Back to the Canyon

Last night we spend the night all by ourselves at the bottom of the painted desert. We came across another couple but they didn't seem to pleased to see us so we didn't sit around and chat very long. But it was pretty surreal knowing we were the only four in the park after 730. And we were on complete opposite sides of the park.

We set up our campsite against a hill that overlooked a large grassy area. I have to say, if you start out on a hike and it kind of looks like it might go dark soon, don't do it. We ended out being out past dusk and lost our tent for about an hour. Not fun at all. And this morning we figured out that we came out of a wash right next to our campsite and took a right instead of a left! So frustrating.

Anyways, once we got back we hiked up the hill behind us (and left our lantern on so we wouldn't lose our tent again.) Now, when we got our permit we were told that there was not much petrified wood in the painted desert part. But when we got to the peak of the cliff it was solid petrified wood chips as far as you could see. It was pretty crazy. We went back this morning and some of the chucks were pretty big and pretty interesting. We also hiked through all the water holes in the hill this morning. They were huge!
The backpacking bag we took from Val's came in handy, but it sucked for Kevin going back up the hill. I felt bad that he had to carry it up. But we made it! Once we packed up the car we went into the Desert Painted Inn and chatted with the guy at the desk about the park. He was surprised we hadn't seen any animals. Apparently there is a ton of bobcats in the park as well as other wildlife. We just saw a really awesome lizard who had a purple head, green body, back legs like frogs legs, blue arms and yellow feet. He was pretty cool.

So now we are on the road and back to the Grand Canyon to spend our last night on vacation. Hopefully we will fit in a couple more hikes before we have to head home and start the unpacking process. Yipee.