The Grand Canyon's South Rim

The previous post is here..

The cover photo for this post.. (usually it is a "bench photo".. there were no benches on this hike and this was as close as it got)

Here is a video highlight of the entire trip! This time posting the video upfront. . . 

The morning of the hike, we were all ready at 5:15 AM waiting for a ride from the Yavapai lodge to the trailhead. There is a car service that gives large groups rides directly to the trailhead for around 3 to 4 dollars a person. We were 9 of us and it was a full van! It was a 5 minute ride to the trailhead but would have been another 2 plus mile walk! 

Once at the trail head we took photos and started at 6AM. The ground was covered in snow and ice. None of this was in the plan! 

This hike is not for the faint hearted. It is a pretty difficult trail. It is an 18 mile minimum hike starting from the South Kaibab trailhead that goes all the way down to the colorado river.. ~ 8 miles of straight downhill hiking over 5000 feet. The weather goes from cold to warm to hot when we are down at the bottom. 

The portrait format photos are fewer..

The landscape format photos (most of them) are in this slide show! Just amazing views all day..

The first two miles were slow going because it was still dark and the icy ground. We reached Ooh-aah point to catch the sunrise! It was spectacular watching the first rays of the sun hit the canyon!

First photos of us as we went through the hike with some time stamps... just 4 years older than Sangeetha, but when that 4 years is on either side of 50, it seems to make a huge difference when it comes to walking uphill.

6:30 AM : Photos at Ooh_aah point waiting for the sun to come out..

San allowed me to do yoga poses on rocks. Was wondering "is there a catch?" and turns out there was none. She is now a yogi and appreciates me posing with the BYSJ shirt at national parks! 

She did start screaming when I turned to take this selfie on the ledge..there was screaming from multiple ladies!

8:15 AM at Skeleton point

After the first two miles we tried to pick up the pace, but it was hard with all the puddles in the trail. That was an added distraction for me. Have a whole series of photos from puddles which will be posted separately.

We managed to reach Skeleton point after two hours and 15 minutes and Tonto West (Tip off point) at 9 AM. We had made up some distance in the last hour. Then it was time to go through a steeper descent to the river. 

9:00 AM Tip off point

9:30 AM

We can see the colorado river and the green bridge

10:30 AM 

We finally reached the green bridge across the river. At this point the group was split up into two. So two of us went ahead in search of the next restroom which was a mile away! By the time th rest of the group joined it was 10:30. We walked together to Phantom ranch after a break. 

Under side of the green bridge

Then there is a few miles of walking along the river to Phantom ranch. From there it is a crossover the Colorado river again and back to the Bright Angel trailhead at the top. (most folks start at bright angel and end up in South Kaibab).

Hindsight being 20/20 and given we had our own packed food, we should have just got back on the river trail and saved ourselves 2 hours in time and 2 plus miles extra walking. Phantom ranch was overrated. 

Phantom ranch was a let down. There was a canteen there and a few benches to sit and eat lunch. We were told that there is free lemonade for everyone who visits this place. IT IS A MYTH! THERE IS NO FREE LEMONADE! 

There is lemonade for sale at 6$ a cup with 1$ for refills. Some folks in our group were all set on having that lemonade and did! Their verdict? Nothing special ! 

After eating our packed lunches and having lightened our backpacks a bit, we started our hike back. The return was going to be 9 miles with a stop every 1.5 miles.

The silver bridge to get back across the river

The return is longer as it has at least 30+ switchbacks in the last 3 miles of the trail and is just grueling!

12:00 Noon

We see a warning at 2 PM around Tonto East

We walked together as a group for the first 3 miles. We were climbing steadily but slowly. The altitude gain was gradual. Then we split up 4 and 5 and went through the next mile and a half. Once we reached this Indian garden or Havasupai garden (which is a cross point for two trails), three of us decided to move forward as we were already losing steam. 

that is a little too late...

 3:00 PM

We had hot chai and Parle G biscuits and started walking the last 4.5 miles. It was a steep climb and after the first mile it was already sapping.

The stops have a restroom and we can refill water bottles.

