Grand Canyon National Park - the South Rim

September 10, 2017 - Sunday

We left camp by 7:30.  The temperature this morning was 50°.  We took 198 to 180 to 63 and several small roads into Visalia where we got on 99S.  In this area there were orange groves, pomegranite, and grapes.  We got on 58W in Bakersfield then briefly on I15E to Barstow/Calico KOA in Yerma.  It was 100° in Yerma.  On 58W we went through desert with lots of Joshua trees.

Joshua Trees

We took showers and called it a night.  This is a pretty nice KOA with desert mountain views, just hot.

Mountain view from campground

Palm tree in campground

September 11, 2017 - Monday

We left Yermo by 7:30 and got gas, breakfast, and coffee at a Shell/Subway.  We took I15E through the Mojave Desert.  It was not too interesting at first , but eventually we saw lots of Joshua Trees, barrel cactus, and yucca.

Desert view

Joshua tree, yucca, and barrel cacti

It was hot today running between 85° and 95°.  We got on 164 then 93 to connect to I40E.  We got off the interstate at Williams onto 64 which we took to the Grand Canyon.  It rained while we were on that road.  We are spending 4 nights in the Mather Campground Maple Loop #188.  It is a large, pretty nice pull through site.  Only negative is that we had to walk about 1/2 mile to the shuttle stop.

Maple Loop #188

Nice large campsite

It was pleasant out and had rained some.  We took it easy in the evening because we had 2 pretty long traveling days previously.  While setting camp up we discovered that the trailer step got messed up while traveling.  We think Mike drug that part of the trailer bottom when exiting the last gas station we used.  He was able to make the step work.  Later 4 elk walked behind camp - 2 cows, 1 calf, and 1 bull.

Elk at the back of our campsite

I stayed up late to look at stars and they were pretty impressive.  I even saw a meteor.

September 12, 2017 - Tuesday

I got up early, made coffee, and sat outside while Mike slept.  While I was sitting there a cow elk walked through our camp to the water spigot to get a drink, then walked back through our camp.  We watched her and her calf behind our camp until we got ready to catch the shuttle to the Visitor's Center.  It was fun listening to them calling to each other.

When we got to the Visitor's Center, we walked 1/2 mile to Mather's Point. This was Mike's first view of the Grand Canyon on the south rim. We both called our Moms since we had good cell service there.  While doing this we saw a California condor soaring over the canyon.

View from Mather Point

View of Mather Point

Mike on Mather Point

Mary on Mather Point

We went into the Visitor's Center after looking at the view - got hiking information and watched a video about the park.  We got lunch at the deli then hiked the rim trail 1 mile from the Visitor's Center to Yavapai Point and the Geology Museum.

View from Rim Trail

Another view

Mary on the edge

Mike is enjoying the view

Mike looking at the view

Mary sitting with view in back

After viewing exhibits in the museum we caught the orange shuttle to Yaki Point and Pipe Creek Vista.  We walked around some at both points looking at the views before heading back to camp.  We had leftover soup and cornbread for dinner and sat watching bats for a while.  Later we were able to see lots of stars, the Milky Way, and a meteor.

View of Colorado River at bottom of canyon at Yaki Point

Canyon View from Pipe Creek Vista

September 13, 2017 - Wednesday

We got on the shuttle by 9:00 and rode to the Bright Angel Trailhead.  We walked around the rim by the Village looking at canyon views and visiting some shops and exhibits before having a light lunch.

Art studio at the Village

View by Bright Angel Trail

View with building on rim

Mike in Bright Angel Lodge with Bright Angel over fireplace

After lunch we hiked 2 miles on the Trail of Time back to Yavapai Point.   There were great views of the canyon from this trail.

View from trail

Another view

View showing rock layers

Final view 

When we got to Yavapai there was a cow elk on the rim trail with her calf close by.  The cow elk stood on the trail until someone turned a water spigot on so she could get a drink out of it.

Elk on rim trail

Elk looking out over rim into canyon

 We caught the shuttle back to camp.  We went to take showers and while doing that it started to thunderstorm.  We drove to the Market to get supplies for the rest of the trip.  We had an early dinner at the Yavapi Lodge Restaurant (a hamburger that was just okay).  We had planned to go to the rim for sunset, but the storms prevented that so we had an early night.

September 14, 2017 - Thursday

Our last day at the Grand Canyon and the last real vacation day.  The next 3 days will just be driving days.  While we were eating breakfast this morning, 7 mule deer walked through our campsite.  We got dressed and caught the shuttle back to Bright Angel Trail head.  There we caught a red shuttle that goes to Hermit's Rest, stopping at 8 stops on the way.  We got off at the Trail View Overlook which had a series of stairs going down below the rim a short way.  We hiked that and had some really good views.

Mike at Trail View Overlook

Mary at the overlook

A shot of Bright Angel Trail.

View of The Village from the overlook

A view of the Colorado River

The clouds have started moving in

After getting back to the top we took the shuttle to Hopi Point.  We stayed there quite a while because the views of the canyon were the best we had seen.

A view from Hopi Point

Another view from Hopi Point

The Grand Canyon

We caught a shuttle planning to ride on to the Hermit's Rest, but a thunderstorm had come in and they evacuated that part of the rim.  Our driver packed the bus we were on as full as it could be packed before driving us back to the Village.  When we got back to the Village, Mike and I walked fast to Bright Angel's Lodge where we had lunch.  Mike had a stew in a bread bowl and I had chili in a bread bowl.  Both were really good.  After lunch we caught the shuttle back to camp.  We spent the rest of the afternoon resting and getting ready for the trip home.

September 15, 16, and 17, 2017 - Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

On Friday, we got up and broke camp.  We got coffee and breakfast in Tusayan.  We took Hwy. 64S to Williams where we got on I40E.  We were on I40E until Sunday where we got on Hwy 59 in Sallisaw, OK.  We spent Friday night at the Albuquerque, NM KOA and Saturday night at the Elk City, OK KOA.  Both Saturday and Sunday mornings we got coffee and breakfast after we got on the road.  We got home Sunday afternoon about 2:30.  We had traveled a total of 6,537 miles in 40 days.