The Largest Drainage Ditch

The Largest Drainage Ditch - Part 4B

Friday, May 20th – Grand Canyon National Park – North Rim to Kanab, Arizona/Utah – Day 99

We were advised to leave our trailer for the 45-minute drive we were going to take to get to Point Royal, the highest point in the park. We decided that we wanted to start the Kaibab trail on both sides of the canyon with hopes that one day we could come back and go rim to rim. Just like the south rim, we went down to the first lookout.

The hike to Coconino Overlook, was 2.2 km round trip with 240m of elevation change, the trail was more heavily wooded than the south and followed a much more relaxed path, and by relaxed path, I mean no sheer drop offs. There were some but they were fewer in numbers. The kids were great on the way down. The Coconino Overlook provided a stunning view of the canyon; you could see the trail extending down to the river. Yet again, it looked like a lot of fun. There were a bunch of people coming up that had started on the south rim that morning, twelve hours ago. We talked to a few of them about what it was like, and it seemed tough but doable.

The way up was miserable. John did not want to walk one metre from that overlook. I went through the series of bribes and punishments. If you walk up to an undefined point ahead, we can take a break and drink Gatorade and eat a gummy. If you don’t start walking you will lose screen time for the rest of the day. They did not phase him. At the end, I just picked him up and carried him up the hill for a bit. He ultimately decided to cry and walk up the hill at the same time.

John looking very innocent

To be continued...

Comments

Mary in Malibu

Tuesday, June 7th - Angeles Mountains, Los Angeles to Santa Monica Mountains, Malibu, California - Day 117 It is great to welcome Mary back on the trip. The kids gave her a huge hug as we picked her up at the airport. They are all really excited to talk to someone other than their parents. We are all driving to our wedding on June 25th. Sixteen days until we need to be in Victoria, British Columbia. Our plan was to drive up the coast from Los Angeles, halfway to San Fran cut inland to Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park (which is close by) and then head north to Yosemite, before driving back down to Big Sur and then into San Francisco, potentially north east to Lake Tahoe and north to Redwoods National Park. It’s a busy schedule, we’ll see how it goes. On the way to pick up Mary we got a well-deserved oil change for the Santa Fe, courtesy of Valvoline. It was expensive but quick and easy. We were thinking of driving throu...

Back to the Coast

Tuesday, June 14th - Sacramento to Big Sur State Park, California - Day 123 In the morning, we got on the road and drove along the Sacramento river which watered acres and acres of fields on all sides of us. We took a scenic drive before getting on the highway. A brief stop at Walmart and Dollar tree replenished our supplies. We phoned Big Sur State Park to try to get a spot for the night. They had nine spots available, we were three hours away, we needed to hurry. When we finally reached the coast, we drove along a curvy cliffside road that was very beautiful. Views of waves crashing into the rocks on the coastline below were exquisite. Gen was behind the wheel. There were no passing lanes, she finally found a spot to pull off the road and subsequently had several minutes of vehicles continuing to pass us before we could get back on. We finally reached Big Sur State Park and were welcomed with a grove of Red Woods towering over the drive into...

Simnett Travels

Search This Blog