Biking the Grand Canyon

Our primary reason for staying in Williams was for its proximity to the Grand Canyon National Park.  We considered taking the train up to the Canyon, but decided to drive instead. 

Tom and I were here about 20 years ago, but so much of the park has changed since then.  There’s a new Visitor Center near the entrance at the South Rim, and several bike paths.  Bright Angel Rentals is in their 2nd year of offering bike rentals at the Grand Canyon, and has several options for exploring the Grand Canyon by bicycle.  We opted for the Hermit’s Rest package, where we would ride 11 miles out to Hermit’s Rest

and be picked up by van for the trip back to the Visitor Center where we left our car.

The bike path took us through the woods,

past the stables where the mules are kept,

where we saw a mule deer with her fawn,

and then continued into the Village.  We stopped to eat our lunches on some benches at the Bright Angel Trailhead, where we got our first look at the canyon,

and spotted a pair of Bald Eagles circling overhead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had four hours to ride the 11 miles out to Hermit’s Rest, so after lunch we walked a short distance down the Bright Angel Trail to the tunnel. 

 

 

The views inside the canyon were amazing, and hard to capture with photos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The boys enjoyed the short walk into the canyon, and were pretty confident that they could have made it all the way to the bottom and back up again!  I told them that they could come back in a few years and give it a try!

For today, though, we were going to get back on the bikes and continue along the rim.

One last photo from below!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back on the bikes, it was time to tackle the 6% uphill grade . . . this was the one really tough section of the trip, and it was 1/2 mile long . . .

alternating between walking and riding, we all made it to the top!

We rode along Hermit Rd., with the only vehicle traffic being the shuttle busses every 10 or 15 minutes.  In this area we were away from the edge of the canyon, but each shuttle stop brought us back to the rim, with new views at each stop.

The Trailview Overlook offered a spectacular view of the Bright Angel Trail and Grand Canyon Village.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we continued along the road, eagle-eye Bryce spotted several elk in the woods on the other side.  They walked casually through the trees as we stood on the shoulder to watch.

Our next stop was Maricopa Point,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and by the time we got back to the bikes, the elk herd had caught up with us and were gathering in the road . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the same road we needed to ride on – and they had no intention of moving!

Tom thought he might get them moving with the bike,

but they hardly even moved off the road when the shuttle bus drove through . . . we rode quickly through behind the bus, looking eye-to-eye with the elk (frighteningly close!), but they left us alone and let us pass.  Whew!

We continued to stop at each overlook, and the further we got from the village, the less people were there with us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finally reached Hopi Point which, at 7071 feet, was the highest overlook on the canyon rim.

 

 

From this point, our ride became mostly downhill and followed closer to the canyon rim.  The boys were ready to go . . . me, too . . . I was ready for some downhill!

We were running low on time to get to Hermit’s Rest by our scheduled pickup time at 3:30, but we could not resist the amazing views at each overlook!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finally spotted the Colorado River . . . I was expecting it to be blue, so had a hard time finding it!

As the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, the various colors of the canyon began to really stand out.

The weather was fantastic for a bike ride . . . cool enough to be comfortable in sweatshirts, and just enough sun to keep it from feeling cold!

We continued on, and the last several miles on the bike path went by quickly – we sure were glad no elk stepped out in front of us as we flew down the trail!

One more photo stop,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and then we arrived at Hermit’s Rest, with our shuttle van right behind us!

We enjoyed the views from Hermit’s Rest while our bikes were loaded on the trailer,

and took one last picture before the trip back to the Visitor Center.

We really enjoyed the bike ride out to Hermit’s Rest . . . it was challenging at times (especially that 6% hill!), but the changing views of the canyon from the various overlooks were amazing!  In previous visits, we had never been past Bright Angel Trail, so this was all new territory for us. 

There are other options for getting out to Hermit’s Rest – walking the rim trail, or riding the shuttle buses, but we really enjoyed the bike ride.  It might not be  quite as enjoyable in the summer – with the heat and the crowds – but November was the perfect time for it!

