Grand Canyon (Day 1)

We arrived in the afternoon at the NP and checked in into the lodge. It is a quite nice and you have wonderful evening view of the Grand Canyon. Next day we started early at 5:30 to watch the sunrise at Bright Angel Point:

We had breakfast with a great view at the picnic place:

Here we discussed the trail of the day and we voted for the Kaibab Trail:

Later we started the Kaibab trail which is basically starting at the rim site at altitude of 8.250ft (2.515m). We steadily hiked down trough pine trees until the mule station. 

With an increasing temperature we walked further down the Canyon until we finally reached the Redwall Bridge (6.100ft/1.860m), where we wanted to return. 

Unfortunately Ole was not seen as he walked further and was not see… So we decided to follow him. It was getting really hot and we really drinking and sweating a lot, always knowing, that each step we went downhill, we would have to come back…

The scenery was at least wonderful and really could see the Canyon.

We hiked another 1,5 hour until we finally reached “Roaring Springs” (5.200ft/1.585m), which is close to the campground. Here we found Ole waiting and we got really angry on him, leaving the group and going down such a long distance! At least the water from the spring was ice cold and we could refill our supplies. Frank and Adrian decided to start at 1.20 to hike up 3.050 ft to the trailhead, while Shelly and Ole decided to wait a little bit longer to avoid the heat.

Again the walk was beautiful, but with each step going up more painful. We finally reached the bridge and rested a while before the steep ascend started. Frank was running out of energy and we had to make a lot of stops. What a struggle… but finally we arrived at the mule station, where we rested a longer time. 

The final hike was again steep and took forever, but after an overall 2,5h brutal climb we got to the trailhead. Frank was completely exhausted:

Two hours later the rest of the expedition arrived, also not really fresh, which is not a wonder after hiking almost 10 miles (15,2KM) and mastering twice 3.050ft = 7.100ft in one day! Boy, we did not do much this evening, than just resting… The difference of the picture Start/end are quite amazing, isn't?

Here is information about the trail, which we read later.

Bryce Canyon

In the morning we had a wonderful breakfast and drove straight to the backdoor of the Bryce Canyon NP to avoid the tourist groups (which was another great hint from our hosts!). We parked our car at the end of the dirt road and started to walk.

It was a great walk, early in the morning, no people, blue sky and the first stone formations of Bryce Canyon. After  1,8 miles until we arrived at the trailhead to the Peekaboo Trail and Navajo trail. Here you can see the map and our route (in Red):

We decided to follow the first one, which is a wonderful roundtrip to the Bryce view point and back, which is rated as strenuous (anstrengend), which is was, as we added the trip to Tropic (2x 1,8mi), the roundtrip (3mi) and the trip to the view point (2x 1,1mi), et voila = 8,8mi.


The Canyon itself is mind boggling and one of the best experiences, I have ever made. So here are some impressions from early morning:

Adrian and Ole were also amazed about it!

On contrary to the Grand Canyon, the Bryce Canyon has no river, meaning the formations have been and will be shaped be erosion until today!

"The hoodoos of Bryce Canyon National Park formed in the Claron Formation, limestone deposited

in an ancient lake system 30-50 million years ago. With uplift of the Colorado

Plateau, a series of parallel fractures cut across the Claron Formation. It is along these fractures that the processes of weathering and erosion occur. The principle form of weathering is a process known as freeze-thaw. Water gets into
small cracks and freezes at night. The expansion of the freezing water widens the crack.

The following day, the ice melts and water seeps further into the crack and the process begins again. There are approximately 200 days of freeze-thaw at Bryce Canyon each year, and the process goes mostly unobserved. In summer,
monsoonal rains remove the products of weathering during flash-flooding
events. Over the millennia, the fantastically-shaped fins and hoodoos have
formed." (Source : Bryce Canyon NP Service).

This is a Hoodoo.

It was a really wonderful hike despite the heat. In the afternoon we got a little bit tired and went back to the trailhead, where Shelly and Ole made the Heldenpose (Hero posing).

Sego Canyon /Moab/Bullberry Inn

We were starting our trip early in the morning at Glenwood Spring with a surprisingly nice breakfast at our Motel. Even Ole was pleased to get so much food:

Later we were driving on I70 towards Grand Junctions. Unfortunately the tire pressure sign was on and we had to check the tires. The rear tires were a big problem as we could not open the cap, but like so many times in the US a friendly showed up and helped us. More than 2 psi were missing and we were close to add another destroyed tire to this highway.

Later we drove to the Sego Canyon to watch the ancient stone paintings. It was not easy to find, but we made it and nobody was there, so we could enjoy the landscape for us alone. Sego Canyon rock art is noted for its pictographs; some of them are larger than life size and were painted over a period of three thousand years.

Despite the incoming clouds, Frank really wanted to see Arches NP, which we visited several years ago. So we did a little detour and visited the National Park for a quick visit. We could not see much, but we got at least an impression:

This is definitively a NP, where you need time to explore in the morning/evening all the different fantastic spots! In the afternoon we continued our travel on the I70 and HWY89 to Tropic, where we arrived very late. We staid at the Bulberry Inn, where we felt  immediately at home, thanks to the owners and the nice home, they created! We really recommend this B&B!!!

Overall we drove this day 495 miles, mostly in rainstorms and thunderstorms…

Canyon Tour: Glenwood Springs

In 2015 we will continue our blog with another desert and canyon trip. This time we are four folks, Adrian, Ole, Shelly and Frank. We will cruise through Colorado, Utah and Arizona in two weeks.

Adrian, Ole and Shelly jumped on different planes on the 16^th of July, the first holiday day in Hamburg. While Adrian was enjoying a business class trip to Denver, Ole and Shelly were trying out Iceland Air, which was quite nice.

Frank had to work a little bit longer and had a rougher time going to Denver, as his BA flight from London to Denver got canceled and he spend a night in an airport hotel at London Heathrow. Nevertheless he arrived and we started out trip early in the morning in Evergreen. We were fully packed, but were excited to start the tour.

First stop was Georgetown, which was a little mining town at the I70.It has the old style of Werstern America and we stopped at a nice backery for breakfast:

Later we visited the Hotel Paris (!), which a French miner founded there in the 18th century. Nowadays it is a museum, where you can still see some French ladys....

We drove through the mountains to Glenwood Spring, where we stayed at a Motel. It was quite hot and we jumped into the swimming pool of the natural hot springs. The pool was not the most amazing one, so we were going to have an early dinner. We found a very cute restaurant (Slope and Hatch), where we ate really good stuff!