The Grand Canyon That I Saw

We hiked the 10 miles down to the Indian Reservation and slowly entered the visitors office. I was sweating profusely after the desert hike, but now I began to sweat out of nervousness. We were supposed to have a reservation but we didn't and we didn't know what would happen to us. As we entered I heard the man behind the counter having a similar phone conversation to the one I had with them the day before, "Sorry, we're booked solid, try again next year...early." Tobi and I looked at each other and took a deep breath. I was thinking about telling them that Tobi had a terminal disease and his last wish was to see these waterfalls before he died. I was also considering going through with the "We don't speak English" plan. There were a few options for us, but one I would not except was getting turned around now.

So what happened? Nothing. The woman behind the counter just assumed we had a reservation, took our names, our money, and gave us the camping permit. It was great. The only bad part was that there were 2 more miles of hiking left. The rest of the story will be told through the pictures we took. The pictures don't do this place justice, but my writing wouldn't either. I loved this place. Take a gander:

The Best Choice I've Ever Made

The next morning when Tobi and I woke up in our 19 dollar Walmart tent beside the Colorado river while surrounded by the cliffs of the Grand Canyon it's safe to say we felt slightly untouchable. This rush of over confidence led us to wake up early and head to secret waterfalls in the Grand Canyon even though the day before we were told we were not welcome. We were told there was no room, we were not allowed to hike or camp there, and we needed reservations. We also had to drive an hour out of our way to even get to the places parking lot, which if we got turned away would waste more than 2 hours of prime daylight time at the South Rim. These aren't things you really think about when you're untouchable. Sure there are risks but do you think Superman worries about finding the oven mitt before taking brownies out of the oven? Of course not. Sometimes you know what you want when you want it, so Tobi and I began our 18 mile drive out of the Grand Canyon at 7am to hopefully make it to the parking lot of our next destination by 10am, an hour out of the way, just in the hope that they might let us hike their trail.

I will never understand how perspective can switch so much inside my own head. My head stays the same, relatively. I mean besides bed head, which I've now taken care of thanks to shaving my head, and a huge spider bite scar, my outward appearance stays pretty much the same from moment to moment. But inside my head I can go from feeling like a million bucks to 10 cents in no time at all. When I met Tobi I went from feeling that the end of my trip would be a failure to thinking the end of my trip was going to be the best week of my life in the time span of an hour. Yet on the road, when I was told we were not welcome to the Canyon waterfalls because we didn't have reservations I was depressed again. It's terrible to have great hopes, dreams, and desires that someone can put an end to over the phone, "Sorry, we're booked solid." Those simple words made everything we were hoping to see impossible. But one nights sleep and the impossible seemed possible again.

It was mostly a silent 3 hour drive to where we were headed. Tobi and I didn't say much outwardly and inside we were in knots. We knew what we were doing was crazy, but we just kept thinking that if we believed it would work out, it would work out. We reached the parking lot and it became obviously clear that the person on the phone wasn't kidding when they said they were full. Cars were parked everywhere. I mean, there was a "parking lot" but the lines drawn on the ground did only about half the job for all the cars there. For a moment while driving in we got behind a line of cars thinking it was traffic before realizing they were parked there because the lot was full. Lucky for us we did find a spot right between the donkeys and the porta-potties.

So we were there! That was a big enough step, but what to do now? Besides a small shed, about 50 donkeys, some great views, and more cars than we've seen since leaving Vegas we couldn't tell what all the fuss was about. Where were the people that drove these cars in here? We had to ask. The fear of getting kicked out made us hesitate from asking workers dumb questions about things anyone with a reservation should already know. So instead we asked a few people we saw in the parking lot about some information.

Where do we go from here? Is it worth it? Do you think they'd kick us out? We threw a barrage of questions at these clearly tired travelers (we'd come to find out why later). Apparently the parking lot is only the starting point. You need to hike 10 miles along the Canyon floor to get to the Indian reservation, and then check in. Once you're there it's two more miles of hiking to get to the camp site and the falls. Is it worth it? We repeated. I will never forget the look on the mans face when he said "If you came this far only to turn around at this parking lot you'll never forgive yourself. The scenery down there is some of the most contrasting beauties the world has to offer put right along side of each other. Desert cliffs, with crystal blue water rushing over it. Is it worth it? Yeah, it's worth it."

