Today, after our stay at the hotel in Flagstaff, we were to continue our journey. As I didn’t want to miss out on the area around Flagstaff, we dropped off at Canyon Vista Campground and hiked a few miles, including some routes I already knew.
Afterwards, the trail became particularly beautiful and rocky. However, the day was quite short as we set off late and I didn’t want to hike too far so that I could visit the National Monument the next day.
Our start was delayed as the national monument I wanted to visit didn’t open until 9am. This only meant a small detour and a $15 entrance fee for some more attractive trails and an interesting visitor center with fresh water and restrooms.
Shortly afterwards, the trail unfortunately became rather monotonous, and the section through Painted Canyon was also rather unspectacular. After we crossed the first interstate, it was also very noisy for a long time.
Once we reached Highway 89, we found a gas station where we had coffee and a slushie. After that, the road became much more scenic and mountainous again. We spent the night north of Flagstaff after passing the 600-mile mark.
The night was very cold and there was a lot of snow on the way around the San Francisco Peaks. After nine miles we made a little detour to the Snow Bowl. The ski resort in Arizona – yes, really, even Arizona has a ski resort! There we had hot coffee and something to eat, and on top of that we were given Skittles as a gift. We besieged the restaurant until the afternoon and took the opportunity to recharge all our devices.
This was followed by a long, snowy descent, which was great fun but also quite exhausting, as we kept sinking into the snow up to our hips and had to free ourselves from it first. We only went as far as we had to in order to find a good place to camp, which was supposed to be next to a dirt road.
After what felt like a “Nero Day” the day before, today was somewhat monotonous and dull. The landscape wasn’t ugly by any means, but the snow and strenuous hiking had given way to a rocky expanse with questionable and rare water sources. It was very windy and my thoughts often revolved around the Grand Canyon and how things would continue there with the closure of the trail.
Today was characterized by a steady, easy climb. Our aim was to get as close as possible to Tusayan in order to make the most of a potential day in civilization. We therefore cycled 46 kilometers through the picturesque landscape. We took a lunch break at a large lake, the Russell Tank, where there was also a public toilet. We found some electrolyte drinks along the way as “Trail Magic” and had to take a short detour to the next water source at the end of the day. By now we could feel the proximity to the Grand Canyon and were sure that we could already recognize it. This was also evident from the many people standing with their camper vans along the way.
The day took us through a controlled burn area. Most of the time I was unsure whether it was even safe to be in the vicinity. Helicopters were circling above me, everything next to me was smoking, and sometimes it was even still on fire. I was relieved when I arrived at the entrance to the campsite.
We were staying at the 7 Mile Lodge, the only affordable hotel in this tourist town. The grocery store here was even more expensive than in the Grand Canyon. If you’re looking for snacks, you’re better off going to the gas station.
However, you couldn’t do your laundry at the hotel. For us, this meant walking through the entire town – which fortunately isn’t too big – in rain gear and doing our laundry at the campsite.
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