I was a little brief in my first Grand Canyon post, and I’m sure you wanted to know more.
Right? Right?
Being a totally East Coast girl who never even made it past the Mississippi until I was in my 50′s, I had no idea all there was to see and do at the Grand Canyon. I mean, I knew it was GRAND and all, and that we certainly didn’t want to leave Arizona without getting there, I really didn’t know what we would do for our two full days there. Silly me.
First of all, there is hiking. I mean serious-way-down-into-the canyon hiking. There is the Kaibab Trail -

Can you see the switchbacks on the side of that cliff?


See that little patch of green in the valley about a third of the way up in the middle on this picture? That’s Phantom Ranch – and it’s one of the destinations of the many hikes into the canyon.
The other popular hike is the Bright Angel Hike -


and there it goes wandering through the valley

also heading to Phantom Ranch.
But as much as we thought going down part of the way on either of those trails might be fun, we knew that coming back up would be a problem. So instead we did the Rim Trail.

Mostly paved, mostly flat, scenic overlooks a plenty…..yes, definitely our type of “hiking”. We did it from end to end (about 13 miles) and walked a good ten of those miles. For the other spots, we used the free shuttle – a wonderful part of the park! We never even unhooked the truck from behind the RV! It was great!

Then there are the famous mule rides down the canyon (they go on that Bright Angel Trail, I think).

But from the looks of the ones waiting for riders

I think I’m Ok with not doing THAT activity. Don’t want those mules dozing off on those switchbacks!
Our hike along the rim afforded us stunning view after stunning view.



Oh, and if you couldn’t figure it out -

there is danger in dem dar edges. Got it!
Most folks take pictures of themselves standing in front of the Grand Canyon. We did too. But it turned out fuzzy. Besides, I liked this one better!

(and as a bonus I could sell it as a “how not to have your jeans fit” example to a fashion magazine!)
And while the vistas were amazing -

a closer look into the canyon floor revealed more beautiful colors.

Towards the end of our second day we checked out Grand Canyon Village – Hotels and cabins and restaurants and even an art gallery -

that was in the Kolb Studio, built in 1904 right on the rim.

Now THAT’s a room with a view!
We had a very full two days and enjoyed every minute of it (well, maybe we didn’t enjoy the getting up at 4:30 today and then NOT being able to get to the canyon for the sunrise). Tomorrow we pull out of our nice little campground. But I’d better warn you – there are three scenic outlook/stops on the way east out of the park. I don’t think you’ve seen the last of the Grand Canyon from this girl!
One final note from our Rim Trail Hike -
At the very end of the Rim Trail was Hermit’s Rest.

And much to my delight, there on one of the pillars, overlooking the magnificence of the Grand Canyon was this plaque -

Amen.

Hey, Jamie, have you heard
‘A picture paints a thousand words’
But the photographs don’t tell it all
I see the eagle swim the canyon sea
Creation yawns in front of me
Oh Lord, I never felt so small

And I don’t believe that I
believed in You as deeply as today
I reckon what I’m saying is
there’s nothing more
nothing more to say

And the mountains sing Your
glory hallelujah
The canyons echo sweet
amazing grace
My spirit sails
The mighty gales are bellowing
Your name
And I’ve gotten nothing to say
No, I’ve got nothing to say
Andrew Peterson
Nothing to Say

Last night’s sunset was lovely. I suppose I’ve seen prettier sunset skies, but the fading light made wonderful shadows and highlighted the colors of the canyon.

I’m not sure how that fellow in the bottom left corner actually made it to that rock, but he certainly did have quite the solitude view!

Looking toward the setting sun gave layers of gray – beauty in it’s own way.

And when the sun finally sank behind the horizon (and since we had to wait about 45 minutes (due to shuttle bus schedules) and it was pretty darn cold, I can really use the word “finally”), the grays turned to soft orange/red!

We welcomed the warm shuttle bus with gladness, but we were very happy (Well, I was anyway. Gary maybe not so much) that we made the trip.

This morning’s sunrise? Well, that didn’t work out so well. We were up and at the shuttle stop by 4:45 (leaving us an hour to get to an overlook by sunrise @ 5:45). However, the bus didn’t arrive until about 5:15 and the driver thankfully said that there was very little chance to get to an overlook before the sunrise. And we know, the sunrise waits for no one. We came back to the house, drank our coffee in warmth, and enjoyed a beautiful Sunday morning. Just not one overlooking the Grand Canyon!

