After the sunrise session, I took the car as far as I could to Yaki Point. I chose this little hike into the canyon because a) it didn't look that hard and b) it was far enough away from the more popular trails down. I could've easily called this post "Watch out for the mule shit" because that's what I spent the majority of the hike doing. It's weird because I didn't see a mule. Ghost mules?
Anyway, I was excited to leave the rim of the canyon and get down in it. In fact, this is what I looked forward to more than anything else on the trip. This first pic was taken just after I started on the trail. Finally, the sun was out and started casting some good shadows.
Here are some random pics on the way down.
In that last picture, if you look carefully (or zoom in) at the bottom right of the shot, there's a little blue shack that is a restroom on the trail. This is a little rest stop for the folks continuing down (or up for that matter). This was as far down as I was going. Here's a better shot as I approach as you can see the people at the bottom right.
Once I made it down there, I figured I was about 1/3 of the total way down the canyon but maybe a little less than that. The trail was only a little over 2 miles to that point. Anyway, like at most places, I wanted to get away from all the people so I walked out on the ridge as far as I could. That was pretty cool. Anyway, here are some shots from down there including one of me messing with the timer on the camera (and not getting exactly set btw) and the video I took down there (video coming later unfortunately). I hope you enjoy.
Once I did my regular "sit and think" thing for a while, I started the trek back up. It actually wasn't that bad compared to going up the Grand Tetons. Or maybe I was starting to get used to all this activity. Who knows? On the way back up, I saw this family taking a rest. The husband/father out of the blue asked me if I spoke English. I wanted to go all Ferris Bueller on him and say, "Um, what country do you think this is?" but I kept my tongue quiet and simply answered yes. I can understand why he asked because even with all the foreigners around at other national parks, there was an even higher percentage at the Grand Canyon. Anyway, he (the dad) was having what can only be called "an emergency" and needed to go back up. So we were walking up together and he asked where I was from. I said, "North Carolina" and then he replied, "Oh, you must like Andy Griffith." To which I replied, "Yeah, let me find my bullet." I'm guessing he didn't get it but it pisses me off that that's the only thing my great state is associated with - at least in this idiot's mind. At least he didn't ask about the frickin' Tarheels.
After I made it back to the car, I still had to pack everything up at the campsite. It finally hit me that this was it. My trip was pretty much over except for the drive back to Salt Lake City and the flight home the next day. I did come across some cool stuff. This picture is an entire storm moving through the area. I'm not sure why but I really thought this was cool. I mean, I've seen storms before like at the beach or something but this one was different because again, you could see forever.
I then made the impulsive decision to drive through Zion NP and at least see what it's all about. I knew I wouldn't be able to do it justice but since I thought I had plenty of time to get back up to SLC, I would give it a shot. The park was only about 30 minutes out of the way.
The big difference was that you are already in the canyon once you go through this rather lengthy tunnel entering the park from the east. Then it opens up to stuff like this...
Once I got to the parking lot, I discovered that there's a shuttle bus that runs every 10 minutes or so that takes you up north in the canyon following along the river. I though what the heck and hopped on. First of all, it was insanely hot in this canyon. Second, most people on the unairconditioned bus didn't smell all that good - including myself. Let's review, I slept in a tent with no shower, I hiked about 4 or so miles at the Grand Canyon, and I'd been stuck in a car for about 4 hours. Yeah, I probably smelled. Anyway, it was pretty neat otherwise to get a quick glance at the park. Turns out there's some excellent hiking spots in there so maybe one day I'll head back and see what I can get into. Here's a few shots taken from the bus (and in one, you can see another bus - and I know you really cared about what the bus looked like!).
I made it to my hotel in SLC around 10:30. The next day I would fly back to reality. This trip that I planned for the better part of 2 months was quickly coming to an end. I slept great that night and aside from my luggage not making it back with me, the flights were uneventful.
