Many of my adventures take me to other parts of the country, and this one is no different. After being surprised with several days on Monhegan Island for my birthday - I set out to surprise my boyfriend, Mike, with a trip for his birthday - which was also Veteran's Day. Planning began, I blabbed so it was no longer truly a surprise, and then on November 10th - two Maine-iacs set out for Grand Canyon National Park. So many good things happened during our trip, so forgive me if this post is a bit jumbled together and long. I will do my best.
Trip Details
Our trip was set to start the night of Tuesday, November 10th, and we would be flying back on the red-eye Sunday, November 15th. That meant roughly 5 days worth of time out west that would include Las Vegas and Grand Canyon National Park. We also had the honor of traveling with the memorial stone of
CPL Andrew L Hutchins, which would be carried with us down into the Grand Canyon for our trip. Andrew was lost on November 8th, 2010. This trip would not only be about celebrating Mike's birthday, but also honoring Andrew's memory.
Day One - Traveling to Las Vegas
Our trip began in Boston, MA at Logan Airport - where things started out smoothly. We checked our bag (full of camping gear) and carried our hiking packs through security with relatively no hold-ups. TSA agents did pull us aside to ask about Andrew's stone, but this also gave us the opportunity to share his story with them before leaving the security checkpoint.
Now we had a couple of hours before our flight, so it was the perfect time to toast the beginning of our adventure. Mike and I have taken small trips in Maine, but this was to be our first real vacation together. It was also Mike's first time carrying Andrew's stone.
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| Sharing a toast with Andrew |
A short time later, we boarded the plane. Mike and I love to read, and Andrew approved of our book selections for the flight. The connection was totally unplanned, but my book was "For Love of Country" (full of stories about veterans and what they have done at home after serving) and his was "Tales from Misery Ridge" (full of stories from Maine about fly-fishing, hunting, and paddling in Western Maine).
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| Andrew on the plane |
We settled in for the flight as the plane began taxiing to the runway...and then the pilot came on to announce that weather conditions in Philadelphia would hold up our departure by as much as two hours. Acting like true Maine-iacs...we dug out our cribbage board and cards. I won several games while we waited, but I think that was mostly due to the fact I was not playing anyone from the Hutchins family. Watch out for them - they are card (and pool) sharks!
Our flight ended up leaving only an hour or so off schedule, and Mike and I crossed our fingers hoping to still catch our connecting flight in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, that did not happen. With only one gate separating us from our connecting flight and the plane to Las Vegas in full view - American Airlines could not get us off the plane in time to make our connection. And so "Day One - Traveling to Las Vegas" became "Day One - Traveling to Philadelphia". I sorted out re-booking our flights and a hotel room for the night, Mike chatted with Mama Bear (Andrew's step-mother, Betsy Hutchins) about our change in travel plans. Mama Bear told us Andrew's phrase "It's all good" came to mind. Listening to me fight with American Airlines, Mike pointed out that he doubted that it was a phrase in my vocabulary.
We ended up at
Clarion Hotel for the night, and I believe that Andrew may have had a hand in that. After our nasty experience with American Airlines - Phil and Leslie at Clarion Hotel were amazing. Phil got us set up with a room for the night at a discount given our predicament with our flights, and he even spared a few minutes at the desk for us to share Andrew's story and get a photo of him with Andrew. Leslie worked in the hotel's restaurant where we shared several games of cribbage that night. She also gave us a few minutes of her time to share Andrew's story and get a photo with Andrew. They seem like great people, but they also had a sense of pride in their work - no matter what task they were completing. It reminded me of Jeff Hutchins and his quote "Pride is no sin. Always have pride."
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| Phil and Andrew at the front desk. |
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| Leslie and Andrew in the restaurant. |
Day One was a test of patience, but looking back at it now I think there was a reason we ended up in Philadelphia for the night. Time spent together is time well spent, and having the chance to share Andrew's story was worth the inconvenience of a detour.
