Grand Canyon, Day 4

The sun is up and the tent is warming. I'm done with my morning coffee and serial. I'll enjoy the morning in this final day in Grand Canyon, and the final day of my 4 months long expedition, before packing up. 

Who knew Grand Canyon was so beautiful in the morning? Probably everybody except me. It's a shame that all my cameras; I'm down to my cellphone camera. I've been saying that Grand Canyon is not as visceral as Yosemite or Alabama Hill. That is because it is so big, it becomes hazy and flat everywhere you look. It doesn't give you the sense of depth. Go up to Glacier Point in Yosemite, on the other hand, you can feel the height and depth on your skin, it makes you feel like a Mountain Bashee that soars above the cliff and then swoop  down to the valley. In the orange glow of morning light, however, the Grand Canyon turns into 3D in its full glory.

I was going to skip Bright Angel Trail after the struggle on Kaibab Trail with cold and all. But I didn't want my Grand Canyon end in a defeat. So I got up at 5:45 AM and got ready. The elks and deer were out on the road for breakfast and stopping for them, and the view of Grand Canyon in the morning light, impeded the travel. But I was finally on the trail at 7:50.

There is a reason why this trail is top rated in Grand Canyon. On the way down, the red rock cliffs will remind you of Zion, all the way to Indian Garden at 4.5 mile mark. Then you come to the Indian Garden,  an oasis in rocky desert, fed by spring water. It is a very good place for a rest and I took a nap there on the way back. At Plateau Point, the inner canyon looks just like the Black Canyon of Gunnison. Colorado river meanders at the bottom and the black canyons stands 3000 feet tall on either side. If you were to hike all they way to the river, that would be equivalent to hiking to Scout's Lookout in Zion and then tack on Gunnison Route at end, for the total of 16 miles of round trip. I'll come back for it someday.

By the time I went past Indian Garden, the cold took over the control. I was feeling drained and dehydrated despite eating and drinking along the way. I almost turned back, thinking that the rest of the way is a boring walk through desert to get to the rim of the inner canyon. And the view from there wouldn't be much different from the outer rim. I'm glad I didn't. The view from the Plateau Point was nothing like that from the outer rim. Up close, it was more like the Black Canyon of Gunnison instead. I had my lunch there, took 15 minute break and turned back. It was past 12 by then and I didn't have enough daylight to make it back to the outer rim which would take much longer than it took to coming down, no doubt. I did make it back surprisingly fast, however, at 4:10PM with plenty of daylight left. The final mile felt as if it would going on forever though. In all, it took me 8 hours and 20 minutes for 12 miles. That is a substantial improvement over 9.5 hours it took in Chesler Park Loop which was 9.5 miles long. And that is despite suffering from cold. 

Today, the drive back to Sacramento begins. I don't need to stop at Death Valley and do 4.5 mile loop through Zabriskie Point; Bright Angels Trail is more than satisfactory finale. I'll drive straight back, stopping at Crest Ridge for the night.

Grand Canyon

The day is getting shorter, the weather is getting colder and my cold is lingering. Yeah, it's a good time to go home. I go back to Sacramento and start looking for a place in Reno for December.

The monsoon season is supposed to be over long ago here in the Southwest. But the storm last night was worse than the monsoon storm. The wind was, at least. My tent almost collapsed by the gale from the west. It didn't help that I collapsed the rain fly on the west side and put the space blanket over it to block out the cold wind. Little did I know the storm was coming with much stronger wind. The forecast called for a few hours of rain over night, so I didn't think much of it. The collapsed rain fly, and the tarp  over it, effectively served as a sail that almost launched the tent. Luckily the tent stood but the west wall got soaking wet -- collapsed rain fly means no roof to keep the rain water off the wall. I sleep on that side and my sleeping bag also got soaked. I slept well though, at least after I gave up and resigned to that there is nothing I could do till the morning when the rain and wind stops. The sleeping bag was wet, but the electric blanket kept me warm enough. Without it, It could've been a wet, cold and super miserable night.

I'll still have to wait till the sun come up and things dry up before packing out. Looks like that won't happen till tomorrow. Which means I'll have to endure 18F weather tonight. The wind will die down this evening, so I'll be fine if I stay inside my electric blanket till the sun comes and and the air warms up. Then I'll be off the the long march to Sacramento. Not sure yet if I'll stop at Death Valley or go directly to Sacramento. I still prefer to go back via Sierra, but I may get snowed in there like Donner Party. So I may forego Death Valley and Sierra and take SoCal route.  We'll see.

