Biking the Grand Canyon: The Hermit Road

 On our fall break trip, after our Cathedral Wash hike, we drove into the quickly descending darkness to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, where we stayed with my brother Ed. The next day our big plan was to go bike riding, as I figured the kids would like a change from hiking. The day dawned cloudy and cool (but Desert Girl still insisted on wearing shorts). Ed guided us to the start of the Hermit Road, a road that is open only to shuttle buses, bicyclists, and those who get special permits (like backpackers). You can find more about Grand Canyon's bicycling policies here. And there's a great guide to biking the road that provides lots more info here.

The first part of the road was uphill and entailed some tears. But eventually we got to the first pullout,  where we stopped briefly, then Maricopa Point, where we hiked to an overlook. We could see the Bright Angel trail descending through many switchbacks.

Desert Girl having some fun with her uncle.

We could see the rain clouds moving in. We didn't see any other bicyclists. We saw a few other people, primarily getting on and off the shuttle bus, and also a few walkers.

We stopped at every big pullover and read the interpretive signs. The last 2.5 miles has a greenway, where we could bike on a paved multi-use path. That was great.

The rain came and went, and fortunately towards the end of the ride stayed mostly away. The views were spectacular.

One of our games we played was spotting the Colorado River. It was very muddy looking, which I appreciated since that's why it was given its name. It was also very far away.

We also played a few other games.

The kids seemed to gain energy as they knew we were close to Hermit's Rest, the end of the road and our turnaround. They were especially happy when we said we would have snacks there.

Hermit's Rest was a welcome stop. It has no running water; all the water that is used there is brought in daily by a water truck.

Inside the gift shop we found a beautiful area and hot drinks! They were very nice and let us stay in the warmth to partake of our beverages. Then we walked to the Hermit trailhead and walked a few minutes down the trail. This used to be a very popular trail, in big competition with the Bright Angel Trail. Nowadays it's not used so much, which is part of its appeal.

Our plan now was to take the shuttle bus back 7.1 miles to the beginning of the Hermit Road. I was feeling restless so took off on my bike, with the plan to meet my brother and kids at the transfer station. My bike wasn't shifting correctly, so I was kind of slow (and a bit out of biking shape), so several buses passed me. I was hoping they weren't getting too bored waiting for me. But when I got to the transfer station, they weren't there. I figured maybe they had gone ahead for lunch at the Maswik Lodge, but they weren't there either. I wandered around awhile, and then I saw them biking down the road!

"What happened?" I asked my brother.

"My bike tires were too big and wouldn't fit in the bike carrier," he responded. "So we rode back. The kids were troopers, they hardly complained."

They were all drenched, Desert Boy's shirt was even wet under his coat.

"Why are you so wet?" I asked.

"We got caught in a hailstorm," Desert Boy responded. 

I was proud of all of them. Fourteen miles was Desert Girl's longest bike ride, and part of that was through a hailstorm. Yikes. We went and celebrated with pizza. 

Cathedral Wash Hike, Glen Canyon/Grand Canyon

 The kids had fall break part of last week, so we went to visit one of my brothers in the Grand Canyon. It's a long drive, so we broke it up with a hike at Cathedral Wash near Lee's Ferry. We turned up the road in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area towards Lee's Ferry, and at a big turnout at mile 1.3, parked. We found the "trail" went through a large culvert under the road. Then the "trail" ended. We were on our own going down the canyon towards the Colorado River. Cathedral Wash is a non-technical canyon, but with enough obstacles to keep the kids happy.

As we proceeded down canyon, the canyon walls grew higher.

We found lots of pools of water, and it was fun finding ways to skirt them.

It got more difficult as we went downstream, but there were lots of ledges.

The canyon goes down several dry waterfalls, but there are ways around them. Sometimes we were about 30 feet above the canyon floor. I didn't worry much about the kids, they are good climbers.

The last part was the least fun, just climbing over boulders and navigating around sticky mud. (Read--lots of kid whining!) But the reward was great--we made it to the Colorado River! We were now in Grand Canyon National Park.

Well, you know how kids are with water. They can't resist. They asked if they could go in the water, and I said sure. The water is released not far upstream from the Glen Canyon Dam and is only about 45 degrees F, so it's chilly. Nonetheless, they had fun.

