Hanging Our On The North Rim For a Day Of Rest

After my day across the Grand Canyon I was a wee bit stiff and sore. There is nothing like a day off to recoup before hiking back across. It was very nice to have the car so we could go see some of the sights along the rim that were further away. We headed off to Cape Royal. The view was pretty awesome. You could see the watchtower on the South Rim if you knew just where to look. The river could be seen here in several places as well.

Cape Royal Grand Canyon North Rim

Next we headed off to Cape Final. I knew it was a ways out to the rim form the parking area but did not realize it was 2 miles each way. The hike was thru majestic Ponderosa pines and was a gentle up and downhill. The hike out to the end was worth it. Drats I had forgotten my camera in the car so could not get to snap any photos.

Next viewpoint was off to Point Imperial. I think this one is my favorite. The colors here were a rich copper red. This is a point with great views to the South, East and North.

Point Imperial Grand Canyon North Rim Looking South

Point Imperial Grand Canyon North Rim Looking North.

 After our ride along the rim it was time to think about the trip back across. We had dinner reservations at the lodge for 8:30 which we cancelled because it was just too late and we needed to get up at 2am to head out. Instead daughter got pizza at the pub and hubby and I just ate some jerkey and a power bar. I was really tired and did not really care. My focus was on getting my pack organized. All the Chomps and Lara bars were stuffed into my hip pockets. I took out all the warm clothes as the forecast was for 76" and no precipitation on the South Rim. I ended up with my water bladder, food, sunscreen and a first aide kit. With that it was lights out and some shut eye. Who can sleep when you know you need to get up at 2am and hike 26 miles back across the canyon........not me! I did sleep a little but hubby kept coughing thru the night. I had told him we could cancel but he would have no part of that.

Happy Mother's Day

 More hiking today. This is our last weekend before the Grand Canyon hike. We began at the Greenside Cafe in Cedar Crest for a Mother's Day Breakfast. With the omnision of potatoes the shrimp and asparagus was pretty Paleo and very tasty.

We began our hike at the Cinega Picnic Grounds. We had to hike up the road the last mile because it is early in the season and the area is still closed to cars. From the picnic area it was a short walk up to the Faulty Trail where we took off South. The first two photos are on the Faulty Trail. This trail runs along the East side of Sandia Crest and

 winds around the middle of the mountain all the way to the South end. It is gentle up and down hill. I did take a spill coming down a section where there were a lot of loose small rocks. My thumb is pretty beat up as I whacked it against a fallen tree as I fell. The nail looks bad and there is a nice flap of skin on the top........ouch!

We hiked about 2 1/2 miles to the Canoncito trail and headed uphill. This looks like a very long time ago it was a road as it is wide and not as steep as many of the other trails that go up the mountain. DH was not feeling well and I ended up going

 ahead. When I got to the top I called my mother to wish her a happy Mother's Day. I finally got worried about DH and called him on the cell phone. He said he was not doing well so I headed back down the trail. I found him just 5 minutes off the top lying on the side of the trail. This is not like him at all. Usually he is the one waiting at the top for me. I suggested we just head back down the same trail and cut the day short. He agreed. When we got back down to the Faulty Trail we sat and tried to figure out what would be the best. Go back to where we started or head South an come out in

Tijeras where we planned to end the hike. The Southern route was 2 miles longer. Then there was one more option as the Canoncito trail just continued downhill. We were not sure where that would come out. On DH phone it showed some roads thru a neighborhood. Since he was not feeling very good we decided to bail and take our chances with that. We hiked for about half and hour and came to a rough road and a sign for the trailhead. We took the road down the hill. It went for some ways and then there was a locked gate to keep people out with a no traspassing sign to keep people out of the way we had come down. We went around the gate and continued to another gate and went under that one.....this was again keeping people out. Guess the trailhead had closed some time in the past. We walked quite a ways to the main road and finally called our daughter to come get up. We headed North to the Lazy Lizard Pub. She finally showed up about a mile South of the pub. We had beer, apple beer for me. I had wings and they had Pizza. All and all we hiked over 14 miles. Less than we had planned but still not bad considering that DH was not doing very well.