The weather today is sunny – not a cloud in the sky. The sky is such a blue that it is breathtaking. In fact it reminds me of the color of blue in our kitchen. At least I think it does since it has been a long time since I saw it. The temperature is to be a mere 20 so we are thinking that it will be a good day for such a hike.
We are really fortunate that all the hikes start within a short walking distance from our campsite so we headed out to find the Fairyland Trailhead along the rim. I once again am totally at a loss as to how to describe the sights we encountered as we travelled the first 1 ½ miles to Towers Bridge. At one point we came to a ‘wall’ of rock with a hole in it allowing us a view beyond – like a small round window. At other times we simply looked at huge towers of rock – some balancing rocks on top and others just looking like a tall post standing amoung so many. It would take very little imagination to build entire stories about what is happening amoung the rock people.
The Towers Bridge is standing with two large towers on each side with a bridge of rock suspended between the towers. There is no question about why it was given it’s names.
We continued on the trail as we wandered up and down, left and right, on the wide and well maintained trail. As we neared the end of the below rim part of the trail (5.5 miles from the trailhead) we climbed up through pines, junipers and terrain that reminded us of many hikes we have around home.
At the top of this climb on the rim, we sat and ate our lunch enjoying the views back over the canyon we had just wandered through. Everyone we talked to had the same comment – how are we going to cut down on the number of pictures we have taken? This was my feelings as well. You see only a very few of the many I have taken – usually about 75 average per day and as many and 150. I spend alot of time sorting, organizing and culling pictures and as I walk along snapping away I remind myself all the time of this. But you think you have the greatest pictures and turn a corner to discover something even more spectacular. Seldom does Wes ask me to take specific pictures but in this canyon he is constantly pointing out a view and even getting as bold as to ask me to take a picture of it.
We actually finished this 8 mile (14 km) hike in just over 4 ½ hours including our lunch break and stops for photos. Other than feeling very dirty with the dust (you can not believe how dusty it is here) we felt really good. We think that we are getting acclimatized to this elevation and the temperatures are moderating. Yes it was only 20 on the rim but likely closer to 25 in the canyon.
We of course headed to the showers to remove the makeup of dust. Then we headed to do some shopping. With no fridge we are limited in the amount of supplies we have on hand. Yes for those who remember we bought a 12 volt icebox it works fine, but we are not going anywhere so it is not functioning unless we are driving. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center because they have open WiFi and electricity. We sat on a rock wall outside, plugged into the power to recharge the computer and dealt with things like booking a room for out next stop – Las Vegas. We are here two more nights and then off to Vegas for 2 nights.
We ended the evening with a trip back to the Visitor’s Center to listen to a talk about astronomy.
By the way, we are tenting in a climate that got to -1 last night and tonight it is expected to be colder. Remember we are camping at 8000 feet so cool weather in late Sept is not unexpected – especially with a full moon and clear skies.
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