The nearby rapids created some waves on the beach, so they did some wave hopping.

Desert Girl in particular seemed to really enjoy the water.

The kids would have liked to stay longer, but we still had to hike back and drive a couple more hours, so it was time to put the muddy shoes back on.

The hike back went smoother, the kids were now in a better mood after their playtime in the river. I find that they often go through various moods on any hike/bike. Overall they enjoy the experience, but there is bound to be some complaining at some point.

They were singing on the way back, so they had found their hiking groove.

I was awed by the scenery. I was also grateful the weather was cooperating. Flash flood debris was much higher than we were, so this is a place to stay out of when it's raining or there's a chance of rain.

Route finding was something we practiced on this hike. Rock cairns and muddy footprints were about all that gave hints to the best travel routes.

I offered the kids another chance to swim--but they declined.

Finally we were back to our big culvert entrance/exit. I was impressed with the steps they had poured to make access easier into the wash.

It was getting late so we didn't go down to Lee's Ferry (I'm hoping I will get to go there another time, perhaps on a river trip??), but we did stop at Navajo Bridge.

Desert Boy had said he wanted to float downstream on the Colorado River from Cathedral Wash. It looked like if he had, it would have been extremely difficult to get out at the bridge and make it up to the edge. I was fascinated by the mixing water--it's green coming out of the dam, but then the muddy tributaries start changing the river color.

Here's the bridge we crossed over Marble Canyon. It certainly makes travel a lot easier!

More of our canyon adventures to come...

Super Fun Colorful Milk Demonstration

Desert Girl came home from school one day this week and asked if we could do a science experiment. I happily agreed, and knew exactly what we would do. One of my brothers had recently sent me a link to a video on Facebook that showed this demonstration. The demo would be a fun art project that showed a little chemistry in action.

Super Fun Colorful Milk Demonstration
Step 1: Put whole milk in a saucer. (whole milk is important here; 2% or creamer would probably also work)

 Step 2: Add a few drops off food coloring (we try to avoid artificial food colorings in our food, but I'm glad I saved these because they are great for science experiments!).

Step 3: Add a drop of dishwashing detergent. Dawn was recommended, but we use an eco-friendly one and that worked out fine.

Step 4: Watch what happens.

Step 5: See the crazy swirls as the colors dance.

Sometimes they make fun patterns.

Step 6: Explain what's happening. I found Steve Spangler's explanation very good. (In a nutshell, the soap's hydrophobic ends are racing around trying to attach to the fat molecules in the milk.)

You can add another drop to watch the reaction longer.

We had so much fun with this demonstration that it had an encore performance after dinner. And in writing up this blog, I found that it's possible to do with Elmer's glue, which then hardens and leaves a lasting impression of this fun reaction. Look out for future art projects!

2015 Delta Triathlon

Delta, Utah had its second annual Ready, Set, Tri, a super sprint length triathlon, in September. For adults, the swim was 300m, the bike was about 6 miles, and the run was 1.5 miles. For the kids, the swim was 100 yd, bike 1.5 miles, and run 0.25 miles.

I did the triathlon last year but got lost on the bike and didn't finish so I could watch Desert Boy do his first triathlon. He was so happy doing it, so I thought it would be fun to sign up the whole family. Fortunately this year the race organizers waited to have the kids compete so that adults could compete first and then watch their children.

I jumped in the pool when it was my time (we were seeded by times we submitted), and then I was off. The bike route was different this year and had pink arrows spray painted, which made it much easier to follow than signs that had folded over, obscuring the arrows (like last year). I enjoyed the swim and bike, but the run was not fun. That is always a difficult transition for me.

I finished the bike just in time to let my husband use it. The road bike is a lot faster than a mountain bike, so he was glad to see me. I had recovered enough to get a photo of him coming back into the transition area.

Before long it was time for the kids. They had 14 sign up, so they divided them into two groups. Desert Boy was with the first group and did a great job swimming the whole 100 yards with a mixture of backstroke and front crawl. Then he ran out with my husband supervising his transitions.

I stayed with Desert Girl as she did her first triathlon. She did back float kick and doggy paddle with a life jacket. She was slow. Very slow. But she did a 100 yards.

