Canyons, Cars, Camps, Cooking and ... Squirells

Based on the car rental web site, I expected a Dodge Caliber. Instead we got a PT Cruiser. I'm not sure in what reality this can be correctly considered an "or equivalent" vehicle. But if I photograph it from a low angle, it looks a little less gay. Still, at least it wasn't the Prius we drove last year.

The first day at the Grand Canyon North Rim campground is spent setting up camp, cooking and lying around. It's not all in the name of laziness. The campground is located at an elevation of ~8,200ft, so every moment spent acclimatizing before the hike is very helpful. In that vein, I listened to music and randomly twisted the sides of this cube until all the colors lined up.

Dinner the first night consisted of diced veggies, sausage and pasta. It was quite satisfying. Breakfast the following morning (the morning of the hike) was diced veggies, scrambled eggs and lots and lots of orange juice. Oh, and bacon. Lots of bacon.

Fattest squirrel I've ever seen.

So, the end result of this year's Grand Canyon Death March (ie, a rim-to-rim-to-rim) was a near four hour improvement over last year: 19:57 vs 23:41. And I felt that improvement in my legs the next morning. But the careful pre-hike toe and heal taping paid off: no broken blisters.

I'm thinking this might be my last Death March. I want to actually see (and photograph) parts of the Grand Canyon - and both are difficult to do when you're on the clock. So I'm thinking about a camping trip there next year. Should be fun. Anyone want to come? I've got two "probably's" signed up already.