Baseball Road Trip 2011: Day 13 (Las Vegas to Grand Canyon)

Day 13 (Las Vegas to Grand Canyon)

June 17^th

We left Las Vegas without losing anyone, spending all of our money, attaining any serious diseases, and avoiding all felonies, and left for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, roughly a five hour drive. We stopped at a Wal-Mart to restock on supplies and buy a new cooler, which was stolen in the ghetto of Los Angeles, regardless of the fact that it smelled of rotten ham and cheese. The landscape on the way in was beautiful, but nothing compared to the sights awaiting us at the canyon. We stopped at a scenic view, about an hour off the National Park to use the restrooms and take a few photos, and then continued on our way. We entered the park, hoping to find a campsite even though we hadn’t made a reservation ahead of time and signs read that all campsites were full, and that camping without a permit could result in large fines. Things looked bleak and we were starting to weigh our options of testing the National Park laws or driving the 43 miles off the park to camp. After arriving at the North Rim, we ventured along a trail called Angel Point and found some cool look out places. Nothing I could say in this blog, could truly capture the breathtaking beauty, intensity, and awesomeness of the Grand Canyon, so I’m just going to say it was pretty cool. After wandering around for a little while, we headed over to check out the campsites, about a mile from the canyon, hoping for the best. We lucked out. There was one campsite left and the nice park ranger gave it to us, even though we hadn’t reserved it 48 hours ahead of time. We found our site, and set up camp. Riley and I pitched the tent, while the other three, gathered firewood for our fire, where we roasted hot dogs and enjoyed the great American outdoors. After eating, we headed over to the canyon to watch the sunset. It was quite possibly one of, if not the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen. The dramatic colors in the sky, combined with the massive canyons, and dazzling sun disappearing behind it, was truly magical. Any photograph really couldn’t do it justice. We returned to our campsite to retire for a relatively early night. Tomorrow, we plan to hike around the canyon in the morning, before driving to Escalante and Bryce Canyon, national parks in southern Utah, that are supposed to be pretty neat.