Her transition took awhile because she insisted on putting on leggings. Those are not easy to put on when you're dripping water! Finally she got going and I rode the 1.5 miles with her.

I told my husband he would have the privilege of being her buddy for the 1/4 mile run. He wasn't too thrilled, but he did it. And Desert Girl finished! She was the very last person to finish, which she wasn't happy about, but we kept telling her how good it was that she finished.

Desert Girl was still unhappy about being last until they did the awards and she won a coupon for some breadsticks and a drink. She was the only one to get the breadsticks coupon, so she was feeling special. We went and redeemed them right away, and had a great lunch together. 

I love these small races where the emphasis is on having fun. (Although I have to say there was quite a lot more competition than last year. Last year I was the only one to bring separate biking and running shoes and this year there were quite a few people who did that.) We took an after photo with our matching t-shirts. When I saw how it came out, I thought we probably should have done it as a before photo!

The racing season is slowing down. We'll do a turkey trot race (it's a great way to start Thanksgiving!), but don't have anything else planned for this year. Maybe an obstacle course race for next year!

Joshua Tree National Park with Kids

The kids and I recently visited Joshua Tree National Park. We had a whole day to explore, and we started at the Oasis Visitor Center.

The kids picked up Junior Ranger booklets and Desert Boy immediately started working on his.

When we left the visitor center, we were standing around, probably looking a little clueless, when David Larson from the Joshua Tree Natural History Association came outside. He asked the kids if they liked owls and proceeded to tell us about a barn owl that liked to perch in a certain tree. We walked over and found owl pellets underneath. The kids were fascinated. He also showed us a cactus wren and a mockingbird, and the kids were suddenly much more interested in spotting wildlife.

We drove further into the park and I had the kids get out and smell the creosote bushes. They weren't too sure about that, but they realized that we don't have them in the Great Basin desert.

One of the things I didn't realize about Joshua Tree is that the transition zone from the Mojave Desert to the Sonoran (Colorado) Desert is located there. I found it fascinating to watch the plant communities change as we headed south and lower in elevation. We stopped at the Cholla Cactus Garden for the quarter-mile hike. The kids didn't want to hike, but they decided they could manage a quarter mile. It was one of the coolest quarter-mile hikes I've ever done, the cacti are amazing.


I couldn't help pretend that I was hugging a teddy bear cholla cactus. I made sure not to touch it, as it has microscopic spines that can be annoying for days.

 

I saw on the park map that the Ocotillo Patch was a little farther down the road, so we continued on. The ocotillo at the Ocotillo Patch pulloff were looking a little sickly, so I stopped next to a nicer looking one for photos.

A closeup look at them is worth it--these are strange plants!

Then we turned around and headed to the Jumbo Rocks campground area. My research on the park said this was a great area for kids to just play around, and as the kids didn't want to hike, I told them we could just go play on the rocks. They were all for it. We were surprised by how big the campground was--and how cool it was. It would be really fun to stay there.

Desert Girl thought she was the Queen of the World (and sang a song to that effect).

From there we headed towards Hidden Valley for lunch. Along the way I pulled over to enjoy these beautiful Joshua trees.

These Joshua trees are a subspecies known for being taller and with fewer branches than those found in Mojave National Preserve. This one sure let us know that it had read the book.

After a picnic lunch at Hidden Valley, it was time to play on the rocks again.

We found some narrow corridors.

And even some boulder caves, which was appropriate because the reason we were here was the NSS Western Regional meeting (a gathering of cavers). The kids decided to crawl through a tight hole. I didn't follow. That monzogranite was rough!

We then leisurely went to the Joshua Tree Visitor Center, where ranger Bret swore the kids in as junior rangers. I was so impressed with him and David Larson at the other visitor center that I wrote a letter to the park superintendent. He responded that he loved getting letters. He said he wanted to know about the things that weren't going so well in the park, too, because it was his responsibility was to make the park the best place it could be. I was also impressed with this response.

The kids posed outside with their completed books and new badges and hats.

 

We did a few other activities, changed our clothes to go to church, and then had time to visit one other part of the park, Indian Cove. Can you say rocks? They were everywhere!! I was stunned. The huge campground was also completely full.

The secret is out, Joshua Tree is a really cool place to visit. Just don't go in summer and be prepared for long drives.