4:00 PM

Was taking it literally one step at a time. My legs were burning by then. There was no option but to keep going. The three of us tried to encourage each other with jokes every now and then. 

4:30 PM

The towel came out to keep wiping rain from face.

5:00 PM in bad rain with a Poncho

When there was two miles left, it started drizzling. By then we had climbed up a good deal. We had come up 3500 feet and had 1500 more to go. Then drizzle became rain. The towel around my shoulders had to come off and replaced with a poncho. Was drenched inspite of the poncho. It was also getting colder as we were hiking up. 

5:30 PM Made it back up! Changed clothes and got the jacket back up.. by then the rain had slowed to a drizzle

The idea of hiking up to end a trail is not that great. Usually we hike up mountains and come down to the parking lot. This was brutal to put it mildly.

When we made it back to the top, we were soaked and were not going to wait for the rest of the group. Glad we didn't. They were also hit by the rain and darkness and had to walk with headlamps and ponchos and made it an hour after we did. A 20 minute delay at Indian garden made them an hour late because of the unpredictable weather! We took the cab service and made it back to our rooms a little after 6 PM. Took us a good 30 minutes to sort things out and after a hot shower and some chai, we realized that we had actually made it!

The legs were shaking and sitting down or standing up was a slow process. I had already taken a couple of Ibuprofens every 3 hours all day thanks to my laces jumping the notches in my hiking shoe and hurting my ankle earlier in the day. That still didn't help at the end of the day. 

Once all of us were ready we spent some time at the canteen at the Yavapai lodge. Then it was time to call it a night. 

The next morning we were going to start at 8 AM from the lodge and celebrate!

That and the return back to Phoenix in the next post...

Nature trip in Arizona Part 4: Antelope canyon boat tour

The previous post in this series is here..

While eating the tamarind rice and choking on it, I asked San "arent we supposed to be on a boat tour today as well?" and she goes "In the interest of time I did not book it!".. a few tears and sentimental dialogues that would seriously make Sivaji Ganesan hand over his Chevalier award to me, we called the tour operator and were confirmed for the 5PM (last) boat tour of Antelope Canyon. We were asked to be at the dock 15 minutes before and the dock was 15 minutes from our hotel. 

We decided to take a power nap for an hour and head out..  

it was Antelope canyon day.. a tour all morning, a tour all afternoon and now for the evening a boat tour.

We realized while entering the dock that the boat tour fees did NOT include the entry to the dock which was part of the National park service. If you don't have a National park pass, you have to pay 30 $.. if you do enjoy national parks, strongly recommend you get the annual pass for 80 bucks.  It is always a good thing to support our national parks!

Seeing natural wonders gives me more goosebumps than visiting any temple. Keep telling my family that if you want to realize god, go to a National park and take a look from any vista point!  Or look at the smiling face of your spouse or children.. while the second option makes you mentally happy, you don't get the exercise.. so go to the parks!

The boat tour was great! we got waterbottles on the boat and a tourguide who was local and gave us a personalized tour as we spent an hour on a boat going through the canyon on water! 

Loved it through and through!

a photo gallery of the nature pics..

Once done, we decided to go find dinner in Page. The first mexican place we went to had a 45 minute wait. So we went to the second one and were promptly seated. The food was amazing as was the service. 

my models did not disappoint!

Video highlights reel of the boat tour and back..

The next morning was going to be an all day drive back to Phoenix after a few stops. So we decided to hit the one big super Walmart in the area before going to bed. Have not seen a store this big in my life! Stocked up on some yogurt, bottled water etc. for the return trip and made it back to the hotel.

Day 2 of the trip was done!

Nature trip in Arizona Part 3: Lower Antelope Canyon

The previous post in this series is here..

After we were dropped off at the tour operator office for Upper Antelope canyon, we walked as fast as we could to our rental car that had been baking in the parking lot, and made a dash to the office for Lower Antelope canyon tours. 

