News and Views

Dale and I made our hike into and out of the Grand Canyon. It was spectacular. It’s a different experience at each level as you drop down. It cannot be captured on film, any more than any aspect of the Canyon can. You have to experience it first-hand to understand.

We started down on the South Kaibab trail on Sunday morning. We returned on the Bright Angel trail on Monday.

The South Kaibab trail is definitely the more scenic. You descend down ridges much of the way, with amazing changing panoramic scenery all the way. As you drop down below the rim, you not only have the beautiful spires and rock walls below, you also have the huge, varied cliff faces above.

By contrast, the Bright Angel trail by which we returned is much more closed in. You follow valleys and ravines most of the way, and though there are lots of places to see the scenery below, the view is much more constrained. However, hiking through the cottonwood and willow groves is pleasant, and shade and the presence of water makes the Bright Angel trail a better summer hike.

We camped at the river, at the Bright Angel campground, next to Phantom Ranch Lodge. It’s nothing like I expected.

I didn’t feel like I was at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. You can’t see the rim anywhere, just rock walls rising a few hundred feet on all sides, so it’s more like being in a small canyon oasis in the desert. Cottonwoods and willows line the banks of Bright Angel Creek and the campground, while most of nearby desert is prickly pear, acacia and brittle bush.

We drank lemonade at the Phantom Ranch Lodge canteen on Sunday afternoon. The Lodge isn’t what I expected either. It’s quite rustic, and most of the guest rooms seem to be separate rock cabins. Ranger talks about the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) and Bats Sunday afternoon and evening were interesting diversions, as our feet were too tired to do much exploring.

The hike out up the Bright Angel trail was a grueling 9-mile, 4500-foot climb. We were walking pretty slowly by the last mile, but at its worst it was nothing like the Sierra hike we took last month. This was a stroll in the park in comparison.

They only allow a maximum of 90 campers and 90 Lodge guests on any night, so there are never more than 180 overnight visitors. We met lots of hikers on the trail with light day packs — these were people who had reservations at the Lodge and so only had to carry clothes and toiletries. We met a few people just carrying water — these were the day hikers who had ventured down from the rim and would be returning within the same day. We met several other backpackers, of course. And we met two strings of mules; one carrying supplies for the lodge, and the other carrying tourists, taking the easy way down.

I want to go again some day. Maybe I’ll make the year-out reservations for the lodge and ride the mules down next time. It looked like a lot of fun.

If you get the chance to go, whether backpacking, hiking to the lodge, or riding mules, do it. It is amazing.

Dale just called me from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. There were two backcountry passes available for this weekend. I told him to grab them.

Sunday we are hiking down from the South Rim to the river, where we will camp for the night. Monday it’s the long climb back up.

I’m excited! I have always wanted to hike down into the canyon, but it seemed almost impossible to get permits. They usually have to be reserved months ahead.

On Monday we will climb from around 2000 feet up to 7000 feet — a 5000 foot climb. That’s more than we did on any day on our recent hike in the Sierra, but two things will make this easier. The elevation will be much lower than it was there, and we will only be carrying 1-day’s rations instead of 4 or 5. Having to carry extra water may offset that advantage, though.

Dale, Karen and I got back yesterday from a 4-day, 45-mile hike in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, in Kings Canyon National Park.

It is essentially the same hike that Devon, Derek and I took in 2003, with a few differences.

It was a difficult, exhausting and exhilarating adventure. Dale had a minor battle with altitude sickness, and both he and I were nursing non-optimal knees, but the views from the heights made it worthwhile. Karen seemed to be dancing up the hills, spending half her time waiting for Dale and I, but she admits that she was exhausted too.

Keep watching Dale’s blog for a more detailed description with pictures, in the near future.

Our new floors are in!

The carpet has been down in the guest room for over a week.

The tiles in the bathroom and laundry room are finally complete, though they had to redo them more than once to get them reasonably even.

The laminate is complete in the family room, hall and office. At first I was disappointed in how the laminate looked, but once they installed and painted the molding, it suddenly looked much, much better. I like it a lot now, at least appearance-wise. It’s not as comfortable to walk on as carpet, of course.

The new vanity should be installed on Monday or Tuesday, and the counter top a week after that. So we still have a couple of weeks before everything is really “back to normal”. But except for the bathroom we are in the process of moving everything back.

It’s been really cool here lately. The past couple of nights it got down into the 70’s — the first time since around May that it is cooler outside than inside.

We slept with the windows open in our bedroom for the first time since May. It still got up into the high 90’s during the day, but it’s much easier to tolerate when the nights cool down.

Big change from those days in July where the low was in the mid-90’s, highs in the mid-110’s.

I told you previously about the broken water line and the flood in our house. Repairs are progressing, more slowly than we would like, but actually at a reasonable pace.

