I will post my experience of camping at the bottom of the Grand Canyon from February 16th for 2 nights and 3 days.
February 16 (1st day)
Start descending from the South Kaibab Trail around noon in a temperature of -1 ° C.
The members are four uncles in their thirties, forties, and fifties. One of them is Adam, our Japanese mountain guide, who is one of the licensed guides with less than 100 people in the Grand Canyon.
This time we stayed at the campsite at the bottom of the valley for 2 nights, so we carried tents, sleeping bags, water and clothes on our backs, but we were unfamiliar with luggage of around 12 kg, and Adam was fluffy for 3 days' worth of food. He was able to carry more than 30 kg of luggage such as tools.
About 10 cm of snow had accumulated on the trail over the weekend, and the condition continued to the top third. Slowly descend for about 45 minutes so as not to slip and arrive at Wool Point.
I went down the mountain for another 2 hours and arrived at Skeleton Point. At this point, the snow at my feet has disappeared, and when I look up, I can recognize that it has fallen considerably. At this point, it was a little less than half down to the campsite.
After another hour and a half, we arrived at The Tip Off. It is two-thirds down from the top. You can clearly hear the sound of the Colorado River at the bottom of the valley.
It was dark when I arrived at the Bright Angel campsite (near Phantom Ranch) in Goal after a little less than two hours of descent with my last power, and for the last 30 minutes I walked by relying on the light of a pitch-black flashlight. It was.
There is a flush toilet in the campsite, but for the past few days, I had to carry about 15 liters of river water into a bucket and flush it every time I excreted because I couldn't use the water due to the construction of the water pipe.
The long-awaited camping meal by setting up each tent in the dark!
Bonfires are banned in most national parks in the United States, so cooking can only be done in boiling water at this camp. Honestly, I didn't expect much of the instant foods sold in the US, but this camping meal was surprisingly delicious.
I toasted with beer and soaked in the sense of accomplishment of the day, and when I looked up, there was a starry sky that I had never seen before.
The walking distance on the first day is about 12 km and the height difference is about 1500 meters. I walked from the top to the bottom of the valley for about 7 hours including a break.
This is the end of the first day of the first backpacking IN Grand Canyon. (Continue)
On February 13th, we held a one-day sightseeing tour of the Grand Canyon.
That said, all participants are teddy bears.
A new project for new members of society who were supposed to come to the Grand Canyon on their graduation trip, and a teddy bear will take part in the tour on their behalf.
Customers will see the trip on ZOOM today (15th), and the teddy bears who went on the tour will be shipped to the customer with many souvenirs at a later date. Participants are also free to download snapshots of teddy bears at each spot.
Unfortunately, the weather in the Grand Canyon was snowy on this day.
Due to the snowstorm from the side, I could not see the scenery at all at the first Mather Point, but at the next Bright Angel, the clouds miraculously cleared and I could see the scenery to the bottom of the valley.
At Seligman (Route 66), the driving force behind the resurrection of Route 66 welcomed us and wrote a message card to all the participants.
It's usually in the middle of the graduation trip season.
I was supposed to guide a lot of young people to the Grand Canyon, but unfortunately that doesn't happen this year. However, if there are customers who are pleased with such a service, we will continue to do so.
Lastly, everyone who couldn't come to the Grand Canyon on their graduation trip
Please be sure to come visit us for revenge in the future! We'll be expecting you.
And congratulations on your graduation!
The other day, we held a tour to stay at Gouldings Lodge in Monument Valley.
Monument Valley is a popular tourist destination within the indigenous Navajo settlement.
Antelope Canyon, which has been a hot topic in recent years, is also a tourist destination in the same Navajo settlement, but since March of last year, both tourist destinations are still closed because the corona infection situation in the Navajo settlement has not improved.
The Gouldings Lodge used on this tour is one of the few popular hotels where you can see Monument Valley from your room as shown in the photo. However, on this day, only a few rooms were used other than the three rooms we used, and the store was closed. Two days before I stayed at Gouldings Lodge, the hotel contacted me saying, "I have almost no business, so I will close the restaurant to reduce costs."
Actually, there are few places to eat in Monument Valley other than the hotel, and there are many shops that are not open in Corona, so I was chilled by the meal information. You can order meals from the hotel kitchen in advance, so you can take out and eat in your room.
I had the same tour in November and December last year and used the Gouldings Lodge, but it wasn't like this time. Now that the number of tourists has decreased further, the hotel seems to be struggling to reduce costs.
Even in the tourist destinations we visit as well as Monument Valley, there are places like Sedona and the Grand Canyon that are surprisingly crowded and often used by hotels.
