I have left my RV behind, walking down the sidewalk with my luggage in tow. It is a warm afternoon and I am starting to sweat a bit with the exertion. My plan was to hit the Motel 6 at the first major intersection, about a 10 minute walk down the sidewalk back at the first major road.
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I had arrived back from Hells Half Acre later than I had hoped. It now was time to start the process I had come to think of as “de-RVing”. That meant getting everything ready to return my RV, retaining only what was going to fit in a suitcase and carry on bag. A quick canned dinner, then I start in on the process.
It is the last day for me to hike in the desert, let’s hope it will be a good one! Hopefully I will not be blocked by a canyon in getting to my destination: Hells Half Acre!
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One thing I have noticed on this trip is that I plan ahead way less than I thought I would. I seem to be happy just looking at what is up ahead of me, doing a little poking around on my maps. Perhaps I do a little research on the internet. Then I just go, and figure out the rest when I get there. That was not going to work out for me today.
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After my morning discard discoveries, I finish a good lunch. Now, it was time to travel up Signal Road, behind the hill and find the other mine my topo map said was behind there. What would I find back there?
For my second day here, I had resolved to check out the second mine on my map, having been chased out of the area by bad weather the previous day. But there was to be other strange discoveries this day as well.
I leave the Grand Canyon reluctantly, not only because I am leaving behind such a natural wonder, but that I am going on to my last travel leg – heading south towards Phoenix and my return home. I had no plan beyond that, due to lack of internet signal. I decided that I would head towards my “plan B” site from my planning to get to the Grand Canyon, then south on the 93. Once I had some Internet, I could plan more specifically.
Returning to the rig from my Sunrise view of the Grand Canyon, I pack three bottles of water. I also pack my three heavy lenses, lunch, rain gear, map, bean bag tripod. Ugh, this pack is heavy. Ditch a lens? But it’s the Grand Canyon… Although my 70-200 F4 is a top notch lens, I’ve got a 18-135, do I really want to schlep this thing around for the little extra reach? But it’s the Grand Canyon! When am I ever going to be among this kind of grandeur again? The lens stays, we will see how much I like it when I’m hiking back up the canyon carrying all this gear.
I decided today that I was going to see the Grand Canyon at sunrise, then do my walk down into the canyon. One of the rangers had advised that Mather Point was a good place to see the sunrise. So I manage to drag my ass out of bed early, an extraordinary thing for what I hoped would be an extraordinary sunrise.
I woke up early, well, early for me. The inside of the RV was just beginning to lighten up, telling me it was around 7am. I lay there for a few minutes, thinking I might get back to sleep. Then I thought about what I was going to do today – I was going to see the Grand Canyon. There would be no more sleep for me, time to get up and go!
