We Don't Need No Stinking Mules! The Hike Into The Grand Canyon.

I'm at a loss for words to describe what a significant event hiking rim to rim in the Grand Canyon was. Rather than wax poetic I think I'll just recount the trip as a starting place.

We flew into Vegas last Thursday and were whisked away to the van rental place. Our group of 18 split into a group of 8 headed to the South Rim and our group of ten headed to the North Rim. We opted for the slightly longer route that allowed us to drive through Zion National Park. I would have been all over getting in early enough to get a hike in, but we were on a run to get to Jacob Lake for the night.

We arrived at Jacob Lake Inn cabins and settled in. Settling in for Rhonda on a hiking trip requires Duck Farts. I passed on the duck farts, but had a couple of Zion Canyon Virgin Stouts instead. We also noticed that we were sharing the area with at least 15 Turkey Vultures.

The next morning we headed into to the park and headed out the long road to Imperial Point for some photo ops. Our driver Bucky dropped us at the North Rim Lodge at a little before noon and headed to the South Rim to meet up with the other group.

We attempted to listen to the Ranger talk on the geology of the Grand Canyon, but the wind was blowing at about 30 MPH and making it impossible to hear her. We had dinner and scrambled down to Bright Angel Point for the sunset.

Pam and I were up at 3:30 and walking to the trailhead at 4 AM. We walked maybe 1/2 mile when the shuttle driver saw us walking up the road - turned around and gave us a ride to the trailhead which saved us a little over a mile of walking. 4:15 we headed down the North Kaibab (KI BAB) trail for what was to be a little more than 16 miles with side trips to Phantom Ranch. Our goal was to get to Phantom Ranch before the heat of the day. We arrived at 11:05 AM - thirsty and a little tired but no worse for wear.

 

Our side trips included Roaring Springs which was missable and Ribbon Falls which isn't. They added a little more than 2 miles to the journey.

The rest of our north to south group headed down at 6 or a little later and ended up ducking the sun at Ribbon Falls for a while and arrived at 4 PM. The last section of the trail is known as "The Box." It is a steep box canyon that gets very hot once the sun comes over the top. Pam and I had the shade, but we could see the sun line just 2 or 3 feet off the trail threatening us all the way.

A shower and a couple of Grand Canyon Wheat Beers at the cantina later we were right as rain and basking in the now 100+ temperature at Phantom Ranch. Our hike started at 8200 feet and ended up at 2500.

That's the story of the walk down. Look forward to the hikes down in  and the hike out.

Be well and more soon....

One Muir Recipe For Those In A Hurry

Along with the tomatoes that Muir Glen sent me was some coupons. Two were for free products of my choosing and another for $1 off of a product. I chose their pasta sauce for the two freebies and a can of their crushed tomatoes for the $1 off.

Since we leave for the airport before 4 AM for our Grand Canyon hiking trip I decided to use some of the sauce to make it easy. I started some water to boil and at the same time added some finely chopped onion - 1/2 a medium onion - in a tbsp of olive oil and let them saute a couple of minutes. Then I added 1 jar of the Italian herb pasta sauce from Muir Glen and also 1 tsp of dried basil and let that cook on medium until the pasta was done al dente. I then drained the pasta and added it to the sauce and let it cook while stirring for 2 minutes.

It is really good. So far I have just tasted a little, but when I eat dinner I'll add a little freshly grated Peccorino Romano cheese. Every product I have used from Muir Glen has been top quality stuff. That is the simple trick to being a better cook - use the best ingredients. Simple right?

Next post should have some great pictures from the Grand Canyon.

Be well and more soon....

Rattlesnakes Maybe - Bears For Sure- Sasquatches Who Knows

Athena drug Pam and I up the Rattlesnake Lake trail to Grand Prospect which was just over 4 miles and then back for a total of 8.17 miles. She keeps a constant pace pressure so we made the trip in 3 hours including stops.

The trail could easily be named Bear Scratches Bark Off Trees Trail as we counted 21 such trees and I know we didn't count them all.

Luckily we saw no other traces of the bear/bears/Sasquatch (OK it would have been a juvenile bigfoot, but it COULD happen), but some of the bark laying on the ground was VERY fresh. Athena didn't act up so I don't think they had been there for a little while at least.

The trail is pretty like a lot of the trails we hike. This one has some thin trees that form tunnels along the trail that are pretty.

There are also some cute little bridges. The sky was low yesterday so no pictures from the many open areas where you can look over towards Mt Si and other sights.

I never recommend hiking alone anyway, but I would certainly hike with friends on this trail with the obvious bear presence and the not so obvious presence of large cats as well, but this is a pretty trail that has some elevation gain - we did about 2000 feet in 4 miles up - that is less than an hour from Tacoma even if Pam drives. It might be 45 minutes if I drove.

Look forward to a recipe for a potato salad that I just made for a party today. Right now it is teasing my nose.

Be well and more soon....





What Have We Learned In A Year?

I have officially been doing this blog for a year now. Almost 200 posts and nearly 5700 page views make me wonder what we've learned along the way.

We know that my mind wanders and I have trouble coloring inside the lines. I remember posting a format that I was going to stick to although I can't remember what the format was now.

We know that I am not a fan of chemical companies when they decide to increase sales by playing with our food supply. In fact that pisses me off quite a bit.

We know that I will likely never be vegan even though I eat a mostly vegan diet. My hard Italian cheeses have a place in my heart. They have what is referred to as umami flavor which is that big flavor from a small source. I also want some fish or chicken from time to time. So I am a bad vegetarian I guess.

We should have an easy 20 or 30 recipes that are both healthy and tasty. You should also see that all that tastes great does not take a lifetime to cook. Most of my recipes are easy to make and not time consuming.

We should have 10 or 15 easy ways to add to our calorie burn without drastically changing our lives. A couple of steps here and there add up.

We know that soda pop is not food and should not be eaten - whether diet or not. You can save tons of money and calories and chemical input by just kicking pop.

We should also know that Paully is a little crazy. Especially when it comes to sharing information I find that is shocking to me.

I know we must have learned more than that, but I'm not planning on ending the blog so we can get back to the rest.

Be well and more soon....