From England to Ecuador and beyond

From England to Ecuador and beyond

Wednesday 28 May 2014

Grand Canyon - day 1

Written Tuesday 27 May

Exhaustion aside, the day didn't start off brilliantly. We did our first group food shop for the next 5 days which took like 2 hours, blah - such a waste of time. I don't know why we're not just buying cheap meals near the campsites...I hate spending so much time on these things when we're in such incredible places for just 1-2 days. This also meant that when we stopped off on Route 66 for lunch, there wasn't even time to take a quick snap with the signs, grr! Sometimes it's just so rushed which is not cool when you're somewhere so famous/amazing. We were also sitting at the back of the van which happens to have no air vents so we were sweltering - ended up taking our tops off and sitting in our bras! Needs must...no regrets.

Crossed the State line from Nevada to Arizona and finally made it to Grand Canyon land. Most of the group went on the helicopter tour which I purposely avoided because it's a) expensive and b) dangerous - Tom told me that the pilots aren't very experienced and there are a fair few crashes... Went for a walk instead through a National Park south of the Canyon which involved inhaling trees that smelled like vanilla and almost walking straight into the path of a massive male elk. Was so excited, I've never seen one before and it was really close. Didn't realise at the time that they're known for being aggressive (although mostly in the fall) but it strolled across the path in front of us so it obviously wasn't too fussed.

We all went to the Grand Canyon rim trail together to watch the sunset (I told a friend we were going to the rim and she nonchalantly replied 'We're going for a what?' No, no...!). Lots of rimming jokes ensued of course, endless entertainment. I've been waiting for my first glimpse of the Canyon since February and it didn't disappoint. I wish I could load up some pics from my camera (got a couple of crappy phone snaps) but I'm not going to have access to a computer until like June 8 argh! Not sure photos would do it justice anyway, I was just standing there mesmerised. The sunset was gorgeous, what a place to see the sun go down. We were whisked off shortly after it disappeared...rushed as usual...and went back to camp to cook dinner for 14 people, my worst nightmare! Apparently meals have to be 'nutritious and delicious' so pasta and cheese is literally off the table, darn. Luckily I'm in a team with a budding chef (ah fate) so we dished up an epic stir fry. Success!

Got to bed at half 11 with alarms set for half 3 to go for a hike into the Canyon...only way to beat the scorching desert heat. That'll be 8 hours sleep in 2 days then, eeek. Missing the posh hotel room in Vegas, degrading from a squishy double bed to a mattress of rocks and orange dust in a scabby campsite is truly depressing. Sigh. Excited for tomorrow though!