Ah, yes. Our arrival to the Grand Canyon.
The first evening, we drove in with the bikes and went along Hermit Road to one of the early scenic overlooks, I think it was Maricopa point. Nobody else was there for the whole sunset time. The colors were pretty neat. Right when we were about to leave, one guy came and was able to get our picture before we biked back to the truck to get back to our RV that we left over in the woods...
The turn South to the Grand Canyon was part of the improvised plan related to the truck delay. We couldn't find an RV site in the park for the first night so we tried true boondocking out in the forest nearby. We made the mistake of driving past several easy spots that we could have taken and then turned into one that had a very narrow loop that we had to navigate very carefully through the trees, but we made it somehow. It was a nice experience being out there with nobody else around. Jordan became a free range baby and a little tree hugger. There were some loud elk noises overnight, but overall it was very peaceful. The sunrise in the morning was serene. I can see why people love boondocking out in BLM land. As soon as Jordan woke up, we got ready and headed in for our big hike!
The hike to Plateau Point from Bright Angel, according to the park information signs, is the longest day hike that they recommend. We prepared well with plenty of food and water and set out! We brought the whole RV to the RV parking area since we were moving into the Grand Canyon campground Trailer Village after the hike and didn't want to delay by having to drive back out to the forest after what was sure to be a long day. A short walk from the parking lot, we stopped to get our picture at the trailhead sign. Anjuli carried Jordan for the first 1/3 of the descent, and then handed her off to Bruce for the remainder. We got to see the mules a few times during the hike.
We did our best to maximize our speed for the sake of Jordan. We had no idea how she would handle this long of a hike in the backpack since we hadn't gone nearly that far before. Anjuli and Jordan had recovered well from covid, but Bruce was still weak. Still, he was the faster one on the way out even carrying Jordan! Anjuli stopped to admire the view numerous times on the way back up (aka, catch her breath). Jordan took a nice nap on the way up. She did very well on the whole hike and only fussed a little bit when she was hungry. That hike set the record for us as a family, probably not to be broken for several years until Jordan can power through on her own. The next morning we took it easy and biked around by the visitor center and closer overlooks until it was time to move on.
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