Grand Canyon

Jesus, it was a struggle. I was cramping all over last night and this morning, but I went on to hiking Kaibab Trail to Skeleton Point anyway. I still was cramping on the trail and even going down was a struggle. Coming back up, I had to take multiple breaks. The cold is still lingering and I'm definitely weaker. To be fair, 2400 ft over 6 miles is a strenuous hike. But it's not quite 3000 ft over 10 miles and I've done them without that much struggle. To make matters worse, I don't have appetite. I didn't finish my lunch pack of rice/chicken salad. Yet I still wasn't hungry when I got back. All I could manage was ramen soup. I poured the left-over lunch in the soup and made a meal out of it. And it just hit the spot and I'm feeling whole lot better now. Chicken soup to feed the cold. Whoever thought of it deserves pat on the back.

It's getting pretty cold and windy tonight. The forecast calls for rainy 29F tonight, and 19F tomorrow night. I didn't turn on the electric blanket last night; I think I will tonight.  

Not sure if I'll do Bright Angels Trail on Wed. If my cold doesn't improve by tomorrow, I'll have to skip and head home. The temperature is dropping everywhere and days are now too short to do much anyway. I guess there is a reason why people don't travel in the winter. Luckily I am camped next to a cell tower. I'm getting good signal to do the Internet in long dark nights.

Grand Canyon, Here I Come

I was going to stop at Santa Fe and soak in the Western scenery. Alex Baldwin must've known my plan and decided to fire a rifle at his crew while filming "Rust" at Bonanza Creek Ranch. It's now active crime investigation scene that is all taped up. I'll still drive by and check it out. The stay at Tucumcari has been mighty pleasant meanwhile. Maybe that is why my cold is getting better. I'm coughing as I expected but the box of Bronkaid that I bought in Tulsa is keeping it in check.

My plan after Santa Fe has changed. Both Antelope Canyon and Havasupai are managed by native tribes and require reservation and gazillion dollars. Havasupai in particular requires 3 night stay which can run the bill to the tune of over $1000. I'll have to better prepare for them and then come back later to get my money's worth. For now I'm going straight to Grand Canyon where my NP pass will get me in for free. I'll hike a few trails there and make it a grand finale.

The full length of Bright Angels trail is woefully tempting. It's 16 miles round trip to Colorado River at the bottom, which will require substantial refueling. I'll buy a box of energy bars. Water is available at Indian Springs, so I'll just carry 2L bottle. It's likely though, that I'll turn around at Plateau Point and make it a 12 mile hike. We'll see.

The big unknown is whether I'll recover from the cold by then. I'm in the upswing today, so I might be able to in the next 2 days. I'll do the shorter Kaibab trail first and see if I can hack it. Then give it a day of rest and tackle Bright Angels. We'll see. 12 mile 3000 ft hike will be the crown jewel of this recovery-from-CFS trip. Move over, Angel's Landing. And Chesler Park. And Mt. Ida..

Current River Kayaking

People here are southern. Not only their dourness gives them away, but you can also here a tinge of southern drawl. Not quite a twang, but it's definitely there. Not a surprise. It borders Arkansas after all. Bill Clinton with his terrible twang hails from there.

I had it all perfectly planned out. I'd follow the National Scenic Riverway from Round Spring to Van Buren where visitor's center and Big Spring is located. Then I'd back out and go to St. Michaels Nursery, plug in the car and sleep for the night. Next day I'd be off to Ozarks AR via the scenic water falls drive. I even managed to book a kayaking trip down Current River with Carr's Canoe at Round Spring. They'd take us to Platiff Spring and unleash us to float down back to Round Spring.

And It's true, everybody has a plan till their kayak flip over. In one section of the river, two thirds for the width was a shallow. So I took the rapids to avoid getting grounded. I figured I could steer toward the center. But the water dropped quickly and swirled making it next to impossible to couldn't steer. It took me right into a tree stump and I got bounced out of the boat. Luckily things got caught in the eddy and I didn't lose anything other than 89 cents pair of sandals from Walmart, which were broken anyway. But the camera and the Tesla key fob got soaked and stopped working. That would've been the loss of $500 each for the total of $1000. Luckily the key fob is working again this morning. It must've dried up over night and that must've fixed the problem. If it didn't, I would've had to make a beeline to Tesla Service Center in Kansas City and get a new one.

Tesla has no mechanical key. The only backup is the cellphone and you are dead in the water if you don't have cell signal. And that is exactly what happened. I had to tow the car to where the cell service is available. I pressed SOV button on SPOT Satellite messenger and the tow truck showed up 4.5 hours later. It's in the middle of nowhere and apparently it wasn't easy to get towed around here. Danny, the tow truck driverk managed the car on the flat bed by spraying the grease on the tire -- the car was in park position with brake on -- and took us to Summersville where we got a bit of signal. It was pitch dark then and I slept in Summersville in my car.

