It is not possible to hike all the way to the bottom and back in one day,
and seeing as I'd struggled with the five-minute walk from the car park we
decided we were probably best coming back on another trip. For now we
found out about some drives and points of interest around the canyon rim,
and planned to try these the next day. We were not in the mood to do
anything else until then. Yes the Grand Canyon is incredible, but having done
a month of seven-day weeks we just wanted a rest. We headed back to our
hotel, just in time to watch Lord of the Rings.
'If you're well enough to eat breakfast, then you're well enough to go to
school'. This must be one of those parental sayings right up there with 'you'll
get a cold if you go out with wet hair'. Presumably then if you are not well
enough to eat breakfast you should not go out, to school or anywhere. We still
went out the next morning however, in spite of not being able to face the hotel
breakfast of cinnamon buns and dubious muffins. This was our last day at the
Grand Canyon and we were determined to see more of it before hurtling back
to California. We did dry our hair before we went out though.
Again the weather was very cold, and this time there were clouds
breaking up the blue sky. Rather than spoiling the view they actually made it
more interesting, providing some dramatic shadows that helped give the
canyon more depth for photographing. We did not go straight to the rim
however but first took in a ranger talk about how the canyon was formed.
The most impressive thing about this particular lecture was the
presenter's huge and bushy beard - not a glowing compliment really. The talk
itself was very difficult to follow, using language that I - a former geology