Down in a hole, down in a hole, down in a deep dark hole

I go back to one of my favourite singers Gillian Welch for the song that forms today’s title. Of course Gillian is singing about a miner, but as Drew’s refrain as we came into the Grand Canyon last night was “there’s a big hole beside us” it seems appropriate.

When we planned the holiday I’d assumed that I’d be driving around the canyon while Drew jumped in and out of the car getting shots from the various locations. When we arrived and got a Canyon Newspaper which was given to us when we paid at the entrance booth, we discovered that the Canyon provide four shuttle buses that take in the key routes as a way of reducing the carbon footprint of the car journeys.

We discussed this and decided that we would leave the car where it was and therefore we could split the day with Drew taking lots of Canyon photos while I pottered around in a more relaxed mode (some might say lazy!!). So today you get two blog posts for the price of one.

Dawn at the Canyon

Given the time change last night, I didn't wake until 5 this morning, Drew was not far behind me, getting up at 5.30 so he could be on the edge of the Canyon rim by 5.53 which was dawn.

Drew came back and I copied the photos to the PC, but was not able to copy them on to Flickr due to the limitations on the Grand Canyon wi-fi network.

Off to Mass

I left the Lodge at 7.30 to walk to Mass, according to Google Maps this would be a 25 minute walk, but of course Google assumes you can only walk beside roads. In fact right opposite Thunderbird Lodge is a set of steps down to the railway lines, across them and I arrived at the Church in 10 minutes. It is always nice when that happens meaning I had extra time to spend in prayer. 


The small church is dedicated to El Cristo Rey, Christ the King, and would hold 90 people at maximum. It has a spectacular mural of the Canyon on the wall behind the altar, I'm not sure my photos will do it justice.

Mass began at 8.30 and there were only 20 of us there, a small group compared to the numbers at Mass where I was on the last two weekends. The church has two other mass each weekend.

The readings at Mass today included Joshua 24:1-2,15-18, where Joshua asks the people of Israel to decide if they will serve the God of Israel, or some other god. To which they reply: "We too will serve the Lord, for he is our God." and in the gospel, John 6:60-69, Jesus asks: "What about you, do you want to go away too?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life". Both readings inviting us to ask what comes first in my life, what is its meaning and purpose. With the people in the two readings I from my heart reply: Here I am Lord, I come to do your will for you are the sense and meaning not only of my life but of all that you have created. I am conscious as I pray of being in this special place with the huge impact the Grand Canyon has on any who see it, knowing that all this is gift from the Lord, and I thank him.

After Mass I met the priest Fr Bala Nagineni, he is from Andhra Pradesh, an area I visited back at the end of the 80s. I was therefore able to greet him with Namaskaram, the Telugu form of greeting (not unlike the Hindi Nameste). He introduced me to two other people who were also visiting from Europe, they were a young Italian couple from Milan.

Leaving the church at 9.30 I decided to walk off into the forest along one of the tracks that were clearly laid out, however as Drew had the maps, it was a random wander rather than a straight walk. Every time the path branched I took a chance about which way to follow. The walk was through Spruce Pine and the pine cones, tisty tosties as I knew them when I was a lad, were laying on, and beside, the path in abundance, it was there presence that helped me identify the trees.

An hour later having had an enjoyable and reflective wander I came to the Market Plaza area of the Canyon, this has a large supermarket which I wandered around for about 30 minutes, then I went across the way to the Yavapai Lodge Canyon Cafe to have breakfast.

The cafe was quite high tech, I had to order breakfast using a PC and pay via the machine. I was then able to pick up my orange juice and coffee while the chefs cooked the breakfast, in due course my order number came up on the screen and I was able to pick up my freshly cooked breakfast. I had sausage, ham and two eggs, over hard, which were served with fried potatoes, very nice it was too.

I left the Yavapai cafe and caught one of the shuttle buses up to the Grand Canyon Visitors' Centre. This was an amazing place with 10 or more rangers available to answer questions and a fascinating set of interpretive features which explained elements of the Canyon's flora, fauna and geology.