Day Two - Actually Traveling to Las Vegas and Grand Canyon National Park
Day Two started bright and early with a 5:15am flight to Las Vegas through Dallas. In my recent travels, I have been far too familiar with the Dallas/Ft Worth Airport - and not in a good way. Luckily this experience was a good one, and we were able to fly through with no issues. I'll admit I spent most of our flight to Dallas catching up on some sleep. Our layover, however, was spent at Starbucks sharing coffee over a few games of cribbage. We were able to grab a Veteran's Day photo with Andrew's stone, Dustin's dog tags, and a Brainard Lake patch I came across while hiking with the story of CPT Jay Brainard.
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| Remembering Jay, Dustin, and Andrew on Veteran's Day. |
I don't know if it was because it was Mike's birthday or because he had some help from Andrew, but Mike showed cribbage skills that I had not previously seen from him. That day he gave me a run for my money with a few very close games - somehow I still managed to win, but it wasn't easy!
The most note-worthy thing about our flight on to Las Vegas was that it was an uneventful flight that went smoothly. I will say my favorite moment was seeing Mike's face as he saw Grand Canyon National Park out the window of the plane. Mike had never flown out west, and so this was the first time he had seen it. He was like a little kid on Christmas Eve - his excitement and his smile were infectious. That moment was worth every headache we had with our flights the night before.
We landed, grabbed our rental car, and started our 4.5 hour drive to Grand Canyon Village. Well - supposedly 4.5 hours... :) We stayed at
Yavapai Lodge, which is located inside the park. If you ever have the opportunity to visit the South Rim and are looking for lodging - I would definitely recommend them. Everything you need can be found right around the lodge with a Post Office and General Store (which serves very good breakfast sandwiches). They had clean and comfortable rooms, and their service was great.
Day Three - South Kaibab and Tonto East
Mike and I rested up from our travels and then were up early to hit the Backcountry Office to get our campsites. We had read online that it can be difficult to get campsites if you don't get there early, so we were one of the first in line. A ranger came out and made the announcement that there were no campsites available at Bright Angel Campground until the next night. My heart sank - our plan had been to hike down the South Kaibab Trail to Bright Angel, stay two nights there, and then hike back up the Bright Angel Trail to the rim. We decided to ask the ranger and see what our alternatives were. There were four others with numbers from the day before, so we still had to wait our turn. When we got to the counter and asked our options - I think this was again where fate had stepped in. It turned out that there was one primitive camping site available that night in an area called "Cremation"....and it just so happened to be about 2.1 miles off of the South Kaibab Trail. Mike and I locked in our first night there and our second night at Bright Angel Campground, got some advice from the ranger on a late start time, and then headed back to the General Store for breakfast.
In all honesty, the change in camping plans worked out perfect. The later start time allowed us to spend some time at the General Store picking up a few last minute items, and instead of taking a shuttle from the parking area at Bright Angel Trailhead to our start point - we had the option of taking the Rim Trail around to South Kaibab Trail (just over 4 miles). This provided for many photo opportunities and even a chance to talk about Andrew, Dustin, and Jay with Nettie, a volunteer with the park.
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| Andrew at the South Rim |
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| All smiles and excited for our trip |
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| Rangers wore these years ago - not exactly comfortable hiking footwear. |
Nettie was a Navy wife who used to work in the park, but now volunteers in the store. She had all sorts of information to share about Grand Canyon National Park. She had also spent some time traveling to Maine and was familiar with the Rumford area. I thought this a funny coincidence given that the Hutchins family lives in Leeds.
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| Nettie and Andrew |
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| Old Stone building near the rim |
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| The South Rim had snow, but the Canyon was much warmer. |
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| Mule Deer - tame enough that he didn't mind people. |
We arrived at the South Kaibab Trail near 2pm - which was perfect because the ranger had recommended we start our hike into the canyon at 2pm. Grand Canyon National Park is equipped with watering stations at several places on major trails and campgrounds - and this made things much easier for us because it meant we did not need to carry as much water with us or through our 4 miles along the Rim Trail. We filled up and began our descent - it would take us down the South Kaibab Trail 4.6 miles to Tip Off where we would turn east on the Tonto Trail for 2.1 miles before hitting Cremation. Grand Canyon National Park's primitive camping areas are interesting in that they assign you an area, and then you camp wherever you want in that area - unlike other parks, there are no designated campsites. This would add 4.2 miles out and back on the Tonto Trail that we hadn't originally planned for, but keeping in mind "It's all good" - we just went with it.
