ANOTHER BIKE RIDE

Taken on the rim trail between Monument Creek, and Pima Point

On my last day off (Monday), I jumped on the bike, starting out on my 3rd bicycle trip toward Hermits Rest. I coasted the 2+ miles down to the Grand Canyon Village, toward the Red Route bus stop. Armed with Patty's recent gift from her employer, a really nice Camelback hydration backpack, and with my Ipod blasting classic rock into my ears, I was oblivious to the problems of the world.

At the beginning of the Red Route near the Bright Angel Trail head, I loaded the bike onto one of the shuttle buses, letting it do the work up the hill to Powell Point. From there, I took my time, and rode (mostly coasted) out to Hermits Rest. I made a point (no pun intended) to stop at all of the points and overlooks, for the purpose of not only taking in the magnificent scenery, but to be able to tell bus passengers exactly what they would be seeing at any of the bus stops.

The radio receiver antenna is for the purpose of tracking the local CA Condors

At Hopi Point, I talked to this gentleman who was part of the organization that keeps track of the California Condors living in the area. He informed me that 68 birds are living in the Northern Arizona, Southern Utah area, and that there were 3 nests in the South Rim area. Since it takes 7 years for a Condor to reach maturity, the project to increase their numbers in the wild is a very slow process. But, over the last couple of decades, the numbers have grown from just 22 birds in existence, to over 300 currently alive. Patty and I have seen several Condors flying, but without a good camera and telephoto lens, it's hard to capture an image.

I took these 2 photos near Powell Point, and they represent an era long since past. This fire watch tower, like many other fire lookouts around the U.S., were an important component for the early detection of forest fires. This particular tower is now used for the placement of various park service communications antenna.

Just below the tower, this old cabin was where the fire lookouts lived during their work duty time. This type of infrastructure has been replaced by high tech satellite imagery, but it's kind of cool that they have found another use for this old tower, and haven't torn it down.

When I arrived at Hermits Rest, I beelined it to the snack bar, and you can see my reward for all of that strenuous, physical activity. Hey, riding on buses up the hills on Hermits Road is tough work, and there has to be some sort of carrot at the end of the stick. Actually, Nancy and I rewarded ourselves in the same way last week, when we pretty much did the same bicycle trip.

23 more work days, but who's counting? We've both enjoyed this summer here at the Grand Canyon, but when you're used to the freedom of being retired, punching a time clock tends to get old, particularly when there are other things you want to be doing, or seeing. We're looking forward to returning to Lake Havasu, then heading north for the Golden Spike RV Rally in Carson City, NV. From there, who knows where the road will take us?