I had decided last night that I would get up at sunrise and do the 1mile down, 1 mile up hike. Daniel and Jim were interested…but not early. The temperature got down into the 50’s and to be honest, I slept great! We had not slept without the air conditioner since San Antonio and it was only the second time on our trip so far. I snapped a picture of our campsite.
So we ate breakfast and then everyone wanted to go. We got down to the trail head at about 11am. Upon entering the Grand Canyon trail, there was a sign that caught my attention.
A lady marathoner had lost her life due to dehydration. Needless to say we had water but I was concerned about enough water. As it turns out, if you made it to the 1 mile down point, there was running water to help you get out. They have a saying what goes down, must come up. Boy was this appropriate. We all had a leisurely stroll down and if not conscience to the up hill climb, back out, could had made it all the way to the bottom. At a point in the trail, Jim, Val and my wife wanted to turn around. The boys wanted to go on so I went with them. It was very hot and at noon, the heat was intense. It was a nice walk down and I got many pictures. Once at the 1 mile point, we saw the ranger. He was getting every one wet. In fact, we wet our T-shirts and hats to keep us cool on the trip up. We also filled our water sacks and bottles, used the composting toilet and then started up.
As we ascended, we took advantage of the shade by slowing down and sometimes stopping, and made time in the sun. At one point, Isaiah, my daring son, saw that there was a rock climb that would eliminate the switchback and it was constantly in the shade, but straight up. He asked me if he could climb it…I hesitated then gave him permission. The rest followed…including me.
We did this several times, I think three times. Then it was onward and upward. We eventually made it back to the top and met up with the rest of the gang at Blue Angel lodge. We told Val of Daniels daring climb and she did not kill me. Thank you Lord. We did some souvenir shopping and then went back to eat early so we could catch the sunset later. We were concerned about getting a sunset because the clouds had moved in. We went out to Grand Point View (check on map) and sat on a rock while we waited for the sunset. The clouds were thick in the distance but we waited anyway. As the sun went down, we met an older couple. We struck up a conversation while waiting. They professed to be Spirit filled Christians. We gave our testimony and how the Lord was using us to share the good news. Smiles grew larger on their faces. They seemed shocked that we would be so bold yet happy to meet fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. This seemed to be the norm as we met people across this grand country with a few exceptions as we have noted. When the sunset did come, it turned out to be beautiful. I snapped many pictures.
After this we drove back to camp and started a campfire. We all sat around and made smores. As the night ended, Mary Therese, Isaiah, Ethan and Val retired to the motorhome and Jim, Daniel and me to the tent. Tomorrow the Meads would leave us and we would drive to Mesa Verde National Park. This trip was not planned but came about after talking to Philip in New Orleans. He recommended it highly.
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