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Travel

Travel

[Trail Log #1] El Moro Canyon Loop

written by Megha
El Moro Canyon Loop

 

This Saturday we (my husband and me) went for a hike after a long time. The aim was to spend time together away from our laptops and work.

The trail I picked for that day was El Moro Canyon Loop Trail. I decided on this one because according to the AllTrails app it was moderate and around 4 miles. Since we were going after a long time I didn’t want to pick a hard or a longer one. 

 

The Trail

We packed our breakfast, water, sun glasses, sun screen and beach gear into our car and drove to the parking lot. The El Moro Canyon Loop Trail is around 10 miles from our home. We reached there around 7:00 A.M., purchased our parking ticket. Since it was early morning, we got parking easily and near the trail head. After parking the car, we began the hike. 

The weather was good. A light breeze and little sunlight. But by the time we completed around 1/4 of the trail, the sun was up and it became hot. We started sweating while going uphill. It was good that we packed a good amount of water and our sunglasses, otherwise, the heat would have been unbearable.

 

El Moro Canyon Loop (1)

 

The trail itself is nice and clean. It goes uphill and downhill at a lot of places giving a great workout. There were some wild flowers at some places. We even saw a lot of rabbits. 

The ocean view from Moro Ridge is beautiful. The Moro ridge itself was steep.It was a bit tough for me while hiking down at the Morro ridge being a new hiker. But it was so much fun and totally worth it. 

The trail ends at the beach. So we went to the beach to relax after the hike. By now we were ravenous and ready to have our breakfast of watermelon slices and peanut butter sandwich. 

Our adventure for that day ended with some relaxing time sitting at the beach watching waves and people. 

 

#RandomReflections

 

Sometimes it is not feasible to go for big trips and vacations. Then it’s better to explore local beaches and parks when you want to unwind and relax. This hike was just that. A break from work and routine. Plus, to spend some time with each other. 

There were instances when we were just walking silently side by side. During those times some random thoughts were popping into my head. Walking in open, in a cool breeze and sunlight, with flies buzzing and rabbits jumping in the paths is much more pleasant and refreshing than walking on the treadmill. How many times have I ever stopped to look at a flower? Very less. It’s been more than a year since we last went on a hike. I was thinking we should take out time and do more of these hikes.

 

What do you do when you want a break from your work or when you want to spend time with family? 

July 31, 2017 0 comment
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Travel

Horseshoe Bend | Antelope Canyon

written by Megha

This is the last post on our trip to Grand Canyon and surrounding areas. You can visit the previous posts on Day 1 and Day 2 respectively to view our itinerary of Grand Canyon South Rim.

The day started with a quick breakfast including pancakes, toasts, fruits, coffee, and muffins, at our hotel in Williams, Arizona. We commenced our road trip to Antelope Canyon early in morning around 7:00 A.M. The whole trip took around 2 hrs 30 minutes. It includes long empty stretches with no gas stations.

Tip: The whole route is in a desert area with high temperatures even in morning. Make sure you have plenty of water in your car and ample sunscreen for the day.

Antelope Canyons are slot canyons formed due to an erosion of sandstone by flash flooding. Even now in rains, these canyons become flooded and inaccessible. There is an Upper Antelope Canyon and Lower Antelope Canyon, both equally beautiful. Due to a time crunch, we decided to do the upper one.

The entry into Antelope Canyons is restricted only with guides. We singled out Antelope Canyon Navajo Tours for our visit. There are other tours also available which you can check online on trip advisor or google.

The Tours parking lot is located a few minutes away from highway 98. You pay entry fees of around 8$ and park in the spaces provided. Then there is one room tour office surrounded with a sheltered area, where the tour representatives are present. Here you need to register your party and pay the tour fees.

Tip: Keep hold of your entry slip, else you would have to pay again. Also, this slip holds if you plan to visit lower antelope canyon too.

We parked here and paid 40$ each for both of us for a guided sightseeing tour. They also have a photographer tour which costs 120$. Our group had the timing of 1:00 P.M. It was only 10:30 A.M. So we decided to visit Horseshoe Bend in our spare time.

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Horseshoe Bend

Horseshoe bend is located just off the highway 89, outside of Page, Arizona. It is on your way to Antelope Canyon if you are coming from Williams.

