Salimos del hotel dirección al Parque con la intención de encontrar un sitio en los camping para nuestra tienda de campaña. Probamos suerte en el principal, Mather, al sur del parque, pero no tuvimos suerte porque no les funcionaba internet por la tormenta que hubo por la noche y no sabían si había plazas... en fin... nos pareció bastante incompetente. Ya ves tú con lo fácil que es tener las cosas anotadas en un cuaderno o en algún panel, se me ocurren mil formas para saber si tu camping está completo o no. Pues nada con las mismas nos fuimos al centro de información para organizarnos un poco el día. La verdad que tampoco había muchas posibilidades porque el tiempo no era muy bueno. A la hora volvimos al camping obteniendo el mismo resultado, así que nos fuimos directos al otro que estaba en la otra punta, Desert view. Al final no fue tan malo que el camping principal estuviera "bloqueado" porque el Desert view era mucho más tranquilo y a nosotros nos pareció que tenía más encanto.
We left the hotel, headed straight for the Grand Canyon hoping to catch a spot at a campground to have our first camping experience. We went first to the main campground, Mather, near the South rim where most of the activity is. We were told that their phones were down, and that the reservation system was down, so they had no way of knowing if there were any available spots. All they could tell us was to come back later. This didn't make much sense, since last night they had plenty of open spots that we tried to reserve but the system wouldn't let us since it was less than 48 hours notice. Anyway, in the meantime, we decided to go to the visitor center to see if we could organize our day. Unfortunately, the weather seemed to be getting worse, so we didn't have many options. We headed back to the campground after about an hour or so, only to have the tell us the same exact thing as before. It was then than we just decided to go to the other campground, Desert view. This is a first come/ first serve campground, and we knew they had availability. The only problems was that it was about 25 miles away due east, but we ended up loving the campsite.
We left the hotel, headed straight for the Grand Canyon hoping to catch a spot at a campground to have our first camping experience. We went first to the main campground, Mather, near the South rim where most of the activity is. We were told that their phones were down, and that the reservation system was down, so they had no way of knowing if there were any available spots. All they could tell us was to come back later. This didn't make much sense, since last night they had plenty of open spots that we tried to reserve but the system wouldn't let us since it was less than 48 hours notice. Anyway, in the meantime, we decided to go to the visitor center to see if we could organize our day. Unfortunately, the weather seemed to be getting worse, so we didn't have many options. We headed back to the campground after about an hour or so, only to have the tell us the same exact thing as before. It was then than we just decided to go to the other campground, Desert view. This is a first come/ first serve campground, and we knew they had availability. The only problems was that it was about 25 miles away due east, but we ended up loving the campsite.
Después de elegir nuestro sitio y hacer la tienda de campaña, cosa que por cierto nos salió fenomenal para ser la segunda vez que la poníamos (la primera fue en el jardín de la casa de los padres de Martín), nos fuimos a ver el Parque.
After choosing our site, we parked the car and went about setting up the tent. It was raining a bit, and we actually managed to set everything up in record time considering it was only the second time (the first was a practice at my parent's place). Once we got things set up, we headed back to the rim.
Unfortunately, we weren't able to see much as the weather was still gloomy. It wasn't so much the rain that bothered us, but the low-lying clouds that blocked most of the views of the canyon.
Así que al final fue un día más de safari que de aventuras como lo teníamos planeado (hacer senderismo o ir en burro o verlo en helicoptero o rafting, etc.), vimos alces, ciervos, cuervos y ardillas. Nos faltó ver el león de montaña, a Martín le entusiasmaba la idea, aunque yo no tenía ninguna gana de verlo, qué miedo!
We ended up doing a lot of animal watching, between the elk, the deer, the crows, and the squirrels. Not quite the adventure sports we were hoping for, but still quite entertaining. Unfortunately we didn't catch a glimpse of a mountain lion, but I am not giving up hope for seeing one on our trip!
Al final del día, salió un poco el sol y pudimos sacar algunas fotos.
