today was the day we had been waiting for. the day of the grand canyon! yet even so we were unable to pull ourselves out of bed with enough time to get to the bus that would take us to a specific trail we wanted to hike by 9. we ate some jack in the box tacos and hit the road while enjoying the beautiful scenery and getting more excited as we got closer and closer. we were going through a beautiful area that was filled with trees dusted with fresh snow and handsome made me get out and hug one of them since i am a treehugger. i didnt realize how large the trees were until i tried to put my arms around one. we also found a really cool abandoned barn right off the side of the road. handsome took the most perfect picture of it on my phone.
it was super exciting to finally arrive at the park (even though we missed the bus for the trail with expansive views). we were told upon arrival that the tops of the trails were very icy and therefore needed to get cramp on things that hook to your shoes and allow you to grip the ice better. it kind of makes me think of a contraption that allows you to turn your regular shoes into golf shoes within 2 seconds. we picked up two winning pairs at the grand canyon general store and headed to the rim of the canyon to begin our hike.
handsome made sure that i had the best experience possible and didnt let me see the canyon until it was in full view by covering my eyes and walking me up to the edge. this was my first sight of the canyon!
after a brief view at the top of the rim, we headed to the start of the trail (bright angel). we hiked for about three hours and enjoyed the absolutely beautiful scenery and each others company. the one thing i would have been fine not experiencing was sliding through mud and mule poop. it was disgusting! i ended up getting used to the mule poop and it didnt bother me to just step in it. it disturbs me a bit that i even reached that point, but without it, hiking would have been much more difficult.
we were walking down the path and took a quick break to look at things along the trail when handsome spotted a pile of leaves that were conveniently my favorite shade of yellow, mustard! he decided that i should throw them in the air and let them rain on me. i think it turned out perfectly.
handsome was very daring and constantly climbed on cliffs that freaked me out. i didnt join in on these adventures because i found it way too scary (and my shoes were way to dangerous since they have absolutely zero traction). instead, i would stay on the trail and take pictures of him standing in the frightening areas. at one point we stopped to sit and enjoy a snack while looking at the canyon. there was a really awesome picnic rock/cliff that we could have sat on, but i found it way too frightening to climb down to where it was. i initially tried to climb to it, but ended up unable do it because i continued to think about falling. it wasnt the most pleasant of thoughts.
our favorite trail was not part of the main trail that was laid out for travelers, both for the human and mule varieties. we liked it more because it seemed more rustic and natural (there also was no mule poop to be found). it broke off the main trail and took you through areas that were filled with many more plants and large rocks. we ended up not hiking this trail for too long because it did not seem to be leading anywhere and we started it towards the end of our hike. it was also beginning to snow and we wanted to see some other views of the canyon before it started snowing too hard.
this is my favorite picture of handsome. he hiked off the trail with another canyon hiker to go see an unusual deer (i consider it unusual) up close called the mule deer. he was super excited about the pictures he took while he was so close to it. he says he was able to get such good pictures because the deers dont run away. people dont hunt in the canyon and therefore do not give the deers a reason to be afraid of humans.
the snow ended up having a different opinion about our plan to see different views of the canyon. once we got to the top of the rim and drove to another lookout point it started snowing super large and dense flakes. we couldnt see anything! i made us some sandwiches and we decided to drive around the park for a little bit and ended up parking in an area that had multiple lookout points. we decided it would be worth it to try and wait it out.
we woke up after about a one hour nap to fog instead of the heavy snow. we decided to head out of the car and see what, if anything, we could see of the canyon. basically, we couldnt see anything! the clouds had filled up the entire canyon. it was essentially the end of the earth! it was very frightening to think about, but also interesting. of course it was a bit disappointing to not see all the beautiful and expansive views, but i would rather hike in the canyon than look at it. i would have been upset if we were unable to hike.
we decided to use our time wisely and look off the edge of the rim as well as take model pictures. handsome took one of me in a tree and conveniently made sure a branch was going across my face. perfectly enough to make it look like i had a tree branch in my mouth! i dont actually stand in trees and gnaw on nearby branches, he just chose to portray me that way. ha!
we stopped and got some coffee before we headed to flagstaff where we decided we would eat dinner that night. we decided we were going to eat mexican food and drove by a promising restaurant while looking for another one. the one we were actually looking for was much less promising, so we headed back to the first one we saw. it was the best decision ever! the restaurant was packed with large parties and it seemed that everyone was enjoying themselves. the food was delicious and we stuffed ourselves until i needed to unbutton my pants in order to be comfortable. i also learned that handsome is infinitely better at forming burritos than i am.
love.
No comments:
Post a Comment