Grand Stairmaster

I would have felt pretty good about what I accomplished during my recent trip to the Grand Canyon if it were not for the extraordinary athletes I met while on the trip; more about them later.

Actually the trip began almost 5 months ago when we applied for the backcountry permit. The Grand Canyon receives 30,000 requests for the 13,000 permits granted each year. I was surprised to get exactly what I requested.

After a 7 hour drive, I camped on the South Rim at the Mather campground. The sites are pretty big, the campground had quite a few open sites and I enjoyed siting by the campfire reading a good book.

I got a pretty early start the next morning, Monday April 27, packing up, moving the car to a parking lot, and taking the shuttle bus to the South Kaibab trailhead. Barb and I had hiked the first part of this trail back in October. It is quite steep, about 4800 feet drop in elevation in 7 miles. It is filled with steps as seen in the photo above but since it follows Cedar Ridge for much of the way has amazing views. In the photo to the right you can see the trail just leaving the ridge and also the switchbacks further down the trail as it heads for the lower canyon. Just prior to reaching the Colorado River you enter a tunnel that immediately connects to the black suspension bridge that carries you to the north shore of the river. The photo to the left gives an idea of the steepness as you switchback to the tunnel which is at the same level as the bridge that is just visible crossing the river.

Here I met a couple taking photos of one another. She was my age, he was much older. I volunteered to take their photo. They reciprocated for me inside the tunnel. As we crossed the bridge together I learned they were not stopping at Phantom Ranch (they were only carrying daypacks, like many of those using the cabins or dorms there) but were continuing on back up to the rim via Bright Angel Trail (9 more miles). By arriving at Bright Angel Campground by 11am, I had my choice of campsites and selected #9 right next to Bright Angel Creek which was roaring with spring runoff so sleeping was wonderful. The campground is on the left side of the creek in the cottonwood trees seen in the center of the photo on the left.

Tuesday was my "rest" day since my permit called for spending another night at Bright Angel Campground. I chose to do the 12.5 mile hike up to Ribbon Falls on the North Kaibab trail that eventually goes up the North Rim. I got an even earlier start and was about an hour up the trail when I was passed by a 20 something trail runner. This portion of the North Kaibab is one of the best hikes in the park. The trail is smooth and well maintained and follows Bright Angel Creek most of the way including through the canyon known as The Box. Ribbon Falls is a fabulous sight. This small feeder creek to Bright Angel, falls over a cliff through rocks made of calcium carbonate. It dissolves in the water and then precipitates back out as it falls to create a huge "stalactite" that is mostly hollow. I climbed up and had lunch behind the waterfall. After spending about an hour and a half enjoying the falls, I set off back down the trail. An hour later, the runner from this morning passed by, asking me if I enjoyed the hike. I asked how far up the trail he had gone. While continuing to run he turned his head and answered he had gone to the North Rim. I then asked, "You started at the Ranch?" He shocked me with "No, the South Rim... I do the rim to rim every year." He was not even winded. He was gone around the bend in a few seconds.

I talked to Rangers later who had seen him at different points confirming his route: South Kaibab from The South Rim to the river, North Kaibab to the North Rim and back to the river and then Bright Angel back to the South Rim. 44 miles in one day including 9600 feet in elevation!!!!

I saw 26 different wildflower species that day as well as 6 different lizard species.

The next morning, Wednesday, I headed across the silver suspension bridge and up the dunes. The three advantages of going up Bright Angel trail is that it is mostly in the ravine caused by the Bright Angel Fault so it is shady, there is water available along the trail and you can break the trip in two parts, as I did, by camping at Indian Gardens. I arrived and again got to choose the best site. I did an easy day hike out along the West Tonto Trail in the afternoon. I saw my first rattlesnake, a beautiful pink Grand Canyon Rattler and decided it was a sign that it was time to turn around and head back to the campsite.

The final morning, Thursday, I got on to the trail before 6 am and was able to surprise Barb with a phone call from the South Rim before 9 am. The last photo shows almost the entire trip: the South Kaibab trail is just to the right of the ridge seen in the image, the Colorado River is deep in the canyon crossing from right to left about 2/3 of the way up the photo, the hike up to Ribbon Falls is through the canyon seen on the far side and around the ridge that appears higher than the North Rim in the distance and Bright Angel comes right up the center of the image.

