Day 12 So long long long Grand Canyon

Our final day at the GC began with a quick breakfast in our room, and then we packed everything into the car to begin our return trip. We drove to the shuttle bus station right next to the bike rental place and got on an orange line bus that took us east along the rim to the beginning of the Kaibab Trail (Kaibab is the Native American name of the National Forest that surrounds the GC National Park). The Kaibab trail goes all the way to the bottom of the Canyon and crosses the Colorado River, but we only planned to go down to the first lookout point, which is aptly named Ooh-Aah Point. It's only .9 miles down, and rated at Moderate difficulty, but the grade is steep with many switchbacks, caves, loose gravel on the trail, no railings, and plenty of rocks and boulders strewn about. We started down but were soon overtaken by a mule team that had packs of fill dirt on its backs. The trail needs regular maintenance, and some workers were unloading the dirt to fill in places the rain had washed it away, leaving it rocky and uneven. The mules need to have a reasonably flat trail to place their hooves on when they are carrying riders. We were passed four or five times by these mule trains. We also passed workers using the dirt to fill in parts of the trail. We wondered how their equipment had been brought down the difficult incline. Unfortunately, many mule trips means many (green) mule poops, so we had a fragrant walk in both directions. Finally we arrived at the point, and were presented with both an incredible panoramic vista and some variety of biting insect that would not leave us alone. We swatted for the few minutes needed to snap some pictures and then quickly headed back up. Some workers were leveling and stabilizing the path at the turn of the point, and heavy cables are embedded in the rock there. The workers were slathering on bug repellent to ward off the insistent critters. We didn't see much other wildlife today, but plenty of very tame squirrels were about, including a very chubby one near the summit, that Samuel was quite taken with. We spotted lots of interesting rock formations, some unusual flora, cacti, and more mules. We made it back to the summit with a few rest stops, and rode the bus back to the village. We had a nice lunch at a different Lodge, and then made our way to the Hopi House, where a demonstration of native dances was going on. It's right next to the El Tovar hotel we ate in last night so I snapped some pictures of the front and also the glass windows we watched last night's storm from. We finally had to leave, so we crossed the Grand Canyon Railway tracks and drove by the Station on our way out of this magnificent place we'll never forget. We took a different route as we started back to Las Vegas (and our plane Tuesday). Old Route 66 originally went from Chicago to Los Angeles and served as the only route for everyone from settlers in the late 1800's to tourists up until the 1960's when Interstate highways replaced it. Today we drove it through the surviving and historic towns of Williams (where there is still a Union 76 gas station with an antique pump) and Seligman, to Peach Springs, which is inside a reservation. Here the Hualapi Native American tribe runs a very nice lodge and some tourism activities they bill as "Grand Canyon West". It has all the modern conveniences, and is run and staffed by Natives. A trio of them were presenting songs, stories and dances of their heritage as we checked in, so we sat down and listened for a while before visiting the pool/spa and going to dinner in their very pleasant restaurant. Tomorrow we'll investigate a few more things around here and on Route 66 before returning to Las Vegas (SAM'S Town!!), to prepare to fly back. The pictures below pretty much follow this narrative. Please respond. href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9pKqBJ5yhCDNUP_bVSZgyRx1fLvu59bPGB0ujAUqVcVAILEQD3G8foM8RDbswT7PMdiHBhpiPiH2AWb0scja0h7lMEjpUZ_0NyfuRIrPT-C6KXasaqLb4TCjBDTainSUmYL56RM75yZE/s1600/SDC16773.JPG" imageanchor="1" >