That sealed the deal. We would push on. As soon as we had that in our heads (a perspective change from fearful, to determined) we even asked some of the workers some questions, and to our surprise they were welcoming. "Just head down the trail, you'll see it in 10 miles." We didn't need anyone else to point us in the right direction but it was someone comforting to know that at least someone working at this place told us we could hike it. Even though we knew a lowly donkey renter had no business speaking for the tribe, you take any little victory you can when you're in our position.

So we began our hike. Not knowing what laid ahead, not knowing if we'd get turned back, but we did know there was a chance we'd see something amazing, and that was why we pushed on. Just as we were about to embark on the trail we asked a group of hikers to take our picture. We were on cloud nine, and it was just about the right time to get brought down to earth again. "Yeah, we'll take your picture," they said "you're smiling now, but you won't be later. This is the hike goes through hell." Funny, no one we talked to mentioned the grueling nature of the hike. Not my cousin, my friend Mimi, the man in the parking lot, or the donkey salesman. But come to think of it, the man in the parking lot did look extremely worn out, and granted the guy selling donkeys wasn't looking up to snuff but I thought that was the nature of his business. Now I was on the head of the trail smiling for a picture in front of about 15 teenagers that all looked like they'd just finished their house chores at the Hearst Castle. Their faces somehow backed up the claim that this hike went through hell, but if it takes walking through hell to get to heaven, I'd be up for that because, let's not forget, I'm untouchable again.

Hoober Dam

The first stop after leaving Las Vegas is an easy choice, the Hoover Dam. You've just got to stop here. If this place was good enough for the Clark Griswold and his family, it's good enough for me. We didn't stop for long though. Just snapped some pictures and then were back on the open road heading towards the Grand Canyon.

Our destination was a remote, almost secretive place deep in the canyon that I had only been told about by other travelers (Billy, my cousin, and Mimi from Big Sur). They told me of beautiful blue water waterfalls deep in the canyon. Beauty amongst the desert, a real life mirage that looks too good to be true, but for once is real, and we were headed there. We found the dot on the Atlas and aimed for it. A few hours after leaving Las Vegas we stopped to get gas, and use the phone so we could call and make camping reservations. Yes, this is something we should have done before driving almost all the way to it. The phone conversation went something like this:

Me-"We'd like to camp at your reservation"
Worker- "We're booked solid for the rest of the year, sorry."
Me- "No, No, I just want to hike down to the waterfalls and put up a tent."
Worker- "Sorry we don't have any vacancies. We open up reservations on January 7th and we sell out the entire year by January 14th. So try again next year."
Me- "Wow. That's interesting, but I don't need a room, we have our own tent."
Worker- "Sir there is no room."
Me- "There is no room in the desert for a two person tent?"
Worker- 'I'm sorry, have a good day, goodbye."

Tobi and I were in shock. To add insult to injury some Germans were at the gas station with us and told us how the waterfalls were the most amazing things they ever saw. They would have payed anything to see them again, done anything, and they will never forget them. Of course they booked their stay a year in advance. Tobi and I had known each other for 22 hours and weren't able to plan a year in advance, so we did the what we thought would be the next best thing.

It was getting later in the day, and we were near the "only road into the Grand Canyon", Diamond Creek Road, so we thought it was worth a try. We'd camp there, discuss our options, and then get started again the next morning. It seemed like the safe option. That was until the Ranger told us that it's easy for cars to get stranded on Diamond Creek road. She warned us of popped tires, broken gas tanks, rocks, flooded road ways, bumps, etc... They took a look at our rental and said, "I wouldn't take the chance, but I can't stop you." and she was right. We couldn't be stopped.

We pressed on, with your Dodge Caliber, and hoped for the best. They told us the road was 5 miles long, a small miscommunication I guess because it was 18 miles long. 18 miles of unpaved desert ground that reminded me of my driving experience on Fraser Island in Australia. The majority of which were done with a fear of becoming stranded in the middle of nowhere fresh on our minds. The scenery was spectacular though. Every turn showed a new view of the canyon until we were actually in it. Small streams along the side of the car turned into the mighty Colorado, and we only decided to hike about the last mile of the road to our campsite.

We camped right on the Colorado. Read books before the sunset on cliffs in the Grand Canyon. Went to sleep under the brightest moon I can ever remember with sounds of rushing water nearby. We were both very please with our decision to stop here. Who else has driven a car in the Grand Canyon? You? I doubt it.

However, the BIG decision still hung over our heads. What to do about going to see the waterfalls. Should we try and go anyway? If they turn us away it will be a wasted day because it's so far away from anything else. Should we skip it and possibly miss out on the greatest beauty in the world without even trying? It didn't look good, but we talked and thought we'd figure it out in the morning, bright and early.