Day 70 May 13

Mothers day

Day 3 at the Grand Canyon

In the tower

In the morning we went to the reservation desk to see if they had a cancellation at Phantom Ranch.  We missed an opportunity to get a cabin by oversleeping the day before but we were lucky to get spaces in the dormitory for the four of us at Phantom Ranch.  Since we had to report at 6:30 am Mrs. Barnes and I took advantage of the morning and had breakfast at the Bright Angle Lodge for Mother’s day.

We went back to Coulter Tower at the Desert View overlook.  The tower was built by Mrs. Coulter as a tourist attraction and a way to preserve the beauty of the area.  It was designed to stay in keeping with the Indian dwellings of the  area as well as pay respect to their art work.  The original furnishings were made of natural material found in the area.  The art work and motifs in the tower were done by local Indian artisans.  The top of the tower offered spectacular views of the canyon and the upper plateau.

Colorado River one mile down from the rim

We had purchased cactus when we were at Saguaro National Park.  The ride in the trailer shook the cacti out of their loose soil. Mrs. Barnes devised a way to anchor the plants so that the soil could shake around a little but the plants would still stay. 

In the evening we packed up backpacks with water, food, and extra socks for our hike down to the bottom of the Canyon.  We are glad we did not have to pack all the camping equipment.   Each person had to carry a gallon of water.  The temperature in the canyon at the bottom was suppose to be close to 100 degrees.  It is nice and cool in the morning on the rim but gets hot by 9:30 or 10:00.  So the more hiking you do in the morning the better.