A Hanging Chad

We live in close proximity of Telluride but to ski there we have a bit of a drive since the Sneffels range is a barrier between the town of Ridgway and Telluride. We had a treat this past week though since Paige, Scott, Will and Reed were in Telluride skiing over spring break and we stayed there with them giving us friends to ski with and easy access to the mountain for the duration! Everyone had a great time and both boys really improved after several days in ski school. Reed came in first in his race on the terrain park and Will was doing bump runs and even some black runs under Lift 9 by the end of the week. I had a little mishap getting off a chairlift when my backpack got stuck in the back of the chair and I found myself hanging on with one hand for several minutes (hence the title of this posting) until they put the chairlift in reverse so that I could get my footing and untangle myself from the Gold Hill chairlift. We are thrilled that the entire Elphingstone family loved Telluride and are hoping that they decide to come back again next year for another week of skiing! Now if only I can relearn to do the bumps to keep up with Mike and Paige on Henry's Run.......

Our First Visitors in 2009

My cousin Tom, his wife Judy and their two children were scheduled to be out here in January from Cleveland but a broken collarbone and a kidney stone kept them in Ohio so unfortunately they didn't make it but are planning on giving it a go for the 2009-2010 holiday season. Luckily though, Kelly and her friend Melissa were able to make it out here for a repeat visit. They almost got stuck in Minneapolis due to flight delays but they were able to reschedule their routing the night before so they got here on Saturday as planned.

In case you haven't been following the Colorado weather this year, the sad truth is the weather has been spectacularly beautiful which isn't a problem unless you want lots of snow to ski into April (and will lead to a reduced snowpack which leads to less water in the mountains for the communities come summer). There was enough snow for their visit though and Kelly and Melissa took advantage of the warm spring like days to improve their skiing and tans again.

Dinners are always special with company and we had some great international meals (Greek, Thai, Indian and Italian plus a night out in Telluride and a big beef roast - per Kelly's request). Unfortunately their time here flew by but we are getting ready for a visit from Paige, Scott, Will and Reed in Telluride and then a long weekend with Gloria....keep you posted!

Dam fine time in the desert

Inspired by a cheap deal at the Marriott in Palm Desert, we planned a desert trip. After several postponements, we finally did it in October. We got started with a visit to the Hoover Dam, where we really enjoyed the dam tour, particularly walking through the innards of the dam through the inspection tunnels! The Western drought was easily observed by the ring around the tub of Lake Meade.

From there we headed out for some desert camping in the Mohave. A very helpful ranger at the restored Kelso Depot suggested a great site for roadside camping near Kelso Dunes. We scrambled up the dunes and I shot some sunset photos while Barb prepared dinner.
The stars were fantastic so far from civilization.

The desert seems deserted during the day so I was very surprised in the morning when I went out to shoot sunrise photos that the sand was covered with tracks of coyote, kangaroo rats, jack rabbits, snakes, and more. The sidewinder tracks were the most interesting.


Next was Joshua Tree National Park. We were shocked to see signs indicating that all campgrounds were full when we arrived. Apparently being a few hours drive from the tens of millions of people of greater LA makes it a very popular place on a beautiful weekend. Barbara overheard a woman asking for information mention that she had just left Jumbo Rocks campground and that several others had left also. We hurried there, found an acceptable site and Barb stood in it to hold it while I went back to handle the registration and payment. It turned out that we had gotten the nicest site in the whole campground, complete with our very own Joshua Tree to camp under.












We hiked to 49 Palms Oasis one day and climbed Ryan Mountain, the tallest peak in the park, another. While driving through the park, I spotted a coyote. Barb & I parked and went chasing after her. I got this photo of her listening for the rustle of a rodent but although we were very lucky to see her leap into the air and successfully pounce on it, I was too slow to capture it!

We returned to our campsite for lunch before leaving. In the middle of lunch we were surprised to suddenly have an entire busload of German tourists come over the rocks from the adjacent site and begin taking photographs of each other in front of "our" tree. They seemed oblivious to the fact that they were in the middle of our campsite!

We enjoyed our time back in civilization at Palm Springs. I played golf twice (at the Marriott Player course and at Twin Wells, the course where the Skins game is held) while Barb made use of the spas. We also were shown around the Palm Springs Art Museum by Steve Nash, its director, who is also a neighbor on Loghill.

The final stop was the Grand Canyon. When we arrived at the El Tovar Hotel there were several elk standing on the front lawn, including two huge bulls. This was both of our first (but not last) visit to the Grand Canyon. The photos simply can't portray the enormity and majesty of this Natural Wonder of the World.

Barb and I did the first six miles of the Kaibab trail the next day. It was a great hike although we had to dodge the mule trains that carry people down into the canyon. Barb's photo of the mule train helps capture the steepness of this trail with a mule train and hikers on their way up the switchbacks.

