We stepped out of Franklin at Grand Canyon Village and discovered it was very cold. All the Ponderosa Pine and Elk we saw after we entered the park should have been a hint. It really looked like a movie set. After bundling up we got our bikes and rode to the main visitors center to get our junior ranger badges and to Mather Point, the most popular viewing area on the south rim.
Who knew, but the Grand Canyon has a very well developed bike path through the park called the Greenway. Good thing, because that place was bonkers. The parking lots were packed, and you can get around on shuttles, but because of COVID, the already popular shuttles were even more limited than normal. And this was apparently the off-season.
It didn’t feel like the off-season as we waded through the other visitors toward the south rim of the canyon. But once we finally made it to the overlook at Mather Point it became very clear why it was so popular. The experience really is like nothing else. The view is mind-bending. Impossible to process. Beyond the scope of anything we’ve ever experienced. Words can’t do it justice.
Some spots along the rim had sturdy railings, but many did not, and the sweeping vistas and crowds gave a couple of us the spins. So we decided to get back back on our bikes and ride along the rim to the Kaibab trailhead. Immediately it felt less crowded, and we became acclimated to the views of the chasm from along the bike trail. A few miles east of the visitors center, the Kaibab trail dives down into the canyon along a steep trail of countless switchbacks.
Of course, there was no way we were hiking down this trail, especially after hearing stories from Sam and Deb about their excursion to the bottom of the canyon and how tough it was. And of course, Henry really, really wanted to hike down. Somehow, when we got to the trailhead, we just started down. Only a little ways, then we’d head back. Ok, fine, just one more switchback. Maybe we could make it to that shady spot and then we’d turn around. And so on and so forth, even as we passed people climbing back up who looked as if they’d barely avoided becoming a permanent exhibit in the park.
I think we maintained just enough of our healthy respect for the drop offs and the effort it would take to make it back that after about a mile, we turned around. Clinging to the cliff face and our hats (on top of everything else it was like a wind tunnel in that canyon) we crawled back up around the switchbacks, very proud of ourselves.
The ride back along the rim to our camp during magic hour was, well, magical. But it was even colder by then, and we were so happy to be snug and safe back in Franklin. It was sold cold that night, that for the first time all trip we hauled a couple camp chairs inside to hang out in the warmth.
Once we were all cozy and warm, we settled in to complete our junior ranger badge activity books. Most parks have a junior ranger program whose purpose is to get kids to explore, learn, and protect natural resources. When the kids completed activities showing what they’d learned about the park, the ranger would have them recite an oath and reward them with a cool badge that displayed the park name. During Covid, the parents get deputized, meaning they’re given the badges to hold onto until the kids finished. The boys had already collected a badge at each national park we’d visited, but the Grand Canyon badge was extra special and cool. It was carved out of wood, and not plastic. So when the boys finished their books and reached out their hands for their badges and Cramer could only find one, it was a dark moment. Where had that other badge gone? Probably the bottom of the Kaibab trail, but at this point it didn’t really matter. We needed a new badge.
So, next morning we had really only one goal – to get to a visitors center and GET THAT BADGE. Jess had the idea that we could ride bikes to the other visitors’ center at the historical village that was made up of the old Santa Fe train depot, El Tovar lodge, Verkamp’s Curios, and Hopi House. We made sure to arrive early to beat the crowds, and when we showed up at 8 AM, there was no one there, including employees. The visitors’ center opened at nine. Now we were in a real bind, because we had to be to be in Lee’s Ferry by 11:45 for a kayaking trip down the Colorado River. Almost 3 hours away. That’s cutting it close.
Ok, new plan. We get back in Franklin and drive to the main visitors’ center and grab a badge before the hordes descend then book it out of there. And that’s exactly what we did. Cramer was somehow fist in line for the badges, and we blasted out of Grand Canyon for Lee’s Ferry hoping we could make it in time.
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