Day Off in the Grand Canyon

So a bit of back story before I begin the day's post. One of the things I really wanted to do was see the sunrise over the North Rim so last night I asked the concierge where the best look out would be. The gentleman suggested a 12 mile bike out to this look out point which would frame the sun between two mountains. In order to truly get the full sunrise experience we would need to five at least 45 minutes before the sunrise which was set to happen at 5:15. That would put us at the location at 4:30 which meant that we would have to leave by 3:45 to climb up the hills to the lookout point. Convincing anyone to get up that early, let alone be on a bike on their day off would prove to be quite the challenge. Thankfully Marcus and Kristina were up for the challenge so the night before we slept in our kits and packed sandwiches so we would be ready to go come 3:45.

 

Fast forward a couple of hours later Kristina and I were up and went to search for Marcus. Marcus simultaneously was on a hunt for Ben who had the key to Marcus' bike. Unfortunately Ben was no where to be found and after thirty minutes of searching the tents and the camp grounds we decided to hit up a twenty minute power nap and then would set out on a hike.

 

The three of us, along with Holly and Tova, headed out on a 1.5 mile hike out to Bright Angel Point. By the time we got to the trail head it was twilight so we didn't have to use flashlights. The hike was awesome and there was a thunderstorm off on one of the far ridges. We arrived about twenty minutes before the sun was supposed to rise and were able to see the canyon change colors.

Kristina, Marcus and I headed off to the lodge for breakfast and were down to spend some cash for an all you can eat buffet ... the first real breakfast we had had in days. After about two hours our waiter asked us to leave because apparently we were at her number one table. It did have a great view of the canyon and we were full when we left.

 

We headed back to the camp site where I was supposed to meet up with a few people to go hiking. After some indecision and the possibility of a storm I decided that I would head back to the lodge, pick up a book from their bookstore and read it outside by the canyon. The book I grabbed was about a man who has hiked over 12,000 miles inside the Grand Canyon, pulled up a chair and started to read - a really good read. The whole time there was a huge storm coming in from the East and once it hit the lodge we were all in for a really cool show. Not only did it bring thunder and lightening, it also brought tons of hail. I was in no rush to get back during the storm so I passed out forgot the second time on the super comfy couches (the first time was after the sunset before the lodge opened for breakfast).

 

That night Jay had DM'ed dinner at the employee dining room which meant that dinner crew was off the hook for cooking. At dinner Alex asked Jessie to prom so we now have to get on planning our threesome.

 

As we were coming back we saw that the fire ban had been lifted and decided to start a fire. Marcus and Nate took the lead and after several attempts with wet wood, we had to get serious. What better way to light a fire than to use an aerosol of chain lube to get things going?!?!

 

 

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