October 5, 2009This morning we took the truck to a shop to get the axle oil leak fixed and to have a new DMI rod put on the tire. It was productive and a good feeling to know those things were fixed. It only took about one hour.
We then drove south to the North Rim only to find out the last road we needed to collect was still closed. It is difficult to pass time in the North Rim because there are not many trail. We ended up sitting in the lodge doing some work on our laptops and then eating lunch in the lodge, which turned out to be pretty good food. We then drove up to Cape Royal road at 1:00pm and the gate was finally OPEN!!!! We collected the route, took a short hike to an overlook and we finished around 3:00pm. We then had to drive to the South Rim which is only about 23 miles as the crow flies but since there are no direct roads through the canyon the drive took about 4 hours.
The area driving up to the North Rim looks a lot like Yellowstone, not something I really expected. Today we saw Bison in the field when we were leaving the park.
Also, the truck is officially dirty. These days clean is only a relative term but we've had such long days (another 80 hour week last week) and a lot to fix on the truck to keep it running that washing the truck just doesn't take priority. It is hard to be proud of the truck when other people ask what it is, not only because it is dirty but because it often isn't working. I attached a photo of the outside of the truck. The axle oil is all over the back tire and on the chassis behind the tire, there is gas that flowed down the side (for some crazy reason), there is dirt, dust and bug guts everywhere. What a sweet truck.
2 comments:
I'm glad you enjoyed Cape Royal, it seemed like the only worthwhile viewpoint in the entire North Rim. Did you have a chance to eat at the employee cafeteria (I'd pointed it out on one of the maps) ?
Also, the drive from NR to SR was my favorite part of the whole GRCA trip! I loved the big boulders, and driving right alongside the red rocks
Sorry, no cafe food for us. We ate lunch at the lodge and it was pretty good.
The drive over to the South Rim was OK but after a long day of collection all I could hear was a bed calling my name. Jeff had already been there since we drove right by a GLCA route. The boulders were cool though...
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