Yellowstone–Day 1–Hot Springs and a little bit of wildlife

For our first visit to Yellowstone, we wanted to keep it a little bit short, so we decided on the western half of the upper loop road – this is where many of the hot springs are located – and with a little bit of hiking, it still makes for a short day.  We got to the park around 11am, and it was pretty crowded . . . we didn’t even stop to get a picture of the sign because there were too many people already waiting!

The first 14 miles are relatively uneventful, following the Madison River,

but we did see an official Yellowstone greeter.

He wasn’t very outgoing, though . . . probably just coasting until retirement!

Once we passed Madison Junction, we started seeing (and smelling!) signs of the hot springs in the area.

Our first stop was Terrace Spring, which is a series of small pools and streams that eventually collect in a larger pool.

The water is really clear, but some has more minerals in it than others.

The water may look inviting, but it’s very HOT!

No jacuzzi pump in this pool – all natural boiling water!

Just before the Norris Junction, we stopped at the Gibbon Falls Picnic Area (we thought the falls were going to be there, but they weren’t!), and took a little walk along the river.

 

We continued on, and reached the Gibbon Falls overlook, where we picked up an Earthcache . . . our first geocache in Wyoming!

Looking downriver, to where we had walked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our next stop was Beryl Spring, which was blowing off much more steam!

 

Artist Paint Pots were next, so we stopped and walked along the boardwalks that meander through the bubbling pools of water and mud.

Some were mostly water, and some were really colorful,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and some were thick, bubbling pools of mud.

We continued past Roaring Mountain,

and spotted a few elk resting in an open field.

We were all getting pretty hungry by then, so we stopped in the next picnic area and ate our lunch, before continuing to Mammoth Springs.

We drove over a mountain pass, past Bunsen Peak,

and past another waterfall that I never did see the name of!

When we reached the Mammoth Hot Springs area, we stopped at the Upper Terrace to look down at the hot springs from above.

Nicolas and I wanted to walk down the steps and boardwalks through the hot springs, while Tom and Bryce took the car through the loop drive and met us at the bottom.

Nicolas and I walked along several levels of boardwalk, amazed by the colors of the active hot springs and how they stood out in the grayness of the dormant springs.

 

 

We reached the Lower Terrace as Tom and Bryce arrived, and we all went to look at Prismatic Spring, one of the more active hot springs in the area.

Mammoth Hot Springs is a huge area of active hot springs, and it’s really beautiful to see . . . it was definitely worth the drive!

We had almost reached the north end of the park, and were ready to turn around and head back, but we decided to take a drive past the Visitor Center and Lodge.  We were glad we did when we saw a herd of elk just lounging around on the grass next to the Mammoth Hotel!

We found a spot to park the car, and got out to watch the elk for awhile.  Occasionally one would get up and move, but for the most part, they just laid there in the soft grass, relaxing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eventually, the bull elk got up and walked around, and even made some aggressive-sounding noises.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It must not have meant anything, though, because none of the other elk moved, and the rangers didn’t make the crowd move back either!

After watching the elk for awhile, we decided that it was time to head back for dinner.  Our “short day” had actually gotten kindof long, and we were getting tired.  My camera battery had died, too, so I couldn’t take any more pictures on the way back.

Bryce said, “We’ll probably see a bear now, and you won’t be able to get a picture of it!”

Sure enough, we were almost back to the Norris Junction, and saw a bunch of cars pulled off the road and people looking through cameras and telescopes.  We stopped and asked what they were looking at, and were told, “A grizzly, over in the tall grass!”

He was pretty far away from us, but we could see through our binoculars that it was definitely a grizzly!  My camera battery was still dead, so no pictures, but we stayed and watched as he walked around in the grass, munching away.

Our first trip into Yellowstone was pretty successful . . . lots of hot springs, a few waterfalls, and some wildlife, including a bear – not bad for day 1!