Surprisingly, there are no big markings to identify it’s entry point.

If you don’t pay attention, you might miss the small board directing to the exit towards Horseshoe Bend. The exit is a small dirt road leading toward the parking lot.

Tip: Park the vehicle in the parking area and not on the roadside.

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Start of the hike

The 1.5 miles, the mostly sandy trail starts from here. The temperature that day was hot and it was very windy. Because of the sand and the unbearable heat, the trail becomes a bit trying at times.You would start feeling dehydrated very soon.

Tip: Make sure you have applied sunscreen and have ample amount of water.

The view of the 270-degree turn off Colorado river formed naturally over thousands of years is absolutely mesmerizing and beautiful. There are a lot of spots to get good photographs. Although you will have to wait for your chance as the view remains packed with visitors almost at all times.

Tip: Watching sunrise or sunset here is recommended if you have the time. At both times, the view is breathtakingly beautiful.

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We spent around an hour here and then started back towards Navajo Tour parking lot. At around 12:30 P.M., we were loaded in the vehicle with our group of 10 along with our guide. They drove us to the entrance 3.5 miles away. The ride itself is bumpy, exhilarating and enjoyable. I had to put a scarf over my face because of the dust flying around.

They say the best time is between 11 AM and 1 PM. Although we were late, we experienced some great views.

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Our guide was very cheerful and informative. She pointed the best locations to take pictures. Even helped each of us in our group in taking the best photographs.

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There were only a few locations left where we were able to see the enigmatic rays reaching through the gaps and lightening up the sandstone into layers and colors.

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Can you see the heart?

The passage became too narrow at some places that only one person would be able to pass at a time. Even with the crowd, it is worth coming to this place.

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It felt the tour duration of 1 hour was inadequate. Nonetheless, it was an hour well spent. After this, we were transported back to parking lot. From here, we started back towards Las Vegas to enjoy the last leg of our journey.

This marks the end of this beautiful and engaging trip to Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyon.

Hope you enjoyed. Share your experiences of visiting Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyon in the comments section below.

Brilliant blog posts on HonestMum.com

October 26, 2016 2 comments
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Travel

Sunrise at Mather Point | Hiking Bright Angel Trail | Desert View Drive and More

written by Megha

Continuing from where I left on Day 1: Grand Canyon | Hermits Rest | Pizza at Yavapai Lodge and More

The most entertaining, exciting and exhausting day of our trip has begun.

We started for Grand Canyon south rim at around 5:30 A.M. It was still dark. But you could see dawn break far in the sky indicating the sun would be rising soon.

By the time we reached the rim’s parking area, the sun had begun its ascent. Mather Point was closest to us, located a few minutes away from the visitor center.

We started for the point but had to stop it. The point was crowded with people, so we chose a spot and stayed there until full sunrise.

Sunrise

 

Slowly and steadily the canyons shrouded in the darkness came to life on meeting the rays of the rising sun.

This view was both stunning and awe-inspiring. The sereneness and tranquility experienced watching the sunrise were unequivocally most beautiful part of that day. It was quite even with the crowd there. There was silence, everyone was just relaxing and drinking in the calmness of the surrounding and of the rising sun.

After capturing the sunrise, we started our sojourn along the ridge towards Mather Point and Yavapai Point.

 

Mather Point

 

Grand Canyon Map

 

We sat here for few minutes and charted out our next course of action. Soon after, we returned to a visitor center. Here, the blue shuttle towards Bright Angel Restaurant awaited us.

Tip: There is a museum at Yavapai Point with great views of canyons, a bookstore, and some exhibits. It is worth a stop if you have some time.

We grabbed some coffee and sandwiches for breakfast at Bright Angel Restaurant. Also, loaded our backpacks with few sandwiches, chocolates and water as fuel for the upcoming hike. Yeah, Water. Mandatory companion for this hike, or any hike for that matter.

Next step was armoring ourselves with the map of trail available at the lodge’s shop. And then, we were all set to climb down our first mountain.

The Bright Angel Trailhead (starting point) is just behind the lodge.

This trail goes all the way down to Colorado River, but it takes 8 to 12 hours to reach there. So people usually go down in the evenings, camp in the night and come back up next morning.

It’s not recommended to go all the way down and come back up the same day.

