Month: August 2022

Arizona, Grand Canyon National Park, Ten-X Campground, Kainab National Forest, Western South Rim Trail, Grand Canyon NP

Western Rim Hike, Grand Canyon National Park

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Friday, July 22, 2022

We caught the red line bus to the western part of the South Rim Trail, most of which is unpaved. We walked along the rim for an hour seeing very few people. No cars are allowed on this section, so bikers took advantage. Early in the morning it would be a great bike ride. We passed a small group that were on a bike tour. 

We caught the bus, went up a stop or two, then walked the last mile to Hermit’s Rest. I love this building that blends in with its surroundings. It has the most incredible fireplace!

  • Hermit’s Restt
  • Grand View

Back at Ten-X Campground, we had to stay inside the Airstream. Yellow Jackets have infested the campground. They don’t sting you, but they buzz all around you and whatever food or drink you carry. 

We have been fortunate to have elk in our camp almost every day, mostly three males. Patty educated me on what males are called. they are spikes until their horns branch. Then they are called bulls. 

Circuit Breaker, Valle, Arizona

Breaker Breaker

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Tuesday, July 19, 2022

In the afternoon we drove south 20 miles to the small community of Valle to try to find a breaker. Our air conditioner has been tripping a 30 amp breaker to the Inverter. We stopped at the Raptor Ranch Campground to ask where the hardware store was. “Across the road, turn right. It looks like a Tee Pee. 

Going into the store, a nice young lady greeted us from behind a counter and a glass front. I asked about breakers and she took us to the back, where there was a stack of dusty breakers. We found one that was close – not an exact match, but close. 

It was an interesting store, so I started looking around. In a small desert town, it had a little of everything. I asked the lady if she had DEF (diesel exhaust fluid), and she took me right to it. 

Outside, I opened the hood and started filling the DEF tank when a man asked if we needed help. It was hot, about 95 degrees, and he thought we were putting water in the radiator. 

While in town, we thought we should fill up with gas, so we went into a Shell Station. At the entrance there was a restored 1950’s gas station with restored cars all around. It was cool. Around the modern gas station were statues all around – a bear, elk, cougar, cowboy, Indians and more. It was a productive and interesting stop in the little town of Valle. 

A young elk bull came to visit again in our camp. How can you beat that? I cut off all power and replaced the breaker following a great video on the topic. At first I couldn’t get the new breaker to snap into position, but remembering the video showed a new breaker with grease in the catch. Mine didn’t have grease, so once I added some dielectric grease, it went right in. I am intimidated by 220 electric, but this is a pretty easy job.

Arizona, Grand Canyon National Park, Ten-X Campground, Kainab National Forest

Bright Angel Trail, Grand Canyon NP

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Wednesday, July 20, 2022

We hiked Bright Angel Trail to the 1.5 mark, where there is a spring and a restroom! It was certainly easy enough walking down. It was about 7:30 when we started – not early enough! there were a lot of people already at the spring when we got there, and I had to stand in line to go to the bathroom. 

As we started back up, we talked with a nice lady ranger. I asked how far it was to the edge of the mesa below. We could clearly see the trail below us, and it didn’t appear to be a bad walk. She said, “It is 6.5 miles to that overlook. You have been a mile and a half.” I quickly acknowledged we could not hike back up 6.5 miles. She said a lot of people walk down to Indian Garden, a green area we could easily see. They would often spend the night there, walking out to the end in the evening. Then hiking back up in the morning. 

Martha asked about shade going back up. She said it is mostly shady in the morning, so round-trip hikers will sometimes walk down Kaibab Trail, spend the night, then hike back up Bright Angel, taking advantage of shade going down and coming back up. She said we were smart to start back up. 

We might have been considered smart if we had started at 7:00, or even 6:00, but it got hot as we made our way back up. We had to stop many times to rest and catch our breath. I had soaked my shirt in the spring water before starting. By the time we got back to the top, we were exhausted by a tough 3-mile walk!

We went back to Bright Angel Lodge for lunch and a lot of water! Then back to our campsite for a nap. It was very hot, so we turned the air conditioner on, set to 85 degrees. It cut back on in 20 minutes, and we did that for three hours. We were not plugged in, so this was an extreme test for our batteries. It ate up all of the charge, by the time we turned it off in the evening. I hoped the Arizona sun would help regain power tomorrow. 

In the evening we went to Grand View to watch the sun set. It was interesting to follow guides, listening to their talks. I cringed as parents crawled over the wall with their kids too get to a “better” spot. One guide noted buzzards circling below us. He said someone probably fell down there. “It happens all the time”, he said. They might have a broken bone or worse.

We decided to leave a bit early to beat the crowd. Driving back, the whole sky lit up! 

It was too hot to cook, so we went out to dinner. It was just OK, but it beat cooking on a hot day. Fortunately it had turned cooler and was fine for sleeping. Worried about battery power, I cut off the fan at midnight and closed the vent. It was 60 degrees when I got up!

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