That was pretty much the only thing that Aimee and I could think about at work on Wednesday. We were both at the office until about 5:00, at which point we got in the car, picked up some pretzels and coffee, and headed up to Flagstaff. We were off to visit a friend from Tucson who was now working at Phantom Ranch, the historic lodge at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
We decided to break up the drive and spend the night in Flagstaff. We didn't want to be in the car until midnight, and we didn't want to pay Grand Canyon prices for a hotel that we would be staying in for a whopping 7 hours.
Enter the Luxury Inn:
This lovely gem of a motel used to be known as the Geronimo Inn, a fact that we only found out because the room key (not key card, just key) still had the old name of the motel on it. It wasn't actually a bad little lodge, and was probably a decent place to spend the night in its Route 66 heyday. But now, it's the place that you go to when you just shot a man in Reno. It's also a $29 room in a motel that isn't too far from Flagstaff Which is to say, good enough for us.
We woke up surprisingly refreshed the next morning, and headed into downtown Flagstaff. Downtown "Flag" is one of the most charming square blocks that Aimee and I have ever been to, but I don't know how the residents can say "downtown" with a straight face.
After a fantastic (but in retrospect, pretty risky) breakfast of huevos rancheros, we set off to the north, around the San Francisco mountains, and over to the canyon.
Northern Arizona's geography is world-class, and the region has some of the best tourist attractions on the planet (both natural and cultural), but we were on a mission for this drive. We wanted to get to the canyon by noon so that we could make the 7-mile hike down before dusk.
Notice the snow on the peaks. Despite leaving 90 degree temperatures behind us in Tucson, Aimee put it best with, "It's still winter up here!"
Notice the snow on the peaks. Despite leaving 90 degree temperatures behind us in Tucson, Aimee put it best with, "It's still winter up here!"
We pulled into the park around 11:30, and we were thrilled. The park buildings have the stone-and-lumber National Park chic look that you all know and love, but the entrance looked like a border crossing. The two lane road broke into four or five lanes that each passed next to a little stone cabin that housed park rangers accepting the park entry fee. There were at least six or seven cars in every line, and there was a license plate camera at the front of each. It's easy to forget that behind the rugged exterior is a major, major tourist attraction that brings in over 13,000 visitors every day. But the Parks Service does a phenomenal job preserving the natural charm of the park.
But we didn't stay at the front gate for long. Greg, our friend at phantom ranch, told us to ignore the "Authorized Vehicles Only" sign and park right at the South Kaibab trailhead.
But we didn't stay at the front gate for long. Greg, our friend at phantom ranch, told us to ignore the "Authorized Vehicles Only" sign and park right at the South Kaibab trailhead.
It was definitely the most scenic parking lot that I've ever been to. We pulled up next to the 10 or so other cars that belonged to Phantom Ranch employees, and if I overshot the parking spot by 10 feet, we would have had a much quicker trip to the bottom of the canyon.
Yep. This was going to be a fun trip.
But we weren't quite ready to make the descent. As Aimee was taking her pack out of the car, she noticed that the hip strap of her backpack was almost completely ripped off. That's the backpacking equivalent of having a flat tire on the starting line of the Daytona 500. But not one to stay down for long, Aimee took out our emergency kit and found some needle and thread.
Ok. Now we're ready!
Ok. Now we're ready!