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| Looking down the South Kaibab Trail |
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| Andrew at the trailhead |
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| Can't resist a pre-hike selfie! |
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| Mike looking out across the canyon |
One of the first stops on the trail was called "Cedar Ridge". Apparently it is a popular place for day-hikes because of the views of the canyon and the fact it's only 1.5 miles down the South Kaibab Trail. We stopped here for some photos with Andrew and to grab some water before heading on down the trail.
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| Cedar Ridge |
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| Cedar Ridge viewpoint on South Kaibab |
The next marked viewpoint was "Skeleton Point" about 3 miles from the South Kaibab trailhead. I'm not sure how this marker got it's name, but there has to be a story involved somewhere. There is so much history in the park that we did not have the chance to learn.
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| Mike at Skeleton Point |
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| Beautiful scenery |
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| Looking back to the rim |
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| Almost to Tip Off |
When we arrived at Tip Off, we had a brief break to use the last bathroom facilities we would see for the day. Many of the stopping points along the trail have composting toilets available for hikers, and I was pleasantly surprised by how clean the park keeps them - especially when the ranger told us that they have as many as 5 million visitors to the park every year. After our short break, we turned east on the Tonto Trail for the 2.1 mile hike to Cremation. The Tonto Trail is far less traveled than South Kaibab, and really at times it seemed like little more than a game path we were following. There were often cacti close to the trail, and Mike probably heard me cuss more than once as I encountered them. It made for a quick 2.1 miles, though, and we even had the opportunity to watch some mule deer near what would eventually be our campsite. They seemed much less acclimated to people than the one we had seen at the rim, but they didn't travel far that night. We had the opportunity to see them wander near our tent the next morning, as well.
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| Andrew at Tip Off |
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| Andrew and Mike - before heading East on Tonto Trail |
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| Our only company in Cremation were some deer. |
Finding a place for our tent in between all of the rocks and cacti was a challenge, but when we did - we had an amazing view. Sunset was still far off for people at the rim, but it was already starting down in the canyon. Mike and I set up camp and settled in to cook dinner (Maine-based backpacking meals from
Good-to-go) and watch the sun go down. Sunset at the Grand Canyon is amazing, but sunset
in the Grand Canyon is something special.
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| Our accommodations for the night. |
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| Mike's a good camp cook. |
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| Sunset in the canyon |
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| Cribbage before bed |
We did take the time to fit in some star-gazing after sunset, though. My camera is not good enough to capture night-time photos like that, so you will have to experience it for yourself someday. It was absolutely amazing, though. The closest lights were far off at the rim, and it was amazing how many stars you could see. We ended our night with a few games of cribbage and were probably fast asleep by 8pm - which was probably a good thing because around midnight we woke up to the wind howling through the canyon! If I remember right, Mike estimated that it was only maybe 15mph winds, but being in that tent on the open plateau made it seem much stronger. It also served to emphasize just how remote our campsite was.
Day Four - On to Bright Angel
A fitful night's sleep meant that we were awake for sunrise - so it was a blessing in disguise. One of the luxuries we afforded ourselves on this trip was to bring coffee with us, so Mike set to making us a strong batch. The caffeine and warmth was welcome on a chilly morning. We filled our cups and hiked up to a viewpoint near our campsite to watch sunrise. I had just enough service there to send a quick message to Betsy and Jeff and say "Good morning" with a sunrise photo to let them know we were thinking of them.
