohave Point and Pima Point both had views all the way down to the Colorado River.
The Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon
Gina and Bridgit
The Grand Canyon
The next morning was departure day but Bridgit and I got up one more time to see the sun come up. This time we went to the closest point to our campground. Mather Point is right by the visitor center but of course it is also the most crowded. We got there fairly early both so I could shoot during the golden hour and to secure a spot along the railing. By sunup I was surrounded by a huge throng of people and it was way too crowded for my liking. Still, we got to see another great sunrise and then we got the heck outta there.
Sunrise from Mather Point
Things get really crazy in Part 7!