AMANDA’S SOUTHWESTERN ADVENTURE

Day 1: Arrival, Oak Creek Canyon, Flagstaff

My fellow adventurers (Dave, Lee Anne, Pat and Fang) and I all arrived at RDU airport at Way Early in the Morning O'clock for our flight to Phoenix. Phoenix is a mysterious town in that 1) People actually want to live there and 2) These people don't need to consume any water. I mean, it's this city out in the middle of the desert; There is no water. It must be that the people of Phoenix have magic organelles in each of their cells that mash hydrogen and oxygen atoms together using solar energy. We sped out of this strange town as soon as possible.

After fondling (Ow!) some of the plants in the Sonoron desert (Saguros, mesquite, sage brush), we made our way to Oak Creek Canyon, north of Phoenix. We hiked the West Fork trail. We were introduced to some pretty desert plants and their adaptations. This hike was around 3 miles in total, though it did go on after the river for another 2.5.

We arrived in Flagstaff in time for dinner at an excellent Mexican restarant where we crammed ourselves full of chips and salsa.

Day 2-4: The Grand Canyon

On the way down to the Grand Canyon, we hiked (1 mile) around Walnut canyon, where we saw Indian Paintbrush and Yuccas. Walnut Canyon is a National Monument and houses 700 year old Indian cliff dwellings. No really, these Indians lived in these little cave thingies and had some kick-ass views to wake up to every morning.

No picture can do justice to the awe that you feel the first time you see the Grand Canyon in person. The first instinct everyone has when they walk up to the lookout is to take as many pictures as possible. To hurry up and document it as if it wasn't around for millenia and is going to suddenly disappear. Then everyone goes home and looks at their film and says "It doesn't look like that!"

The first day we were at the Grand Canyon, we took the shuttle up and down the South rim. This is a very popular thing to do and it's a great way for people who aren't into hiking to see a big chunk of the canyon. A few spots have some cool fossils buried in the sandstone.

Although we heard coyotes while camping this first night, we didn't see much wildlife on the trip. Squirrels, some lizards , one horny toad, a possible chipmunk. The plant life sure was awesome though. Especially this man-plant .

When going to the Canyon, it's useful to brush up on your geology. People talk in layers."Soon we'll be up to the (some indian name) sandstone/shale!!!" At certain points while hiking, looking at the sandstone made me think about sunbathing with the dinosaurs.

The second day was pure, unadulterated canyon hiking. Canyon hiking is different from normal hiking in that it involves a downhill trek before the uphill. So your knees and feet are throbbing before you even start your ascent. Also, people are constantly worried about you. So they tell you to drink water, eat salty food, wear a hat. A few times my party was a few switchbacks behind or ahead of me, and people I passed were worried that I was alone. There are over 200 rescues in the Canyon per year. People die who aren't adequately prepared. But it's really not that bad. I mean, don't bring your kids. But I was able to make it and I'm a GIRL (hahaha).

We hiked the Bright Angel Trail down to Plateau point and back up. It took 12 hours, 6 liters of water, 1 liter of Gatorade and endless amounts of cashews and M&M's. The Plateau isn't the bottom of the Canyon, but it's close. At the plateau, you really understand how vast the canyon really is . It's dry as a desert down there, and you dread having to climb back out. Once you reach Indian Gardens, there's still 4.5 miles to go. But when you reach the top, you feel so good about yourself. Until two guys pass you who tell you that they've hiked rim to rim and back (46 miles). Then you just want to die.

The third day at the canyon, we took it easy. We hiked a little of the Hermit's trail, we browsed the gift shops, we drove out to the Desert View and took some pictures . We drove through Navaho territory (motto: Buy stuff from the Nice Indians) and drove across the canyon to Marble Canyon. Finally, we were able to wash the dust off of us at a lodge.

Day 5: Cathedral Wash and Kaibabobobobobobob

We did some slot canyon hiking at Cathedral wash. If you've never done slot canyon hiking, I highly recommend it. It's hella fun. Mostly flat with a few major drops where you have to figure out the best way to get down (sometimes there's a cluster of rocks indicating a good path. If you're 5'1" like me, you might want to bring along a tall guy to pull you up in spots. At the end of the hike we were rewarded with the cool breeze of the Colorado river.

Next we drove to Kaibob National Forest to meet with a ranger. On the way we saw a nice Desert Rainbow. The ranger talked to us for a while and then we all had a nice sunset barbeque on the North Rim of the Canyon.

While driving through the forest, our minivan got a flat tire. Oh gravel roads, why you mock us so? Fortunately, there were people in the car more experienced with car malfunctions than myself (e.g. they didn't just stand there and panic) and the spare was on in 20 minutes. Enterprise, of course, gave us some grief about this, but finally let us buy a new tire in town and reimbursed us for it.

Day 6-7: Zion National Park Zion is a big park full of big rocks. The Mormons settled here to escape prosecution or something. No one can really find you when you're covered with all that desert dust. People prosecuting them probably died of nosebleeds and watery eyes.

The first day we did a short hiking along Zion Narrows (the river hike) to see the hanging gardens: columbine and Shooting Star abounded. We also met up with one of the park's botanists and she told us about some of the restoration programs in the park. So uh, hey people: Stay on the trails.

The next day we hiked up to Observation Point and back. It was also full of wild flowers. Pretty awesome view at the top. After this hike, we tried to go horseback riding, but it was too late in the day. Dave hiked up Angel's landing, but stopped near the top where it got perilous and scary (hahaha). The girls stayed grounded and did a short hike near Emerald Pools.

Day 8: Back to Phoenix

We said goodbye to big rocks and headed back to Phoenix to make the next day's flight, looking at Joshua trees on the way . We stopped by the Valley of Fire with it's red red rocks and petroglyphs. And since we had to go through Nevada anyway, we just HAD to stop by Las Vegas.

UGH, Las Vegas.

Las Vegas is this weird place in the desert where you give machines away all your money. The city "comes to life" at night, which must mean that during the day it looks worn down and sketchy. In the casinos for example, the Ceasar's Palace that we ate lunch in), it's night all the time! So you try to gamble the night away, but it never does, so you just end up staying there forever. Anyway, after being outside for 8 days, the thought of spending a vacation inside seemed strange and unappealing.