 Tip: Try to incorporate at least one trail or a part of it in your itinerary whenever you visit Grand Canyon. Trust me you won’t regret it.

 

Bright Angel Trail Map

 

Our destination was Mile-and-a-half Resthouse on this trail. It was supposed to take 1.5 hours to reach that point itself and almost 3 hours to come back.

We thought it wouldn’t be that difficult, and were soon proven wrong. It was very hot that day, and the hike was too steep. Nonetheless, we kept moving targeting the destination in mind.

It was worth doing this trail. We got to see the canyon walls from up close. When you looked back up, you can actually visualize the enormity of these canyons.

 

View from Bright Angel Trail Head, We will reach near the small peak visible here.

 

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Steep path is strewn with stones in some areas

 

First Tunnel

 

I was slowing us down. Hiking was new to me and the steep parts were very difficult to cover. I kept on stopping after few minutes to rest and sip water. As a result, I ran out of water very soon.

My husband kept on motivating me, saying, “The milestone is just around the corner, only five minutes away. We will have water there. Keep moving. I know you can do it.” His cheerful demeanor and confidence encouraged me to keep on progressing.

Finally, after an hour and 45 minutes, we reached the 1.5 milestones. Here we took some photographs, filled our bottles, had sandwiches and rested for around half an hour.

 

View of top from 1.5 Milestone

 

This small peak was close to us now.

 

The return journey was tougher. It took us more than three hours to complete it. By the time we reached back, we both were starving.

We managed to obtain a table quickly at Bright Angel Restaurant, which was brimming with patrons at that time. Our server was quite chatty. Our preference was a vegetarian meal without any sort of meat. He was quick to point out our options.

 

Bright Angel Restaurant

 

We ended up ordering Guacamole Monterrey served with Tortilla Chips, Bright Angel Veggie Quesadillas, and Ice Tea. The tortillas arrived first followed by quesadillas.

Guacamole dip was luscious and savory. I had quesadillas for the very first time and instantly fell in love with them. The taste of veggies and cheese together was a double delight for my grumbling stomach.

 

Guacamole Monterrey served with Tortilla Chips

 

Bright Angel Veggie Quesadillas

Satiated and full of new found energy we conquered the remaining vista points around Bright Angel Lodge including the El Tovar Hotel.

While returning we treated ourselves with ice-cream from Bright Angel Fountain. It is a small cafe which always has a big line in front of it during the summer days. You get big enough scoops in your ice-cream.

The oreo cookie and chocolate chip ice-cream was not only scrumptious but also provided temporary relief from the scorching weather.

Then we took the shuttle to Visitor Center to our car. It was past 3:00 P.M. We had little time left and a choice between Yaki Point and Desert View Drive. We chose Desert View Drive.

This 25 miles drive is a scenic route culminating in The Lighthouse. You get to see tall trees, wildlife (if you are lucky) and a lot of beautiful vista points along the canyon ridge.

The Lighthouse has the most breathtaking views of the canyons and beyond. Also, the river is closest here. And you can see it clearly.

Tip: The Lighthouse Cafe has the most delicious Navajo Tacos. We were short on time and stuffed, so didn’t try them. However, It’s worth a try.

 

The LightHouse

We rested here and took some photographs. Then came back towards visitor center. We then visited the Village, the Grand Canyon Railway Station, and Shrine of Ages.

Then searched our way back to the Grand Canyon Rim Trail. Here we sat on the benches and again watched the sun go down peacefully. We decided to have dinner early and retire to our hotel to rest.

This time we chose Arizona Room for our dinner. Our dinner was Navajo Tepary Bean Dip – Blue Corn Tortilla Chips & Garnished with Pine Nuts and Agave Citrus Marinated Chicken.

 

 

 

Agave Citrus Marinated Chicken

That’s it, we went back to the hotel to charge our batteries for the upcoming day….

October 13, 2016 0 comment
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Travel

Grand Canyon | Hermits Rest | Pizza at Yavapai Lodge and More…

written by Megha

Its been a year since we made this trip to Grand Canyon. While browsing through photos, I decided to give shape to this beautiful memory by writing about it.

It was a three day trip. Two days of Grand Canyon, One day at Antelope Canyon and horse shoe bend and the last one, sight seeing in Vegas.  Today I am sharing fond moments from the day 1.

