Grand Canyon
2002 * Christmas (* maybe 2000)
Las Vegas / Flagstaff / Sedona / Winslow / Grand Canyon
To round out the year I flew to southern California and joined Emily and her family for Christmas in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay. After a few day of sin City Emily and I drove to Flagstaff, Arizona and puttered around the area. We explored Sedona, Winslow and Meteor Crater. Next we drove to the Grand Canyon and hiked down the South Kaibab Trail to the Phantom Ranch and pitched our tent. While in the sun it was it was warm and pleasant but once set, it got really cold and that night and the following night we were quite chilly. After another day in the canyon we left early on December 31 for the long trip home. We managed to hike the 10 miles up the Bright Angel Trail in 5 hours and then we drove, and drove, and drove. We didn’t plan on it, but we ended up driving all the way to Los Angeles on the day we hiked out of the Grand Canyon. Our last meal of the year was at Emily’s favorite Japanese restaurant, Tokyo Tokyo. When the New Year rang in we were sound asleep.
Las Vegas
Only in Las Vegas can you go swimming in December.
Actually, the beach was closed so I ran onto the sand, had Emily take the picture, then ran back.
The Su's in Las Vegas. From the left: Raymond, Emily, Julia, Merle and Wilson.
Meteor Crater, Sedona, Winslow
Our tour guide. Northeast of his head, at the center of the crater is a small building with a life size cardboard cut out of an astronaut.
Casey and Emily at Meteor Crater in Arizona. We wanted to the bottom but that was not allowed.
Casey does headstand in Sedona, Arizona. To the right (not visible in this picture) is a famous natural rock arch.
Of course I had to go up to the arch which was really pretty far away.
Emily in Winslow, Arizona don’t forget Sedona…
Grand Canyon
Wow, what a crappy map! If you squint you can see the South Kaibab Trail that we took to get from the South Rim down to the Phantom Ranch (not labeled but located at the "CBG"). After spending two nights we got up early and sped up the Bright Angel Trail in 5 hours.
Casey plays on the way down the Grand Canyon, wheelbarrow courtesy of the park trail workers. This is just an amazing photo, hey, we haven't eaten our sandwiches yet!
Emily crossing one of the suspension bridges at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
“Hey, you takin’ a picture or something of that thar bridge?”
I give the bottom of the Grand Canyon a big thumbs up!
Emily feeds most of her Phantom Ranch supplied sack lunch to a mule. Mmmhhh! Raisins. Food served at the Ranch is only good if compared to a backpackers freeze dried meal.
Our campsite and tent, in which we froze for the two nights that we stayed down here. Specifically for this trip, I bought a sleeping bag (REI +20 Polar Pod) that mated to my sleeping bag. This technique proved quite unsuccessful and we reverted to individual bags in the wee hours of the morning.
Meanwhile, back at the Bat Cave, I mean the Phantom Ranch, this little guy had a birthday surprise.
Emily with 2 miles to go to the top on the Bright Angel Trail. On the way down we took the South Kaibab Trail.