Playing tourist and heading out of the park

Our last look out the picture windows over the Grand Canyon.

The canyon is pretty in the morning.

We pack up, took our packs to the truck and checked out. There was a small café with coffee and pastries right there. We started our drive to Backcountry Office where we could ask for a hiker credit for the 2 nights we didn't stay at Cottonwood campground.  The Ranger was great and submitted a request for the credits.

A list of statistics of the fatalities in the canyon posted.  If we had seen this before the hike, would it deterred us?  Nope.

Now to explore the Eastern side of the Grand Canyon. We had not been to that portion of the park before. ​

There are several impressive overlooks and we stop at many of them to take pictures.

Grand View Point was impressive and a possible starting point for a future multi-day hike.

Our final stop is Desert View Watchtower which is another Mary Coulter structure.   It is styled as if it were used by the native people who lived in the area of the canyon but in reality it is only a tribute to those cultures.  The tower was built in 1932 to look as if it were much much older and even has “repairs” as part of the original design. It stands at 70 feet tall and a 30-foot base. The tower has a concrete foundation and a steel framework which are hidden in the stones both inside and outside of the tower.  On the interior there are drawings to represent each of the tribes that have lived in or around the canyon.  They were copied from known prehistoric designs.

The views of the canyon were our last this trip but still very impressive.

Some statistics of the canyon:
The canyon is 277 miles long and 2,600 square miles or slightly large than Delaware.
An average of 10 miles across and about 1 mile deep.
The Colorado river averages 300 feet across.
In 2022 the park received 4.7 million visitors. 
Of those 240 people, staying 2 nights at the Phantom Ranch which makes us part of a VERY exclusive group.

There is a café here and they have Ice Cream!  Finally!

Finally at noon, we head towards Winslow AZ for fuel and late lunch/early dinner at our favorite resturant Relic Road Brewing.  They have fantastic sandwiches and Shawna likes the beer.  ​

The hike has been amazing, exhausting, challenging, beautiful,…  It is hard to believe just yesterday we were deep in the canyon.

We are both looking forward to getting back to our little house on wheels.

Things we learned:
Pack less snacks
Bring muscle rubs for pain
Magnesium oil for leg cramps
Lysine is necessary
Melatonin needed
Need open-toed camp shoes
Should carry 15% of body weight instead of 20%
Mountain House meals we liked:
Spaghetti dinner
Chili beans and Mac
Biscuits and gravy
Chicken teriyaki