The Grand Canyon

Great expectations… But too darn tired! The alarm went off at 4:00am… No, I am too darn tired to get up. But my bladder is ready to explode!

We had planned to get up before dawn to catch the sunrise from Yavapai Point, but I was so tired from the lack of sleep the previous day and our brand new Big Agnes Dream Island double sleeping bag is so snuggly… I couldn’t pry myself out!

I finally motivated myself to at least get up to relieve my bladder at 4:30 to what looked like a clear sky with a big bright moon overhead. Trying to justify to myself a reason to stay snuggled in the Dream Island, I told myself that there wasn’t going to be be a good sunrise and I jumped back into the warmth of the bag next to Harmony.

The problem was, I couldn’t stop thinking that we had come here to experience these moments… The out of the ordinary… I could sleep in any other day. But we were at the Grand Canyon! What the heck! Get out of the bag and make some coffee and get your butt out to Yavapai Point! So that’s just what we did…

To my dismay, I found that the sky was lighting up with an amazing pinkish orange! Dang it! I was wrong about the conditions! It was turning out to be an amazing sunrise!

I brewed up the coffee as quickly as I could and we were off to Yavapai Point… Better a little late than never! We reached the point just as the sun was cresting the horizon casting rays of light down through the canyon! An amazing sight to behold!

After the good light was gone, we headed back to camp still feeling exhausted, and retired back to the Dream Island for another much needed 3 hour nap.

When we awoke again, we spent a couple of hours wandering the visitor center and gift shops. Then back to camp to grill up a delicious early dinner of kabobs.

Timing our activities so that we could ride the bus shuttles out towards Hermits Rest. We stopped at Maricopa and Hopi Points to enjoy the views. And ended at Mojave Point for the sunset hour.

After sunset we had to wait for a half hour or so before we were able to board a shuttle back to the Bright Angel Lodge where we had parked the Jeep.

Back at camp, we enjoyed an evening lounging around the campfire sharing stories and laughs before retiring yet again to our Dream Island…