This was the worst incident in the entire trip. Till now I managed to avoid problems -- all went according to plan, and when it didn't, I had a good backups. This one not only spoiled entire 2 day plan, it took a lot out of me. I'm now ditching the rest of the plan for the Midwest and will go straight to Antelope Canyon 1300 miles away. 

As if that isn't enough, I'm now sick. I started to feel it in my nose when I checked in to Super 8 in Rolla. Then yesterday it got all stuffed up. Today the cold is slowly moving down to my throat. It'll probably make it down to my lung and I'll be coughing.  It doesn't appear to be Covid though. I'm sneezing and sneezing is not supposed to be a part of Covid symptom.

I'll have to stay in motels for a few days in Oklahoma. Till I shake it off, there won't be any more hiking.

Spring Cave, Ozark

It's getting nippy here in southern Missouri. Not as bad as the Rockies which is now below freezing, but the morning is at 40F. It's now 4PM and the breeze is chilly enough for long sleeves and pants. The day is obviously getting short too. It's the middle of October and the sun sets at 6PM and it doesn't rise again till after 7 AM here in southern Missouri. It's still warm enough in the noon time though. 

Finding the campsite here in Indian Trail Preservation Area was a pain. These free campsites don't have a map and GPS coordinates are very approximate, on a good day. Sometimes the info on freecampsites.net is outdated and the sites don't exist. That's what happened in White River Terrace and I had to drive another 40 miles to Indian Trails. At least I had a back up plan.

Here in Indian Trails, the sites are dispersed over huge area and you have to do lots of poking to find a decent spot. I took the second one by the road about 2 miles past the GPS point. It's actually on the middle triangle at a fork. It is a very large triange, about an acre, but I managed to set up the tent near the road and cars coming coming and going shine headlights directly on my tent. Luckily not too many cars come and go at night. There was a much better and secluded site about 2 miles further up behind the gun range. I stumbled on it when the dumb Tesla navigation took me through there to get to Devil's Well, the trailhead for Spring Cave Trail, this morning. The road soon became impassible and I had to turn around, come back to the came and then take the paved highway to Salem. I burned precious 5 miles in the process on top of the 60 miles that I burned needlessly scrambling to find the campground yesterday. Now I only have 70 miles left for tonight and then make it back to Rolla for recharging. The life in EV off the beaten path sucks. 

So I gave up on Round Spring and Allis Spring which are further south and therefore required more EV range. But I still managed to make it to Spring Cave. The path to/from it is a standard issue trail through the woods. The end point, however, was well worth the uneventful 4.6 mile hike. The emerald blue water springs from the cave and adds volume to Current river. Kayaking on Current river into these caves apparently is a popular activity in the Scenic Riverways. Not sure if I'll have time for it though. I'll be driving over 200 miles on 10/19 through the riverways and that's not going to leave much room for anything other than driving and sightseeing.

I'm changing my plan. I was going to come back to the camp after Onondaga State Park and Meramec Springs Park tomorrow. But hotels in Rolla seems to be cheap enough and there is no sense making another 80 mile trip to recharge the car on 10/19. And my day off on 10/18 needs Internet connection that doesn't exist here in Indian Spring campsite. So, I'll pack up tomorrow morning and check into a hotel in Rolla after Onondaga Cave. I'll take day off after that, and then I'll be off to the Scenic Riverways drive to Van Buren and then to Miner for recharing. From there, I'll head to Big Bend NP in TX.

Return West

 It's only 60F. But the dewy mornings here in Erie PA feels like crisp fall and quite refreshing. Maybe it feels that way after mostly staying indoors for a day. Maybe Sacramento morning in the fall and winter are the same. I rarely ventured out in the mornings so I wouldn't know. I'll have to start morning walks when I get back in the West.

I'm already one state over to the West after Catskills and Greek cities of upstate New York. The rest of the return path will look something like this:

It looks like a figure eight if you superimpose it with the Eastward path, with Ohio as the nexus. I didn't planned it that way; I vaguely thought I'd take the southern path toward Florida. But that will take longer and I'm more in the mood for the mountains than oceans. You'd think oceans would be a refreshing change after 3 months of hiking in the mountains. But lounging around on the beach doesn't inspire me this time around for some reason. I'd love to go back to Colorado or go to Glacier NP, but it's already winter there with temperature dipping down to the teens in the morning. 

So, I'll have had enough serving of the middle USA for one life time after this trip. I don't know yet how long it will take to complete the route. But I'm guessing another month. I'll fly through the cities and then spend several days in Ozark, Big Bend and Havasu.