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| Andrew at sunrise |
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| Looking back towards the rim |
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| Sunrise for the Hutchins |
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| Mike looking into the canyon |
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| If you look close, you will see the blue dot that is our tent. |
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| It was so windy we had to make breakfast inside the tent. |
After breakfast, we packed up our camp for the 4.8 miles that we would be hiking to Bright Angel Campground that day. It was a very easy day by our standards, and we were looking forward to getting there early to get a prime campsite for the night. It was a little difficult to leave Cremation that morning, though, as we knew our next campsite would have closer neighbors. The 2.1 miles back to Tip Off seemed to take longer than the night before, but I think that was all in our heads. We made good time back to the South Kaibab Trail and even ran into a group of tourists riding mules down through the canyon. Seeing them dismount for a bathroom break, I was glad we were hiking rather than riding. I'm sure they were much more sore after their trip than we were. We said hello and then continued on our way.
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| Mule team carrying tourists |
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| Looking down at the Colorado River |
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| Mule team heading back to the rim. |
The trail down to the river seemed to take no time. I'm not sure if that was due to the pace we set or the views we enjoyed on the way, but I was surprised when we saw the bridge come into view. It all went by so fast! Reaching the bridge, we couldn't help but marvel at what it would take just to construct. It came right out of the rock to cross the river and had to be sturdy enough to stand up to the teams of mules that would cross it carrying tourists. As we neared the tunnel to the bridge, we also saw a group of rafts across the river at "Boat Beach". Bright Angel is a stop for many rafting trips on the Colorado River, and there were several guides resting on the beach. Mark, a high school classmate of mine, was supposed to be on the river near the time we were there. We looked for him, but he did not appear to be in this group of guides.
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| Kaibab Bridge |
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| Boat Beach - rafting stop on the river. |
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| Tunnel to the bridge. |
After crossing the bridge, it was a quick hike down the river to Bright Angel Campground. Reaching the set of campsites, I don't want to say we were disappointed - but we both agreed that we much preferred the remote primitive campsite and the privacy it provided. We quickly found a campsite, and honestly - I think we had the best one in the campground. It was tucked in behind other sites, so there was no traffic by our front door. We also had rock walls along our site that provided more shelter. The campground was relatively empty when we arrived, but throughout the day it filled in until every site was taken.
While we aren't much for the tourist trap, we did take the opportunity to mail a postcard while we were there. It was important to both of us that we make this trip special for Andrew's family, not just us. Jeff and Betsy, if you read this - you have a postcard coming from Ziggy, Ranger Mike, and Andrew that was sent from the bottom of the Grand Canyon where we shared a beer and a few games of cribbage.
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| Mail for the Hutchins |
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| They even had a cribbage board! :) |
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| Cantina at Phantom Ranch |
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| Andrew at Phantom Ranch |
It wasn't long before Phantom Ranch started to fill up with people, so we packed up and headed back for camp. It was nearing supper time, and Mike made the suggestion that we pack our dinner to cook by the river. How could anyone argue with that! The walk to our campsite made me glad again that we had arrived early and gotten the campsite we had. So many people had sites mere feet from the trail. Thank you to the ranger that provided the "get there early" tip!
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| View from the trail back to Bright Angel |
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| Andrew at camp |
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| Bright Angel Creek |
We hiked back down to Boat Beach where we turned downriver and found a smaller beach with no people. It was perfect! If it weren't for the occasional hiker we could see crossing the bridge and the rafts that eventually went by - we would have felt like the only people in the canyon. Ok - so there was a helicopter at one point, too, but that was kind of cool to watch - and I admired the pilot's skill to be maneuvering through the canyon.
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| Mike at "our beach" |
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| Helicopters are for yuppies. |
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| Rafts headed down river. |
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| This raft guide was more polite than the last.... |
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| At least he didn't moon us lol |
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| Andrew by the river with Kaibab Bridge in the background. |
So at this point in the photos, I have to stop.... because up until now I saw this trip as a surprise for Mike. I had wanted to do something special for him for his birthday, and so I had "surprised" him with this trip. Really I told him about it about 2 months out so that he could help plan for what he wanted to do - but still we'll call it a surprise. :) I wanted to do something to show him just how special he is to me and how much I love him - and to me the best gift to give someone is the gift of adventure.
