Kanab AirBNB

Leaving the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, we proceeded to the town of Kanab, just north of the AZ/UT state line.  Kanab is nestled in a valley of sorts and is surrounded by stunning red cliffs. 

Around 3:30, UT time we messaged our AirBNB hosts and asked if it would be possible to check-in a bit early.  They agreed and we proceeded to their home. The view from the front walkway is amazing! 

Marcia and Mark greeted us as we entered their AirBNB designed home. Wifey had emailed previously and already knew they had built this home specifically to host AirBNB guests.  The front door access is controlled via coded keypad and opens into a foyer.  From this foyer 3 doors open.  Two are to guestrooms (also keypad controlled and the third, a double door opening into Mark and Marcia's private area of the home.  As we came and went during our stay, these doors were usually open during the day and closed in the evenings.  

Also in the foyer were snacks and toiletries available for guests along with hand sanitizer and relevant business licenses. 

Each of the guest rooms has its own ensuite bathroom!  and mini-kitchen stocked with coffee!  The mini-fridge includes a function freezer compartment which we loved as it allowed us to freeze water bottles for our cooler and upcoming hikes.  

By the end our our stay, we enjoyed chatting with Mark & Marcia and even toured their portion of the home as well, taking notes of brilliant design choices we may just incorporate into our upcoming build. 

If you're visiting Southern Utah ... STAY HERE! 

Vermilion Cliffs

 After spending the day with Bert and Pumpkin we headed further north to check into our home for the next 3 nights, and AirBNB in Kanab, UT.  We detoured along the way to kill some time before our 4:00 check in, visiting the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument.  We expected this to be a statue or something similar.  It was not. We followed our GPS and reached the entrance!  

We figured the monument must be on up ahead so we began our drive down a dirt road, with red cliffs to our right and more traditional desert landscape on our right.  

About 6 miles in, we reached a (closed) trailhead.  

We took selfies in both directions .. desert view:

And red cliff view:

Check out this cell-phone screenshot showing where google maps shows the monument and where we quit driving 6 miles in (the blue "you are here" dot).  

Bert and Pumpkin

We woke bright and early and COLD for our day at the North Rim.  We had pre-loaded the car last night so all we had to do was dress, caffeinate, brush our teeth, and hit the road!  

Our drive back to the park was uneventful and before long we were waiting on the shuttle to take us to the trail head.  Our fellow participants were respectful, wearing their masks and sitting distanced on the bus for which we were appreciative!

We opted for the 3 hour ride down to the Supai Tunnel along the North Kaibab Trail offered by Canyon Trail Rides.  Our reasoning was the desire to descend into the canyon vs. just go along the rim.  

   

Upon reaching the trailhead, the guides asked each participant about their horse riding experience levels.  We ranged from "some" to "none" (that'd be Wifey!).  Then they assigned mules based on temperament and lined us up in reverse order of experience.  Hubby's mule was named Bert and Wifey's named Pumpkin.  Both were male. 

We began our descent in single file and got a feel for riding.  The mules tend to prefer the outside of the trail, but have strong self-preservation instinct so we were never in danger.  Apparently the cannot however use the bathroom while moving so whenever your mule stopped to do so, you were to hollar "Pit Stop" so the rest of the group knew to wait on you.  Awkward! 

As much of a cliche as it may be, the mules were quite sure footed and made accessing the lower areas of the canyon much easier.  It was certainly an interesting experience.  Would WE do it again?  As a day trip - probably not.  

If you cannot make this type of hike yourself, DO IT!  Being down elevation is valuable.  

Wifey would absolutely consider doing a mule ride to the canyon bottom simply as a reasonable means of transportation.  As an end to itself, eh.  

At the bottom of our route, we disembarked our mules and had a restroom/picture break.  Compared to our experience on Bright Angel Trail, it was unimpressive.  

Our fast motion video of the experience:

And a real-time video showing Hubby embarking his mule to begin the ride back up; a meta video of wifey filming hubby; and a quick lesson on mule aspirin!

Moving North

For reasons undetermined, I associate visiting the Grand Canyon with mule riding.  Due to the last minute nature of our trip, most tours are long since booked.  Early Sunday morning, we made one last, valiant attempt at calling the North Rim tours directly and asking about openings for the next day!  Not only was a tour available, the staffer shared some 'flexibility' with a pesky regulation on which we were balanced like a knife edge.  