Among the features at the centre was a 20 minute film called Grand Canyon: a Journey of Wonder which drew all these themes together. Sitting down in a air-conditioned room after being outside in the warmth of the summer sun meant that I had to sit through the film twice, as I had dozed off during the first viewing! Still, dozing apart it was very interesting and informative. 

At just after 2.00 I caught another shuttle back to Bright Angel Lodge, which is beside our own lodge. I arrived at 2.30 and walked along the South Rim trail for a little while until coming to the cabins where my sister, brother-in-law and I stayed during our last visit here. 

I sat and reflected while viewing the Canyon and went back into the Thunderbird Lodge at 3.15.

<<Co-pilot's entry

Drew's Sunday 

After Mr B went, I was able to spend a few minutes in peace and quiet. After enjoying some of the precious few moments of tranquillity I had had (I bet the grammar police will correct that somehow) over the past few weeks I popped out to the bright angel lodge (just up from the bright angel trailhead, if you're interested) for a spot of breakfast. 

I had a lovely encounter with Emily, John and Ramona (a motley crew as Jack would say) who gave me 2 eggs (over easy), bacon and hash brown, and a slice of orange, together with a glass of orange juice. It was a very very nice breakfast. 

Given that Mr B is still nagging about the lack of photos the day I was allowed out in Newfoundland by meself 4 years ago (Captain Jacks Note: We note that cabin boy has still not finished that last blog entry! - perhaps a keel-hauling is in order!!!!!), I decided that lots and lots were in order. In between fighting my way through hordes and hordes of Germanic types (from Germany, no less, in many cases!). In the end I think I took enough photos of rocks to keep even the most pedantic pedagogue happy!!!!!!! 

Anyway, back to the task at hand. I made my way from the bright angel lodge, up through the 'trail of time', the trail of time aspect being different types of rock associated with various geological epochs seen in the canyon. I then made my way through the woodland, past the amphitheatre, into the market plaza, where i purchased me dinner of a bottle of sparkling water (they didn't sell still, oddly, a chocolate brownie flavoured protein bar and a bag of nuts). I then continued back to the 'village', arriving some 2 and a smidge hours later. 

I then meandered my way up the bright head trail, pausing in quiet reflection and contemplations (who likes short shorts?) up, up, up, past Hopi point, until I reached a place where i felt enough was enough, and walking 10-12 miles in that heat would be enough for anyone, and so I turned back, taking more photos of the dirty great big hole, this time in different lighting conditions. I even took one of two odd fellows climbing up the side. Takes all sorts I suppose.

I got back to Thunderbird Lodge at 4.20. >>

Dinner

We had booked dinner tonight at the El Tovar Restaurant in the El Tovar Hotel, the dining room was one of the wonders of the early days of Canyon visits having been developed by the rail-road magnet who first brought his trains to the Canyon as a luxury venue for his passengers. The room still had that old world charm.

Drew began with French Onion Soup Gratinée, the first he has had since Pershing Square two weeks ago, he says this one was much richer and oniony, the cheese was also easier to manage. 

I opted for the heirloom tomato gazpacho shrimp cocktail which was delicious, the gazpacho was thick and perfect to dip the King Prawns into, I was able to use my fork to eat the remaining gazpacho it was so lovely.

Drew then opted for Pork Chops with braised apples and sauerkraut  with potato pancake and carrots; as with his first course his last Pork Chop was in Pershing Square. These chops were smaller than the one there, but more lightly cooked and juicy.

I opted for fresh pan-seared Halibut which came with a fire roasted jalapeno cream, roasted tomato polenta wedge and carrots. The halibut was cooked to perfection and had the strength of flavour that allowed for the strong charred jalapeno flavour. This was a real winner for me.

Drew couldn't resist trying the desserts, we had been introduced to the range before dinner. I mean that - the hostess said let me introduce you to the desserts, before she showed us to our table. So Drew had a Triple Chocolate Cheesecake which had a hint of cinnamon. It didn't last long is all I can tell you, but Drew seemed happy about it.

We walked back along the rim under the moonlight and got to bed just after 10.15 pm