All I can say is it's a good thing that this was a rest day because I may have boycotted the day. I was hoping to sleep in but by 8, the sun was shining on my tent and was baking inside my own skin. I reluctantly got out of bed. I ate some breakfast then went up to the visitor's center to use the restroom and plug in my gadgets for a recharge. I stuck around there for a couple of hours sitting in the padded chairs and looking at their small selection of books. I also did my laundry in the bathroom sink. They had a sign on the door of the restroom saying that they didn't want you using the sinks for dishwashing or showering. No problem, I just filled up a water bottle and went into one of the stalls and gave myself the best sponge bath I could. A woman was in the stall next to me when I bumped my opened water bottle and it fell to the floor with a big splash. The woman gasped in surprise when the cool water hit her feet. I apologized and quickly picked up the bottle and wiped up what I could on my side. I was afraid she was going to tell on me so I finished quickly and went back to camp. At camp, I put a water bladder in the sun and let it heat up for a good hair washing which I needed. That felt really good and I think contributed to my feeling better.
I sat around until 4 talking (listening really) and eating until I felt normal again and had some energy. My real food was in Robert's car and he was gone for the day so since I had to wait for him to get back and I had some energy, I decided to tackle the 10 mile scenic loop. It takes you past three natural bridges and an Indian ruin. There's as much or as little hiking as you want.
View of Sipapu Bridge from the overlook (no hiking required).
I decided to do a portion of the hike to Sipapu to a lower overlook. Looks of neat rocks and a wooden, Indian looking ladder and a long metal stair case.
The next stop was to see Horse Collar Ruins. This one requires a short 20 minute hike to see the ruins on the far canyon wall. You do not get very close at all but they were still pretty neat to see.
The better of the two alcoves of ruins.
The next bridge, Kachina, is a lot harder to see. I didn't bother with this hike.
Then, one more stop at the Owachomo bridge. I took the hike to the bottom.
Then just a couple more miles to camp. When I got back, my food had arrived so I got busy cooking. Then chatted for a while before going to my tent where I read for a while.
3 comments:
Wow, that was a hard day for an easy one! We used to have an agency called Sipapu who did our conflict of interest cases, and I wondered what it meant. Everyone said, "It's just an Indian word, not an acronym or anything." (In other words, they had no idea about it.) Beautiful scenery! You are so brave!
I am glad you enjoyed your day of rest. I have to say... I am glad you enjoy biking these tours and pushing yourself to the limit. It sounds like torture to me :) but I am glad you can do something you love so much!
Beautiful! Glad you got to "rest". That blue sky looks gorgeous, but I'm sure when you are out riding all day, you'd love some clouds.
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