We had a great few days at the Grand Canyon. We arrived on Sunday, and hit the visitors center and the rim trail. On Monday Susan and the kids explored some more and then in the evening we road the red shuttle out to Hermit’s Rest, and then back to watch the sunset. On Tuesday we hiked down part of the Bright Angel trail. Susan and the kids explored some more on Wednesday before we headed out.
We are staying at a KOA outside of San Angelo and we noticed a lot of people walking along a road near the campground. It turns out that there is a nice 2 mile loop that people like to do. We did the loop with our swimsuits on, so we could jump in the pool on the way back, but by the time we got back it was stormy.
Today we spent most of the day at the beach. Our time at the beach is interesting because the water is very stirred-up and murky. It is more brown and smelly than usual, and there is a lot of sea-life. Jellyfish, stingrays, crabs, snake eels, fish, and dolphins are all prevalent right now.
The kids are loving playing at the beach. Lucia and Rose are having fun playing at the edge of the water and the older kids are having fun digging, looking for things, and using the skim board and boogie boards.
Today we did the Rainbow Falls hike. It is 2.7 miles, uphill, to the falls, then you have to come back down. It took us about 6 hours. The kids did great, with the older three leading the way. Lucia hiked probably 90% of it and did great. She was very hungry at lunch time and she took a nap on the drive home. Susan carried Rose in the Boba most of the day.
This evening we visited Clingman’s Dome. It is the highest point in the park and features an observation tower where you can some nice views. It was pretty crowded and the 1/2 mile hike uphill was interesting.
Yesterday evening we made it into Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We just went for a quick visit after dinner and hiked to a waterfall not far from the Sugarland Visitor’s center.
While we were on the train this morning I saw a cool creek that I thought we could access for a fun creek walk. In the afternoon the kids and I headed out to find our way to the creek. After a long walk uphill on the road, we found a way to get down to the creek, but when we finally got down to it we realized that it was a little more than we were prepared for.
Already having crossed the creek once we decided not to chance it again and headed toward an abandoned mine town that had been turned into a museum. I guess it closes pretty early because by the time we got there it was closed. We had a long walk back to our car on the road. We at least found some black raspberries along the way, to sweeten our trip.
