My family and I are going to the Philippines for seven months so I had to say goodbye to my bedroom in Belfast, Maine.
We are flying to Phoenix, Arizona to visit the southwestern states for two weeks before going to the Philippines.
The first day on our trip, we went to Belly of the Dragon trail.
In the afternoon, we drove to Zion National Park and drove around.
This is the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, where animals from guinea pigs to hawks live. Here at Best Friends, they have buildings for each animal species that speed out over six thousand acres. This gray cat is named Jasper and he loved my shoulders.
That afternoon, we visited one of my favorite national parks called Bryce Canyon. My favorite hike is here which is called Queen’s Garden. It’s about a three mile hike that lets you get close to the hoodoos. This hike helped us practice with our grippers because it was icy.
To start the afternoon of day four, we hiked down into the Wiregrass Canyon.
Driving out from the hike, we saw some sand dunes.
This Toadstool hike is my second favorite hike. You can get right up close to the toadstools and it make a perfect place for hide and seek.
To start the day, we visited Horseshoe Bend. We came here three years ago and the water level is much lower now.
Today, we got to visit the iconic East and West Mitten Buttes and other monuments such as the Three Sisters, Camel Butte, Elephant Butte and many more.
THE GIFT SHOP
Our hotel has a trading post and a gift shop inside, letting us see what is native to the Navajos
We met some old friends in Flagstaff, Arizona at a hotel and stayed the night with them.
Wednesday was just a driving day. We drove to the Grand Canyon and got ready for our three day hike in and out of the canyon. I got ready my candy stash too.
We started our 10 mile decent toward the bottom of the canyon at 8:00 am.
We were beginning to see the trail below us.
This was about the halfway point.
After 10 miles of hiking, we got to the Colorado river! We knew that our cabin was close.
All of our legs were sore after reaching the bottom, and all we could think about was rest.
The first day in the Grand Canyon, my dad and I hiked with a group to a waterfall called Ribbon Falls. It was six miles to the waterfall and six miles back.
Once we got to Ribbon Falls, it was already lunchtime so we got out our snacks and ate behind the waterfall.
Once we were done, we headed back to Phantom Ranch, averaging the speed of 4.5 miles an hour.
On the third day, (also Christmas Eve), we started our eight mile hike out of the Grand Canyon at 7:55 am. About thirty minutes later, we passed mules carrying stake down to the ranch.
“This is it,” is what I heard someone say to his parter on the trail. I was so encouraged that we were almost out but really, we had a couple of steep miles ahead of us. But finally, WE MADE IT OUT ALIVE!!! 30 MILES IN THREE DAYS!!!!