When we went to check in, the tour was just about to start. Good thing I dropped off the ladies to find parking. By the time I made it to the office, the tour started. After walking a 100 feet with the group realized that my iPhone was missing. The tour guide said "sir, if you leave the group now, you cannot join again!". In two minds the whole time, tried to put the iPhone off my head and decided to enjoy the tour with the SLR.

Did take a few photos with San's phone. Fortunately it had just dropped below the bags in the trunk. So all was well. 

The lower antelope canyon looks even more amazing because you wouldn't expect a small gap on a rock side to open into such an amazing place! 

This one is even more mind boggling than the upper canyon. The features look the same but the colors and swirls and light show within the canyon walls is amazing. The paths are also a lot more narrower at places and you are better off watching your head at all times!

No video for this tour.. but plenty of pictures. The tourguide and SIL became art directors and we ended up doing a lot of posing, to add to the fun!

Nature galleries..

We walked back to the car. The guide was telling us about the one plant that grows everywhere in the area that the Indians use as morning tea and herbal supplement for all ailments!

We took a short break at the tour office and took pictures in front of the murals..we had not had a break for food or restroom since leaving the hotel in the morning. 

They were all smiles after the tour.. This was just for the photo. We were glad to make it back to the hotel room to finish the leftover idlis, tamarind rice and thayir sadam that was waiting for us in the fridge.

No wonder the kids refused to come with us on tours these days. The very sight of those tamarind rice, idly and thayir sadam packets makes them run.. it is just a question of time before they pack the same thing and drag their kids along to national parks..

Strongly recommend the lower antelope canyon if you go to this area. Do NOT miss it! Given a choice of either canyon, pick this one.. 

We had one more tour for the day.. that in the next post!

3 Shoes 1 Chappal - A happy ordeal

A month ago, there was a planned hike in Yosemite. Three days before the hike, San tore a back muscle and was in ER. So there was a "veri" to get back and do that hike. The replacement day was yesterday (without knowing there was a Cricket world cup final that India would play in!). Then again, permits are permits and plans are plans.

 So four of us started at 4:45AM and made it to Yosemite non stop. Given I was driving this time, wanted to be "comfy" and went in my chappals. Once we parked at the trailhead and everyone went to change to their hiking shoes, there was a horrible realization. My shoes were left at home! They did not make it to the car. 

There was a palpable disappointment on the faces of my fellow hikers and San turned into a navarasa nayagi that would have made Padmini give her a pat on the back. Me... I was just sad to let them down like this.

A decision was made that I would hike to all the waterfalls as planned in my chappal and if at any point it gave way or my feet became a problem, I would make it back to the van and sit out the rest of the hikes.

The first hike was to Wapoma falls on the side of the Hetch Hetchy reservoir. It was a six mile round trip. The Bata chappals made it. Even led the way on the return without stopping so as to not let the group down. 

When Chappals become shoes, rocks can become benches!

 

Started this hike at 8:45 and came back at Noon. Then we drove towards Vernal falls. Took us an hour to get there and another 20 minutes to find parking. Started hiking at 1:30 PM and the plan was to see how Mr. Bata does at the top of Vernal and make a call to go to Nevada or turn back and go to Bridalveil on the way out. 

Some pictures from this hike..

Nature picture galleries..

portrait format photos.. 

THis was the first photo from the reservoir.. the still water and the reflections were motivation enough for me to keep walking!

San's smiling face was added motivation. She had calmed down and decided to temporarily forgive me till the return journey. . . it was like being granted bail. Gladly accepted that.

No shoes does have its advantages when trying Yoga poses on rocks, but that is about it for advantages

Wapoma falls is awesome! Glad we made it this time..

It was not easy to hike up Vernal as it was wet and slippery with the mist. At one point just went barefoot which was better! We got treated to amazing views and thoroughly enjoyed the waterfalls.

We had seen a dead snake on the Wapoma trail which started a discussion about my open feet. It was decided that hiking shoes might not make a difference and I could always use the slippers in my hand as a defense mehchanism.. 

we saw a live snake on the Vernal trail and there were no jokes this time. Just glad to have not stepped on this one! Bata might protect your feet from the ground, but not this. 

this would be a good place for a bench.. that was my thought.. might be iced out most of the year.. still..