WOW – what a great day we had at the Grand Canyon! And tomorrow promises to be just as lovely – and just a exhausting, I’m sure!
So, let me say that yesterday’s (Friday) snow

and threatening skys

gave way this morning to bright blue skys and warming (well, up to the mid-50′s anyway) temperatures!

So – of the almost 200 pictures I took, I whittled them down to about 50. And that was HARD! So, if you’d like to see the rest from today (with a couple from yesterday thrown in), you can check them out here.
I haven’t even downloaded the ones from the sunset tonight – and we’re planning on getting up for the sunrise tomorrow.
Yikes!
And that’s why I’m leaving this short and sweet tonight. Bed is certainly calling!
Sunrise – 5:45 (and we have to figure out the whole shuttle bus schedule!).
G’night!

But there is still plenty to do!
We’re down to the last couple of days here at Prescott Pines Camp – and I thought I’d share a little about the camp and what we’ve been doing here.
Prescott Pines Camp, like many of the facilities that we work at, is a multi-faceted conference center. They have a great summer camp program, which centers around Frontier Town -

and comes complete with teepees (tipis?) and rustic cabins. There are zip lines and challenge courses and of course a pool. In fact, they even have a Human Fooz Ball court -

(We’re running across them more and more. One of these days we might even get to see someone PLAY Human Fooz Ball!)
The other side of the camp is still rustic, but much more civilized. There’s a lovely chapel -

a great gynmasium (that looks like a chapel)

and cabins and dormitory style buildings to accommodate men’s and ladies’ retreats and winter youth retreats along with Outdoor Education Classes from local (and not so local) schools. This place is busy all year around.
But truth be told, they had a very rough winter. The weather was especially harsh, storms were longer and meaner, and parts of the camp were severely damaged. One of the staff houses caught fire and sustained enough damage to render it unusable. A large pine fell into the dining hall, taking out a large portion of the roof. The septic system literally floated out of the ground after an especially wet stretch of winter weather. Pipes burst, trees fell, insurance was ornery. But through it all they could see the Lord’s gracious hand. No one was injured in any of the calamities. Since the roof now needed to be replaced on the dining hall, it made for the perfect opportunity to do some much need expansion and improvement (the original dining hall had been constructed in the 40′s I think). Not all of the work would be covered by insurance, but it was a good start. The septic system was needing an upgrade too, and since it was already mostly out of the ground…. you get my drift. God has been providing resources and enthusiasm and for the last several months He’s also been providing SOWERS to help with the various projects.
We worked hard this month – the guys were busy doing all kinds of things, from moving walk-in boxes to moving landscaping, to digging ditches and building sheds. They even got to help with some of the dining hall interior demolition. One of our group this month is a heavy equipment operator, and he has spent hours on a backhoe and a little bobcat. (I personally think he’s been having lots of fun on those big toys!)
Here are some shots of the guys at work -

Those boys have been workin’ hard!
But we girls have put in our fair share of work too! We started the week by removing landscaping stones from in front of the dining hall, then moved to cleaning two new-to-them commercial stoves and then tackled painting one of the cabins!

The bottom right shot is at the foundation of the house that burned. We were asked to clean up the debris from around the foundation. What a job!
Before -

After -

The backhoe guy came up today and scooped up all the debris we had moved from the foundation. I’m not sure what their plans are for this site, but at least now it’s nice and tidy. Well, more tidy than it was anyway!
And I must admit we were quite pleased with how the cabin came out!

And all in just three mornings! (Ok, so we just did the body of the building – the trim and deck had already been done. But still….)
Oh, and the dining hall? This is how it looked when we got here (except that the blue tarp and some of the repair boards have been removed)-

And this is how it looked last weekend -

I think all the building permits are now in hand, so the rest of the demolition and renovations can begin. They were smashing up the concrete floor today. (I’m telling you, those backhoe guys have the most fun!)

And once again, it’s hard to believe that we’ll be back on the road again in just a few days. There have been some challenges this month (one couple had to leave after a week due to altitude sickness), but it’s been wonderful to see so many jobs accomplished. And it will be exciting to keep in touch with the folks here to see how their spring and summer progress. I know that feeding the multitudes in a wedding-type tent is getting a little old! But I know that God will continue to work here at Prescott Pines Camp!