April 13th: Drive to Grand Canyon West
After checking out of our hotel in San Simeon at about 8:45am, we hopped in the car and headed to Arizona. It was a long, mostly uneventful drive, except somewhere along the way we drove past a huge field of oil drills. I'd never seen one before, but all of a sudden there were hundreds on either side of the road.
After checking out of our hotel in San Simeon at about 8:45am, we hopped in the car and headed to Arizona. It was a long, mostly uneventful drive, except somewhere along the way we drove past a huge field of oil drills. I'd never seen one before, but all of a sudden there were hundreds on either side of the road.
We stopped for gas and lunch in Bakersfield, CA around 11:30am. We ate at a Sonic Drive In, which was a treat. I'd seen the commercials for Sonic for years, but with none near where I've lived I'd never had the opportunity to eat at one before. I had the toaster club sandwich and my DH had the toaster hamburger, both in the combo meal for about $14 total (2008 prices). Then we drove through Starbucks and continued toward Arizona.
We entered the state and soon got on route 66 in Kingman. We drove about 50 miles on route 66 and finally arrived at the Hualapai Lodge in Peach Springs, AZ ("Grand Canyon West") around 6pm. Check in was...interesting. I had originally tried to make reservations for two nights at the lodge back in November, but was told that their "system wouldn't let them reserve two nights." Now I'd read all the negative reviews about the lodge on TA, and knew it wasn't going to be great, but since we were going on the Hualapai River Runners raft trip the next morning, we knew we needed to be close. But to have a computer system that doesn't allow someone to book two nights in a row is ridiculous! So I decided we would just stay the one night they could reserve us for, and move on after the raft trip.
But when we got to check into the lodge, they somehow had two different reservations for us. One in my name, since I'd made the reservation, and one in my husband's name, since we'd used his card for the reservation. So....they can reserve two rooms for one night, but not one room for two nights? Makes no sense, but whatever. They had only charged the card once, so it was ok, and after the lady spent about 10 minutes hitting her keyboard, it was sorted out. There was no Indian singing in the lobby as I'd seen mention on the review sites, but the people behind the counter really didn't seem to care to much about their jobs, they seemed a bit indifferent and like they were doing us a favor to check us in.
Anyway, we finally got our key to the room, which was facing the train tracks, but down the hallway to the left of the reception area, not down the hall that leads toward the train tracks. The room wasn't very big, and it had two quite small double beds instead of two queen beds like we'd been told. No way those were queen beds, but I think with queens the room would have felt a lot smaller. There was a no frills bathroom with a few usual toiletries, and there was no way to turn the fan off, except for having the lights in the bathroom off, which was kind of annoying. But basically it was a bare bones hotel, and you get what you pay for in the middle of nowhere, which was $99 a night (2008 prices).
We entered the state and soon got on route 66 in Kingman. We drove about 50 miles on route 66 and finally arrived at the Hualapai Lodge in Peach Springs, AZ ("Grand Canyon West") around 6pm. Check in was...interesting. I had originally tried to make reservations for two nights at the lodge back in November, but was told that their "system wouldn't let them reserve two nights." Now I'd read all the negative reviews about the lodge on TA, and knew it wasn't going to be great, but since we were going on the Hualapai River Runners raft trip the next morning, we knew we needed to be close. But to have a computer system that doesn't allow someone to book two nights in a row is ridiculous! So I decided we would just stay the one night they could reserve us for, and move on after the raft trip.
But when we got to check into the lodge, they somehow had two different reservations for us. One in my name, since I'd made the reservation, and one in my husband's name, since we'd used his card for the reservation. So....they can reserve two rooms for one night, but not one room for two nights? Makes no sense, but whatever. They had only charged the card once, so it was ok, and after the lady spent about 10 minutes hitting her keyboard, it was sorted out. There was no Indian singing in the lobby as I'd seen mention on the review sites, but the people behind the counter really didn't seem to care to much about their jobs, they seemed a bit indifferent and like they were doing us a favor to check us in.
Anyway, we finally got our key to the room, which was facing the train tracks, but down the hallway to the left of the reception area, not down the hall that leads toward the train tracks. The room wasn't very big, and it had two quite small double beds instead of two queen beds like we'd been told. No way those were queen beds, but I think with queens the room would have felt a lot smaller. There was a no frills bathroom with a few usual toiletries, and there was no way to turn the fan off, except for having the lights in the bathroom off, which was kind of annoying. But basically it was a bare bones hotel, and you get what you pay for in the middle of nowhere, which was $99 a night (2008 prices).
After unpacking the car, we went to eat dinner at the restaurant on site, which was about the only option in Peach Springs. The food actually wasn't to bad, I had the River Runner Sandwich and my DH had a club sandwich, and we got an order of the Hualapai fry bread to go for $23 before the tip (2008 prices). The sandwiches and fry bread were pretty good, but again the service wasn't to great. When we were waiting to be seated, the hostess was complaining to a waitress for a good 2-3 minutes while we waited to be seated, not very professional. And then the waitress just didn't seem to care. She took our order and brought the food, but didn't talk other than to ask us for our order, and seemed to shuffle dejectedly about the restaurant.
