Wednesday, June 14, 2006 - Flagstaff, Arizona

Today we drove back to the Grand Canyon. This time, we visited the eastern most point of the park. Devil's Tower was designed by Mary Coulter as a monument to the ancient people that lived  in the area. The drive along the south rim took most of the morning, as we stopped at each overlook to see a different part of the park. Pictures will come later. One site was the ruins of an ancient village that consisted of about thirty people.

Later, Bob stopped at the backcountry permit office and took Jeff off the permit. He purchased an animal proof bag made of metal mesh. Rodents and squirrels will eat anything they can reach. They cannot bite through the metal mesh. The bag needs to be hung from a tree or left outside the tent. If they smell any food, they will eat through the tent to get to the food. Bob talked to the ranger and learned that this route is a popular hike and he should meet other hikers on the trail. Water is good at Hermit's Creek and less so at Monument Creek. The only major problem with Hermit's Trail is part of the trail is covered with landslide material and has covered the trail. Bob will have to locate the trail once he is past the debris.

Tomorrow, we will break camp and take the camper to the Grand Canyon Village campground. We should be set up shortly after noon. We found out that ravens are pecking at the vinyl sewer lines from the trailers to the sewer connection and causing leaks. Most people remove the line at night and reconnect in the morning. Interesting! Stay away from ravens with dirty looking beaks! We want to get to the campground early, since the drive to the canyon is very windy in the afternoon. The temperatures have been in the low 80's on the rim, with very low humidity. The high temps for the canyon have been about 107°F and lows between 80°F and 70°F. When Bob hiked to Phantom Ranch several years ago the high was 120°F and the low was 80°F. In order to sleep, he had to soak in the Bright Angle Creek and head to bed in his tent. It was the only way to cool down in order to go to sleep.