All the walls have been repaired, and painted. We took this opportunity to change the colors in all of the rooms that were being repainted anyway. We had to pay extra since it required two coats in most places instead of one, but still the insurance company is paying for over half the painting bill.

And we are going to upgrade the flooring. We’ll keep carpet in the guest room so our guests can enjoy stepping out of bed onto softness, but we’re replacing the vinyl in the bathroom and laundry room with tiles, and replacing the carpet in the family room and my office with laminate. We chose a laminate that looks a lot like wood, at least to my and Gisele’s eyes.

We’re in limbo right now between painting and flooring, so we still can’t do much in any of those rooms. I temporarily hooked up the washer and dryer, and dug out my computer, but most of the rooms are piled with boxes and furniture. We’re hoping to have everything done within two more weeks — by September 24 or so. That leaves me a week and a half to focus on preparing for the Great Hike.

On Thursday morning I went to play basketball, as usual. At one point, someone heaver than me fell against my leg, bending the knee in a way it didn’t want to go. It hurt a little, too much to continue playing, but I was able to hobble off the court and drive home. I iced it up and took it easy for the next couple of days.

On Saturday I felt pretty good, and went back to play basketball. Wouldn’t you know it, like a sore thumb that keeps getting hit, someone larger than me landed against my leg again, same leg, same direction. This time there was more pain, and I needed help to get off the floor. One of the doctors playing with us examined the leg, bending it this way and that, “Does this hurt? How about this?”, and concluded that it was just a sprain, nothing serious, and would heal by itself in a matter of a few days. In fact, I was feeling better already and was able to walk to my car and drive home.

As soon as I got home, we loaded up the car and drove to Prescott, where Gisele’s church was holding their annual retreat. I always enjoy this time, because I can use the excuse that I don’t understand Cantonese very well and it becomes my own private retreat, walking in the woods, sitting on the balcony or under trees reading, and just taking it easy.

Soon after we arrived, they held their basketball tournament, where most of the men and boys played games against each other. At first I was just going to be a spectator. Then they talked me into being a referee. Finally, seeing that I could move around on the court without any pain, I decided to put on a jersey and play, but with the clear understanding that I would not be running and would just stand around and take open shots if they were presented.

That’s how it started, but I saw that if I ran in a straight line, without putting sideways pressure on my knee, it felt OK. After I hit a couple of shots it was hard to hold back.

I played a couple of games, then went back to my room to shower. I iced up the knee again, which was starting to feel sore, and mostly took it easy.

This morning when I tried to get out of bed, I couldn’t put any weight on that leg at all. I almost fell to the floor when I tried. I slowly limbered it up, took some ibuprofen, and after a while I was able to walk to breakfast.

It’s now Sunday evening, and it’s feeling better, but still weak and hurts if I put weight on it while it is bent. I still believe it is just a sprain, and expect to recover in a few days (if I can let it rest!). But if it doesn’t get continually better, I may need to get x-rays.

Basketball may be the death of me yet, but it’s also what is keeping me in shape. I have not found any safer alternatives that I can find the will to do regularly.

I’m still not sure I did the right thing buying the Acura, but I am sleeping at night again.

My plan is to keep it a year, and then see how I feel. They hold their value well, so I won’t lose too much selling it next year if that’s what my heart says to do. In the mean time, it is a lot of fun to drive.

Thanks to all the suggestions from you guys, I have also decided to keep my mini-van. Just yesterday I used it to take a whole sectional sofa to Derek’s house — all in one trip. It would have taken three trips in the Acura, if I would have even dared put it in there!

The Economist published a poll a couple of days ago that asked (among other things):

“Do you think that Muslims have a constitutional right to build a mosque … near the World Trade Center site?”

The question wasn’t “Is it wise?” or “Does it make you uncomfortable?”, or “Do you hate the idea, and hate Muslims?”. It was “Do they have a constitutional right?”

Barely 50% of Americans said “Yes”.

This makes me depressed about the future of freedom in this country, that 50% of the population doesn’t believe in full freedom of religion for everyone.

Yep, on that brand new Acura Crossover SUV.

Not that it isn’t a wonderful vehicle, but I keep looking at my old Odyssey and think about all the things I can’t do with the new one: Carry 7 people comfortably (it happens more than you might guess), throw dirty stuff in the back (would never do that with the new Acura), fit a 4’x8′ piece of plywood, or a washer and dryer both in the back, drive it home all sweaty from basketball, carry everything Devon owns home from Pasadena.

And I think about how much we will be spending to repair the house. The insurance covers most of the repairs, but we need to get a lot of new furniture — the old is getting ratty. And Gisele needs $10,000 worth of dental work (2 implants).

I’ve felt buyer’s remorse a little before, especially when we bought this house, but it was mild, and in my heart I knew we had done the right thing. This time my heart tells me differently.

Pondering my options.