The photos I post are the sunrise over Monument Valley from my room and Gooseneck State Park and Mexican Hat Rock near Monument Valley.
It snowed in Las Vegas the other day.
It rained and turned into snow where the temperature had been low for the past few days.
Normally, when it snows in Las Vegas, I'm worried about snowfall along the way of the Grand Circle tour,
Sadly, this winter doesn't seem to matter.
Normally, from this season to March, it is crowded with young people visiting the United States on graduation trips.
I feel sorry for the current university students when I heard that not only will I not be able to go abroad on a once-in-a-lifetime graduation trip this year, but the coming-of-age ceremony and graduation ceremony will also be canceled.
Can you do something commemorative for students who can't come to America for their graduation trip? !!
Happy New Year !!
The beginning of 2021 is the first sunrise tour to see in the Grand Canyon.
The first sunrise of this year was blessed with good weather and I was able to see the best sunrise.
Despite the temperature minus 7 degrees Celsius, more than 100 people gathered at Mather Point in the Grand Canyon to see the sunrise.
In the average year, more than 100 Japanese tourists visit, but this year we only had 3 people with us on our tour.
I can see the best sunrise and I have a feeling that 2021 will be a good year.
A tour to the Grand Canyon was held today as well.
I immediately received a photo from the guide at the site, so I will post it.
It's sunny today, unlike yesterday's bad weather in the snow.
There is still snow.
It snowed in the Grand Canyon last night.
It gets colder later than usual this year, and it was barely snowing until last night.
From last weekend (Christmas) to the end of the year, there will be several tours.
I will post a photo of the snowy Grand Canyon from the guide who went to the Grand Canyon today. A lot of people visited the Grand Canyon in bad weather, and it seems that it took more than an hour to enter the national park.
Today is the last day of the four consecutive holidays.
The guide who returned from the two-day tour sent me a photo of Zion National Park and Horseshoe Bend that I visited on this tour, so I will post it.
As you can see, the weather was good and the customers were satisfied.
In the first place, the number of visitors to the tourist destinations of the Grand Circle decreases due to the cold in winter, but as the number of people infected with corona in the United States does not decrease easily, many states restrict movement, so even during consecutive holidays. Regardless, it felt quiet everywhere.
In a sense, it would be convenient to be under this corona because there aren't many people around.
America is currently in the middle of Thanksgiving holidays.
While no tourists from Japan can be expected yet, customers living in the United States took the tour during this consecutive holiday. One of them participated in a 3-day course to stay in Monument Valley.
I have received a photo of today's Monument Valley from a guide on site, so I will post it.
Monument Valley is still not available for sightseeing in the park. Although I couldn't take part in the popular jeep tour, I stayed at "Goulding's Lodge" where I could see the view of Monument Valley from my room, and the local weather was good and the guests were very satisfied.
On October 3rd, we brought a customer from VELTRA to the Grand Canyon!
I was so happy to participate in the tour from Japan that I almost cried (thanks).
As you know, Japan still has strict restrictions on returnees from overseas after returning to Japan, so I was really surprised because I thought that it would be a long time before customers could come to the United States, let alone overseas.
Thank you very much for coming all the way with the preparedness for corona inspection and voluntary quarantine after returning to Japan! !!
He was also pleased that he took measures against corona and organized the tour, and he said, "I recommend the tour to the people around me with confidence," which was a great encouragement.
I can't feel free to come yet, but I am waiting for you to be ready to guide you locally.
The photo shows Mercer Point and Seligman (Route 66) in the Grand Canyon National Park.
Antelope Canyon has been closed since March due to the influence of the new coronavirus, but it was announced that the lower canyon will be closed by the end of the year (until December 31st).
For more than a month, the tour operators have shown to the Navajo settlement government an operational plan for the Upper Canyon to reopen, but there is still no prospect of reopening.
The infection in the Navajo settlement has been recovered for a while, and preparations have been made for resumption, but it has been said that the infection situation has worsened recently.
In the United States, the news that President Trump has been infected is the same, but the fight against the coronavirus is still going on.
The photo is Horseshoe Bend taken during the tour that took place the other day. It is very close to Antelope Canyon. Many tourists were visiting.
The Bellagio Hotel Conservatory has been transformed into an autumn outfit.
The climate in Las Vegas is still sunny in midsummer, with temperatures above 35 ° C daily.
This year, the summer was hot and there was no rain at all, and there has been no rain for more than 160 consecutive days.
This may be the only place in Las Vegas where you can feel the fall.