The rainbows created by the mist were just amazing!

The next picture is nothing special.. but has an inside joke for our family.. it is left in this post as a memory jogger..

Saw a group of desi kids from Mountain View posing with an Indian flag. They told us India had won the game. Thanked them for that update as we had no cell signal since 9AM! The flag was borrowed and a photo was taken! 

By the time we made it back down it was already close to 5PM. So we decided to drive and do the very short walk to Bridalveil falls and then drive out. Bridalveil did not disappoint. Just enough water to be amazing and not get us drenched. 

Folks came up to me and said "that was cool what you did on that rock".. for once San didn't scream when I tried balancing on one leg on a rock.. 

The BYSJ 60 day challenge got a lot of talk time on trails is my guess.. which reminds me that it starts again tomorrow!!! 

Had some well deserved tea and started driving back. Managed to drive the last 2 hours of the return once the feet calmed down. 

Here is a video highlights reel..

Friends make everything special!!!

The feet are pretty roughed up from the walking in sandals and being barefoot but did not let the group down!

Call me waterfall crazy all you want. Happy to be just that!

National Geographic Magazine - the bucket list generator!

In the late nineties, my cousin in the US gave a subscription to the National Geographic Magazine. The very first few issues that we got blew our minds. One was about the Serengeti National park. It is still being talked about in the house. The pictures, the occasional map that was packed inside the magazine, the posters, the big official looking certificate that stated that I was now an explorer.. not to mention the fact that the mail was actually addressed to me.. priceless!

That membership lasted two years and it was a window to the world for me and my brother! 

One of the things I learned in that magazine was that there was such a thing as a glasswing butterfly with transparent wings. It was to be found near a natural wonder of the world called Iguazu falls. 

Many years later I ended up in the US and got my own subscription to the bucket list generator magazine! There is a long list of places I told myself that would be visited in this lifetime. After getting married the wife was told about this long list of items. She was not aware of most these places. The kids would shake their head and go "no wonder you two are married.. there is nothing in common between you two! Appa raves about all these places and you have never heard of them!". Needless to say, when it came time to visit any of these places, the kids would give excuses to bail and it was my darling wife that would actually force them to come and also plan the entire thing.

She got tired of me mentioning Iguazu. She did her research, found that this was in the middle of the amazon jungle, part of this visit involved a boat tour that was dangerous, vegetarian food there was going to be a challenge and there were insect bites to deal with (which was a strict no no for the little one). In spite of all this, she did an amazing job booking everything. There were a few last minute twists but we handled them well as a collective, given our last day in Greece during Labor day!

This is going to be a series of blog posts on this trip to Iguazu.. as an added bonus, given we don't visit this part of the world that often, we decided to go to Rio to see "Christ the Redeemer" as well as the world famous beaches there. Then there was Buenos Aires, our first stop before flying into Iguazu at the Brazil Argentina border. 

Given my status as a frequent flyer is questionable, we had to go a week early. The kids were not thrilled with a 9 day international trip the day after they got back home from college. We had both taken the week off before Christmas to beat the crowds and it was a good move, except having to spend Christmas in the southern hemisphere where it is summer and it is not exactly festive like in the northern hemisphere. A summer Christmas is intersting! You start feeling bad for the mall Santa in 95 degree heat!

We made it back from South America in one piece and in good health. A new years party took some of us out. My throat is still recovering and I could not even speak for a few days last week. Thinks are just slowly getting back to normal. 

Word of caution to bay area peeps. Start wearing masks and sanitizing hands again! Did take the covid and flu shots in October. Know this is not COVID or flu but some other respiratory virus that takes aim at the throat. Trying to sing songs I like did not help either (given I sing them 50 times back to back till a version clicks). 

Right now all I can do is type.. hence the blogging to distract myself!

The travelogs follow..

Fun fact: We did not see the glasswing butterfly during this trip.. but we did see the falls in all its glory. Jr. and myself made it to the "Devil's throat" within the falls, which was the real core of that bucket list item!