Mike had his own surprise in store for me, though. He was firing up the stove to cook dinner. I stood on a rock just at the edge of the water, watching upriver as people crossed Kaibab Bridge. He came up behind me to put his arms around me, and I could feel his heart pounding... At first I had no idea why and was worried and then.... he popped the question! That's right everyone, Ranger Mike proposed to Ziggy! It was like something from a fairy-tale movie. Sunset on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, him down on one knee telling me how much he loves me and that he's never been more sure of anything.... of course I said "Yes"!
Mike - when you read this (and I know you will) - I've known for a long time that you were the one for me. I've never been happier than I have been with you, and I'm so lucky to be able to spend the rest of my life with you. You're the most amazing, giving, supportive, loving man, and I can't wait to become your wife! Here's to the start of our biggest adventure :)
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| I don't think our smiles could be any bigger! |
Betsy, Jeff, and Ben - All of you (and Andrew) became a part of our story that day. Andrew was right there with us on the beach when Mike popped the question. I found it so fitting given how much you all have become like family to Mike and I. We love you all, and we feel so fortunate that you are all a part of our story.. a part of our family.
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| Add caption |
And Betsy - I know there are few that will get the inside humor in this, but as we shared our first dinner together as an engaged couple... we looked up to see what looks like a mountain goat across the river watching us from the canyon walls. I tried to snap a picture for you, but he was too far away. That small white dot is him.
Day Five - Back to the Rim
Our first morning as an engaged couple was at a campsite at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. What a story to tell your kids someday! We were set to spend that night in Las Vegas before our flight the next day, and there was a 4,000ft+ climb followed by a 4.5 hour drive between us and Las Vegas. We had planned on an early start but didn't break camp until after 7am. Coffee in hand, we said goodbye to Bright Angel Campground and started our long hike up to the rim. This hike would take us downriver before crossing another bridge and then starting up towards Indian Garden.
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| Tree near the helicopter pad |
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| Morning person - sure why not? :) |
We decided to wait until we turned up into the canyon to stop for breakfast. It was again some backpacking food from a bag, but you know what? Those things are actually pretty tasty :) We sat next to Pipe Creek by the rest house for a while just enjoying the last of our coffee, our breakfast, and the sound of the waterfall nearby. Mike has some great pictures of this that I'm hoping he will share so I can add these later :) But for now, here is our sign-in in the trail registry - next stop is Indian Garden!
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| Mike signing the trail registry at Pipe Creek |
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| Bright Angel Trail |
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| Headed for Indian Garden |
Indian Garden is a campground that is about 4.5 miles from the Rim. The campground has a lot more amenities than the two we had stayed at, and it gets it's name from the lush vegetation that is in the area. I'm paraphrasing, but an informational sign indicated that due to the change in the type of rock at this part of the canyon - water is forced to the surface. It creates an eco-system very different from that of Cremation where we were our first night. The closer we got to Indian Garden, the more variety we saw in the plant life. And (to my relief) the fewer cacti we saw.
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| Trail nearing Indian Garden |
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| Looking back towards Bright Angel |
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| Mouthy crow at Indian Garden |
We stopped at Indian Garden to have a snack and some water. At that point, I was feeling pretty good - then remembered we had 4.5 miles left to go. To this point the hiking had been relatively easy, and we hadn't encountered many people. In reaching Indian Garden, we now started to run into day-hikers and saw more traffic on the trail. It was a sign we were nearing the end of our trip, and I wasn't quite ready for that. We finished up and headed on to pass through 3 Mile Rest House, 1.5 Mile Rest House, and then the Rim.
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| Leaving Indian Garden |
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| Hard to believe that we started somewhere far below this plateau |
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| Ziggy, Ranger Mike, and Andrew back at the Rim. |
It surprised me just how many people we saw as we got closer to the end of our trip. Many people travel down the Bright Angel Trail just for the viewpoints they can see from the Rest Houses and Plateau Point (a short walk from Indian Garden). We saw seasoned hikers, and we saw well...not-so-seasoned flat-landers. We kept looking back down into the canyon going "I can't believe we started our day down there!" Even with all of our stops along the way to take in views, have breakfast, and re-fuel, we still reached the Rim around 2pm - roughly 6 hours after we broke camp. It was a 9.3 mile hike in total, and we were both sad/glad it was finished.