The following day, Barb hiked along the rim trail while I did the 12.5 miles out and back to Plateau Point on the most famous trail in the park: Bright Angel Trail.

It is an easier trail than Kaibab, it is better maintained (although that may just be the fact that a trail crew was working on it while I was there) and a little less steep than Kaibab. The rangers recommend going down Kaibab and back up Bright Angel for those camping in the canyon. I hope to do that on my next visit! Bright Angel trail is easily visible on the Tonto Plateau in the image from the rim. I saw some bighorn sheep on the way back up so Barb and I hiked a little way back down to find them not only did I get some nice close-ups but Barb took a movie of two males doing a little jousting!

All in all it was a fabulous trip and both of us are looking forward to going back to the Grand Canyon again.

5 weeks, 2 days, 6 hours, 45 min

Yes, that is how long we were on the road visiting friends in Dallas; Brian, Megan and Gwen in Austin; Aaron and Peyee in England (more on that in a bit); my sister Beth and our 159th friends in Raleigh; back to friends in Dallas; once again with Brian, Megan, and Gwen in Austin; the roadtrip home with stops at the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park and the final stretch along the Million Dollar Highway with the beautiful fall colors. The long trip all came about because of Michael's Western Water photography exhibit in Mesquite, TX in September. That was enough of an excuse for me to plan an extended trip during September, because who wants to drive to TX to drop off the pictures, come home and then turn around 4 weeks later and do the drive back and forth a second time? Not me! Since we would be in the vicinity of DFW, why not head off to England to see Aaron after getting to spend a few days with Brian, Megan and Gwen?

England has experienced the worst summer in 60 years (rainy and cold) but the weather changed when we arrived and we only had rain two afternoons (of course while walking on the moors near Aaron's and once in Northern Wales while touring a 13th century castle built by King Edward I...how fitting). Aaron's place in Slaithwaite is charming and we definitely managed to see quite a bit while there in England and Wales (including sheep, sheep, and more sheep).

Our time started with a tour of the University of Huddersfield and the new building housing the Music department. It is a very impressive facility. We also managed to tour York; the moors near Marsden; the guys made it to a Premier League football game - Manchester City versus Chelsea; Liverpool for the final day of the Tour of Britain bike race; Wales (Snowdonia National Park, summitting Mt. Snowdon - the tallest peak in Wales, waterfalls, castles and cathedrals, Pembrokeshire National Park, Brecon Beacon National Park); the Devon coast including Exmoor National Park, a cotton mill in the Cotswold's and finally the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. We had originally planned to spend more time in the Cotwolds with a visit to Bath and Stonehenge but Wales was so beautiful we spent the majority of the time there.

Michael drove over 1600 miles on the wrong side of the road with a large percentage of the roads, aptly named single track lanes, barely large enough for a minivan. We tended to either eat or walk while in England so luckily the latter offset the effects of the former but whoever says there is no good food in England needs to either spend time with Aaron at his dinner table or at some of the wonderful Country Houses we stayed in. Aaron's fiancee, Peyee, arrived while we were there so we also got to spend time with her too which was a treat since we had only had one other opportunity to be with them last January.

As far as our time in TX is concerned, Michael's show was a success. Gwen is growing quickly and is so adorable and a joy to be with. Karen threw a great birthday bash for Kaivon and it worked out that we were in town for the big party. All in all, it was such a treat to spend so much time with friends and family the past month and we look forward to our next trip to TX (maybe at Christmas) as well as getting together with the entire family in Chicago in June for Aaron and Peyee's wedding.

Michael and I have one more road trip before the end of the fall so stay tuned for more on that soon!

Time with Gwen (and Brian & Megan)

As we were leaving Brian and Megan's today, we noted that she is a Renaissance child after attending a poetry reading on Wednesday and a gallery opening on Friday (she knows the artist....her Pops, Mike). We will add more photos later but here are two from our visit with the three of them this week. It was such a treat to spend three days playing with Gwen and seeing how much she has grown since we saw her last.

Summer is Winding Down

In keeping with my intention to post a quick update after having visitors, we were lucky that Glo was able to make it out to visit us this August. She was our first visitor the summer of 2005 and she was the last summer guest in 2008. We took it easy with a visit to Telluride, walks in the neighborhood, and nice long dinners on the deck. Hopefully we will have additional family and friends out before the snow falls this winter and my cousin and his family are coming after Christmas but all in all, we had a spectacular summer with our company and are thankful that we could share the San Juans with all.