In order for our mule riding adventure to began with check and weigh in Sunday afternoon, we first had to move about 11 miles north.  This 11 mile distance, however, is blocked by a little something called the Grand Canyon and Colorado river. In order to avoid this pesky detail, we took the long way around .... a 4:59 drive.  

After parking and getting prepped for check in, we approached the North Rim visitor center along the way hearing someone call out Wifey's name.  Apparently some friends from church were also at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon that afternoon preparing for a rim-to-rim hike the next day!  Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world.

 

Check in went smoother than we could imagine, with our knife edge issue being a non-issue in the end!  Leaving check-in we celebrated with a quick dinner at the only restaurant open for 60 miles north of the Canyon, the Roughrider Saloon.   

Due to COVID, only to-go dining was available, so we took our Burger, Pizza, and Chili back for an in-car picnic! 

      

After dinner, we checked into our hotel for the night at the Kaibab Lodge.  The North Rim is less frequented than the South, and has far fewer amenities available.  Our options for North Rim lodging were essentially to stay in the park and pay around $300 a night, stay at the Kaibab for $106 a night and drive 18 miles (26 minutes) back and forth, or to stay at Jacobs Lake, 44 miles (53 minutes).  

The Kaibab is ... rustic.  No Wifi.  No cellular service.  No TV.  Yes incredible view out the cabin door:

If you look right in the middle of this picture, you can barely see Kaibab Lodge.  

Our cabin - on the right side with the door open! 

View from the front door looking in: 

And the first view of the bathroom, straight on back:

And last, a view of the opposite side of the room while standing in the bathroom door facing outwards:

The night we stayed at Kaibab we were pretty tired and actually fell asleep around 7:00 pm, leaving early the next morning ... for our mule adventure!

Bright Angel Trail

Today we hiked a small portion of Bright Angel Trail.  Luckily for us, we are 2 time zones away from home, so as we awoke and arrived at the park at 8:05 am, our bodies thought it was 10:05.  Wifey hates heat and stress parking ... so an early morning seemed like the best idea on both accounts.  

Plan for the Day -

Wake up naturally, pack day packs and head to park.  

Hike down 1.5 miles.  Wifey tracks walking and running frequently and knows for a fact she walks at a rate of 20 minutes per mile.  So it'll take us 30 minutes down.  The internet warned us that hiking out takes about twice as long as hiking down ... so plan for an hour.  Total trip - 1:30.  

We are both currently taking college classes and as such have homework that needs our time as well.  Wifey promised we'd be out and back to the hotel by 12:00 allowing ample time for classwork.  

Reality of the Day - 

Wake up naturally, pack day packs and head to park.  CHECK

Wifey woke first and packed our daybags and laid our our attire for the day.  Hubby work a bit later due to either nature of Wifey's moving about the room.  We had some quick breakfast, loaded up the car and drove the 15 minutes into the park.  The park ranger working the gate provided two maps and some valuable guidance on parking!  We arrived at the gate around 8:05!  So far so good!  

We missed a turn going to our trailhead.  We rerouted.

8:24 - Parked and begin walking!  We'll be at the bottom by 9:00 and back up by 10:00!!!

Check out this video (mostly in 8X speed) of our hike down.  Sadly our Osmo battery died just before we turned back uphill!  (If you're reading this on mobile, you can see the video HERE).  

8:36 - We made it to the .18 mile Tunnel.  All smiles!  

Just below the 1.5 mile stopping point we took a photography break!  Enjoy (note, more text to follow)

Restrooms and water at 1.5 miles

10:09 - We start back uphill! Uphill was ROUGH.  

10:19 - Wifey falls down on her way up the mountain and breaks a hiking stick in half on the way.  She's fine.  

We'd already had issues with the handle of one on our way down which Hubby was now carrying.  After Wifey snapped the good one in half, hubby dismantled both, taking the functioning pieces of each and reassembled one franken-stick which wifey used the rest of the way up.

We saw some wildlife as well: 

Those were taken with the Zoomy lens of the DSLR.  For context, see if you can see the bottom version in this cell phone shot.  

Wifey struggled on the way up.  Hubby was patient.  

11:40ish - we reached the top.  To recap, Total Trip -  about 3:20.  More than twice as long as expected.