It was a short walk back to the car, but of course there was a cafeteria between us and the parking lot. Anyone that has been on a long hike knows we couldn't just walk by haha We loaded up on food for the road trip back to Las Vegas (probably too much food) and headed for the car. The 4.5 hour drive sounds like it made for a long day, but it went by quickly and soon we were checking into our hotel in Las Vegas. Mike had booked us a room at the Stratosphere. Three days in the backcountry meant one thing - I have never been so happy to see a shower in my life!
After cleaning up, we had the good fortune to be able to meet up with Mike Keighley and Matt Barcomb. We knew Mike from his time on the AT carrying the stones of Jay Brainard and James Zimmerman. Matt is a former co-worker of mine. It was nice to be able to celebrate our engagement a little with some familiar faces. We ended up at Downtown Container Park which was a lot more interesting than the name would suggest. Basically the businesses were all housed in converted shipping containers. They had several bars and restaurants there, and live music started up after 9pm. We were too exhausted from our trip to stay very late, but even sitting there for dinner it was shocking the contrast between where we had breakfast and where we sat at dinner time.
Day Six - Touring The Strip and Heading Home
Our last day out west was Sunday, November 15th. We didn't fly out until 10:40pm, so we had plenty of time to tour The Strip and see the sites. We decided to bring Andrew and go for a walk down to Caesar's Palace to try a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. It was a bucket list item of mine to eat at one of his restaurants someday, and I know it seems gimicky and touristy - but it was also very tasty :) We splurged on wings, burgers, and an IPA before heading on to see some more of The Strip.
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| Andrew at Gordon Ramsay's Pub |
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| So. Much. YUM! |
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| Fountain outside Caesar's Palace |
One of my favorite things on The Strip is the fountain at the Bellagio when they are playing Frank Sinatra. They weren't playing a Sinatra song, but we still stopped to watch the show and take a photo of Andrew. The whole day was so surreal thinking that 24 hours ago we were making our way up out of the Grand Canyon.
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| Andrew at the Bellagio Fountain |
We continued walking The Strip and stopped at New York New York to watch a bit of the Patriots vs Giants game. After all the hiking, it was difficult to sit so long, though. Soon we began walking back towards the Stratosphere, pausing outside bars to get the football score as we went. Las Vegas was setting up for the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, and it was neat seeing everything that was going into it along the way. Once we got back to the Stratosphere, we decided to check out 107 Lounge to relax before our flight - sitting on the 107th floor and looking out at the city, we had a small couch to ourselves. It was nice to cuddle up for an hour and just relax.
From our viewpoint, the marathon runners looked like ants and the lights of the city seemed to go on forever. As much fun as Vegas can be, 24 hours of it was enough for me to have my fill. Although I was sad our vacation was over, part of me was glad to be heading to the airport to fly home. A four hour flight to Philadelphia meant we could get a nap in before heading on to Boston and work the next day. I wasn't excited that Mike would be heading on to Maine while I stayed in Massachusetts for work, but I was (and still am) excited to be going home to Maine on Thursday. I am excited to share the news of our engagement with everyone, and I'm excited to share stories from our adventure with the Hutchins family. Andrew touched many lives during our trip, but none more-so than the Winslow family.
Now I sit in an office cubicle on my lunch break writing a blog about all of the experience, and it seems so surreal. We spent three days in Grand Canyon National Park, we shared Andrew's story with people from Philadelphia to Las Vegas, and we got engaged! So many good things in my life to be thankful for, so I will start with:
Thank you to the Hutchins family for sharing Andrew's story with us and allowing us to carry his stone on our trip. His story is now part of our story, and you all are a part of our family. I can't wait to give you guys a big hug and tell you all about our trip.
Thank you, Mike, for an amazing trip and asking me to take on this great big adventure by your side. I thought love like this was something for Hollywood and fairy-tales. Thank you for proving me wrong. I love you more than you will ever know, but I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to show you.
Ziggy
