GRAND CANYON
Thursday Jan 2nd
Arrive afternoon Thursday 2nd Jan 2020Kachina Lodge - Grand Canyon
Mayhem at Grand Canyon
Poor signage
Cars and people everywhere
First come first served
Parked (only a little illegally)!
Definitely 2.5 stars but the view! The view!
Majestic
“Grand”
Massive silence
Ochres that glint in the sunlight
Clear skies and snow on the ground
So cold
Wifi is eeeeek. Cell phone signal is eeeek
Stand by the vending machines for come and go wireless.
Food is not why you come here.
Kachina Lobby - poor signal but nice(ish) tree. Zoe draws till late. Girl at the table next to her draws as well.
Friday 3
Kachina Lodge - Grand CanyonClear skies -7
El Tovar breakfast
Terry the tour bus driver from Pittsburg
Family photos with a very GRAND canyon background
Sugary ++ hot chocolate
Ree is almost a hitch hiker
Did I mention a few photos with a pretty impressive background?
Squire inn is closed but beat western buffet / a la carte turns out to be quite good.
IMAX is next - "Grand Canyon secrets”. 80s made but amazing images. River rafting through mega rapids.
Back for a walk near the rim. Watch out for icy footpaths.
Dinner at fancy El Tovar.
LD wore his best flannel shirt. Another super meal ended with the state animal of Arizona aka the ring tailed cat (big eyed baby possum lookalike) peeking up over the end roof beams. So cute. Or maybe it is cute and also has plague or rabies?
Sat 4
Kachina Lodge - Grand Canyon
Crampons
Free breakfast - kitchen staff are new, menu is new and kitchen guys don’t speak a lot of English
Paths are slippery ++
Snow to slush to ice. Black ice is the worst.
Ree finds super camouflaged orange slipcover crampons.
Suddenly lots of folk have them. Fashion trendsetter!
Hike to Rangers but for geology talk. Like a TED talk. So good.
Geography lesson
DUDE
Deposition of cleaved volcanic rock as the lil islands get cleaved and molten pressured as one plate dives under the next
U p drift? Essentially the tectonic plate doesn’t go deep. Angle is shallow. Then heat from below lifts the entire land mass up. So it’s not like the Rockies with crumpled raised mountains. Rather metamorphic rock lifted like a giant plane.
D own cut. The Colorado river is wide and runs downhill at a steep angle. Cuts through the rock.
E rosion - sandstone. Water in cracks.
Some back to Kachina by bus, E A and L hike (really just a slippery walk) back
Ree walks the rim in the other direction
Rest have an easy afternoon
Steakhouse dinner
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