At the end of the day, the clouds started to fade away and we managed to snap some pictures of the canyon.
Y después de esta sesión de fotos nos fuimos al camping a dormir. Nuestra primera noche en la tienda iba bien hasta que fuimos a coger algo al coche y Martín notó algo en su pierna... un montón de hormigas subían por sus zapatillas!!! Así que estuvimos como media hora con nuestras linternas buscando de dónde venían y a dónde se dirigían para que el señorito Martín se quedara tranquilo ;-P Ni que decir que lo primero que comprueba Martín para elegir sitio en el camping es que no haya ningún hormiguero cerca.
After the sightseeing, we headed back to our tent to catch some rest. Our first night of camping went well, with the exception of one small detail. As we were looking for some stuff in the car in pitch black, I noticed something on my leg. I looked down with my flashlight to find not one, but dozens of ants climbing up my legs. Needless to say, I freaked out, throwing my shoes and socks on the ground. From now on I know to look for anthills before I decide to stand around in the sand....
After choosing our site, we parked the car and went about setting up the tent. It was raining a bit, and we actually managed to set everything up in record time considering it was only the second time (the first was a practice at my parent's place). Once we got things set up, we headed back to the rim.
La verdad es que no pudimos ver mucho porque tuvimos la mala suerte de que el tiempo no acompañaba; y lo peor no es que lloviera sino la niebla que cubría todos las vistas panorámicas.
Unfortunately, we weren't able to see much as the weather was still gloomy. It wasn't so much the rain that bothered us, but the low-lying clouds that blocked most of the views of the canyon.
 |
| Niebla impresionante... por lo que nos dijeron, nada común por allí, mala suerte Lots of fog. Apparently this is very uncommon for the park... |
We ended up doing a lot of animal watching, between the elk, the deer, the crows, and the squirrels. Not quite the adventure sports we were hoping for, but still quite entertaining. Unfortunately we didn't catch a glimpse of a mountain lion, but I am not giving up hope for seeing one on our trip!
Al final del día, salió un poco el sol y pudimos sacar algunas fotos.
At the end of the day, the clouds started to fade away and we managed to snap some pictures of the canyon.
 |
| Arco iris en el Gran cañón, cosa rara también de ver, así que nos compensó la niebla de la mañana Rainbow in the Grand Canyon. At least something good came out of the rain |
After the sightseeing, we headed back to our tent to catch some rest. Our first night of camping went well, with the exception of one small detail. As we were looking for some stuff in the car in pitch black, I noticed something on my leg. I looked down with my flashlight to find not one, but dozens of ants climbing up my legs. Needless to say, I freaked out, throwing my shoes and socks on the ground. From now on I know to look for anthills before I decide to stand around in the sand....
Hi again! some issues "algunos asuntos":
ReplyDelete1º Ciervos, ardillas... Queremos serpientes de cascabel.(ha)
2º No acabo de creerme la aparente facilidad en montar la tienda, queremos la verdad.(haha)
3º Mola el incidente con las hormigas, un éxito la ubicación de la tienda.(hahaha)
4º Con o sin niebla tengo la impresión que por aquí estamos todos muertos de envidia.(hahahaha)
hormigas, hormigas... si por lo menos hubieran sido arañas!!!
ReplyDeleteno os preocupeis, seguir atentos al blog, que pronto se veran arañas... la tienda, despues de tanto tiempo estamos hecho unos expertos. lo podriamos montar a oscuras y con lluvia (cosa que ya ha ocurrido). mas complicado que montar y desmontar, es hacer que todo entre en el coche al dia siguiente. cada mañana que salimos tenemos que hacer tetris para que entre todo!
ReplyDeleteAs I read these, I tend to notice the theme of "This would have been ideal, except that this happened." However, I will argue that logistics nightmares, insect infestations, bad weather, and not getting the one thing you wanted IS the American experience. Congratulations, Idoia! You did it!
ReplyDelete