A bit short this time, but computer and
internet time has been short over the past few weeks.
I have started about three blogs, but I
have had difficulty describing southern California. I met some great
individuals, I biked passed about 7 million people, and ended it all
with a trip to the zoo in San Diego. The zoo part of southern
California was awesome, but the 94 red lights that stopped me in LA
were not so awesome.
I spent a lot of time contemplating my
travels beyond San Diego and I could write an entire blog on my
internal dialogue, but in short, I decided to turn east and travel
for a while within the lower 48. I took a train from San Diego to
Flagstaff, Arizona, to avoid a vary large and very hot desert. From
there I rode to the Grand Canyon! I spent a couple days at the South
Rim (south side of the canyon), acclimating to the elevation (7000ft)
and heat (high 80's and very dry). On the morning of the third day in
the park I woke at 3am, packed my camp, parked my bike on a rack, and
by 4:13am I was hiking down the South Kaibab Trail to the bottom of
the canyon. By the time the sun rose at 5:11am it was about 75
degrees. After three hours of downhill hiking it was almost 90
degrees. I set up camp at the bottom of the canyon and spent most of
the 110-degree day completely submerged in the cool and clear Bright
Angel creek. After the sun went down I slept on the picnic bench
under the open sky, watching bats and stars fly overhead. I woke up
again at 3am and began hiking back up to the rim by 3:30. It is
incredible how fast the temperature rises in the canyon as the sun
rises. I began early enough to miss the hottest part of the day and
the Bright Angel Trail hike back up wound through deep valleys, so I
was not in direction sunlight until the last hour of the five and
half hour hike. The hike as a whole was great. I'd like to raft the
Colorado river at some point. Seeing the entire canyon from the
bottom would be a unique experience.
After leaving the park I rode a
different highway back to Flagstaff began planning the next several
stops as I head east along Route 66.