We flew to Las Vegas, rented a car, and drove to our hotel in Williams, Arizona. The distance was approximately 240 miles and took us around 4 hrs to reach.

Initially, we planned to stay inside Grand Canyon. However, all the hotels inside & outside of main attraction were reserved to full capacity. The nearest hotel we were getting was in Williams, Arizona. It was 60 miles from the Grand Canyon South Rim Entrance. We booked it without further delay.

A Tip : If you plan to stay in Grand Canyon, book it at least 3-4 months in advance.

 

Our Hotel

 

We checked in our hotel and rested for an hour and had lunch. It was two in the afternoon by now. We were a bit late than what we planned.

Tip : If you have decided to go to Grand Canyon South Rim from Las Vegas, do take in to account an extra hour or two above the estimate google map shows you.

The drive from here to Grand Canyon Entrance had less traffic. The route was mostly single lane and scenic.

The only signs of traffic would be noticed when you reach Tuscan Village and from there to the entrance of the National Park. After taking our parking permit from the entrance, we followed the signs to Visitor Center.

Tip : The parking permit is of 30$ per vehicle and valid for seven days. So keep hold of it if you are planning to come back again next day and days after that.

Here, we parked our car in the parking lot. Then we went inside to get our maps and some information. People in visitor center were very helpful.

Tip : There are free shuttles inside Grand Canyon, so just park your car in any of the parking lots and use these shuttles to wander around whole of south rim.

 

Routes of Shuttles

 

Transfer from Blue to Red Shuttle at Bright Angel Lodge

 

We conferred upon going all the way to Hermit’s Rest and then coming back to Mohave Point to watch the sunset.

Tip : The shuttles take a lot of time to reach your desired destination because of the stops involved. If you are late then just visit the Mohave point and Hopi Point. If you have a lot of time then go all the way to Hermits Rest, and while coming back visit all the points along the way.

 

View From Bright Angel Lodge

 

We took the blue shuttle and reached Bright Angel Lodge. From here, we had to switch to red shuttle which would take us to Hermits Rest.

The huge line at the bus for Red Shuttle settled that we should visit the ridge here at the lodge. We went in, bought some snacks and started view points present here.

After a lot of wait, we caught one of the shuttles, and reached Hermit’s Rest, sight seeing other points on the way.

 

 

Hermits Rest

 

The view at Hermit’s rest was stunning. There was this stone arch with a rustic bell hanging. The sun rays were getting scattered on the arch making the scene photogenic and beautiful.

The view of canyon from the ridge was equally breathtaking. The changing color of rocks from top to bottom and tiny flowing river visible at the bottom were all miraculous to your eyes.

We started walking on the trail alongside the ridge to Pima Point and waited for sun set.It seemed that sun went all the way down under the canyon from far.

 

 

Pima Point

 

View of Canyons at sunset from Pima Point

 

Sunset

 

We sat here watching the sunset and the color of the canyons fade into blackness. The temperature dropped and it became chilly.We were not dressed right for the night and hence started shivering.

The last shuttle took us to Bright Angel Lodge where again we changed to blue shuttle towards Visitor Center.

Grand Canyon has a single road which goes on to Williams. Due to an accident on this route, this main lifeline of the park was packed with cars. This unexpected jam on our way back, again altered our plan.

We got down at Yavapai Lodge and decided to have dinner as we didn’t know how much time we will be stuck here.

The restaurant was quite big and had a lot of choices. We didn’t deliberate a lot on the menu. And quickly ordered a pizza, coffee for me and coke for him. The pizza was gone in just a few minutes as we both were famished.

 

Our Pizza

With our bellies full, yet again we ventured into the chilly night for another adventure. As there  was no shuttle in sight, we started walking towards the parking lot.

There were no lights here, a possibility of encountering wild life, the temperature was too cold and to top it we didn’t even knew we were going in the right direction!

There sure was a plus side, the quite, the stars and both of us singing along the way. It was the best night we had had in that year.

Ultimately we did find the Visitor Center, then the Parking lot and finally our Car.

All’s well that ends well. The first day had ended with lots of small delightful adventures. And now we couldn’t wait to come again to cover the remaining part of South Rim.

We drove into the night, on a road with no lights, back to our hotel. Here without wasting any more time, we closed our eyes and went to sleep…..

October 5, 2016 1 comment
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