After paying the tab we went and checked out the pool and spa to see what they looked like. The pool looked pretty small and the sauna was packed, so we just went back to the room. That night we watched TV, for lack of anything better to do (this was the first time on the trip we'd even turned on the TV) and had a couple glasses of wine. We could hear quite a bit of noise coming from the rooms upstairs, I think there were little kids running around or something because there was a lot of banging. And we could hear noise from the pipes in the walls as well. Actually, the noise from the other guests was more annoying than the train noise. With the TV on we hardly heard the trains, but I think that is because we were in the hallway parallel to the nearby train tracks, not the one toward the back of the building.
I then went to take a shower before bed and that was an experience. The shower head was about as good as a pipe sticking out of the wall. It was like a hose, not a shower, and was LOUD. The pipes screamed in protest, probably because they shouldn't be running that much water though them. And the drain was very slow too. I usually trust most hotels to be reasonably clean, but just in case, and because of the lack of caring at the lodge, I wore flip flops in the shower, but by the time I couldn't stand the noise and water beating on me (10 mins max) the water was backed up over the tops of my feet.
That night we slept with the TV on and with our white noise machine we'd brought, and still could barely hear the trains. And they seemed to come only once an hour through the night, not every 20 mins like the other reviews had said, but maybe the schedule is different since we were there on a Sunday night. Actually, we heard the trains a lot louder from the restaurant at the other end of the lodge than from the room.
April 14th: Hualapai River Runners One Day Raft Trip
We woke up early on Monday morning so we could have time to pack the car, check out of the lodge, and check in for the River Runners trip, which is the only one day rafting trip in the Grand Canyon. Check in was by 7:30am, where we signed a waiver and they gave us our tickets to get on the bus. We then had a half hour to kill before the bus left at 8am, so we poked around the gift shop at the lodge and I bought a River Runner baseball cap to help keep the sun out of my face. I had planned to wear the cowboy hat I'd bought, but since I was going to also wear it on our mule ride two days later, I didn't want it to still be wet.
At about 8am they say we could board the bus, which was an old dusty yellow school bus. We knew not to expect a luxury shuttle bus from reading reviews, but some of the other people were a bit surprised at the run down looking transportation. They took our tickets and handed out plastic bracelets with bug spray stuff on them, and then cautioned us that they didn't expect it, but if the weather turned we wouldn't be able to be lifted out of the canyon by helicopter. Instead we would have to boat an extra two hours down the river to another pick up location, and then bus all the way back that much further. Luckily they were expecting the weather at the bottom of the canyon to be 91 degrees and not windy, so all was looking good.
We set off down Diamond Creek Road, which is the only road that actually goes down to the Colorado River in all of the canyon area. This was an adventure in itself, as I'd never been off-roading in a school bus before! The road was a really bumpy dirt road, and I wouldn't recommend anyone try going down it without an SUV, and maybe even 4 wheel drive, since we had to drive right through the creek several times. As we got about half way down (it's an hour down to the river) the bus stopped and out the window we saw a couple burros come out of the bushes! They are wild burros, but they know that they sometimes get treats from passing vehicles, so they knew to come out as we approached. The bus driver lady handed out pieces of tortillas for us to feed them out the windows, and there was even a little baby burro that was so cute. It looked like he was asking his mama permission to go get a tortilla, and then she held back and let him eat them all. There also was another darker burro on the other side of the bus, but he didn't seem to interested in the hand outs.
After paying the tab we went and checked out the pool and spa to see what they looked like. The pool looked pretty small and the sauna was packed, so we just went back to the room. That night we watched TV, for lack of anything better to do (this was the first time on the trip we'd even turned on the TV) and had a couple glasses of wine. We could hear quite a bit of noise coming from the rooms upstairs, I think there were little kids running around or something because there was a lot of banging. And we could hear noise from the pipes in the walls as well. Actually, the noise from the other guests was more annoying than the train noise. With the TV on we hardly heard the trains, but I think that is because we were in the hallway parallel to the nearby train tracks, not the one toward the back of the building.
I then went to take a shower before bed and that was an experience. The shower head was about as good as a pipe sticking out of the wall. It was like a hose, not a shower, and was LOUD. The pipes screamed in protest, probably because they shouldn't be running that much water though them. And the drain was very slow too. I usually trust most hotels to be reasonably clean, but just in case, and because of the lack of caring at the lodge, I wore flip flops in the shower, but by the time I couldn't stand the noise and water beating on me (10 mins max) the water was backed up over the tops of my feet.
That night we slept with the TV on and with our white noise machine we'd brought, and still could barely hear the trains. And they seemed to come only once an hour through the night, not every 20 mins like the other reviews had said, but maybe the schedule is different since we were there on a Sunday night. Actually, we heard the trains a lot louder from the restaurant at the other end of the lodge than from the room.
April 14th: Hualapai River Runners One Day Raft Trip
We woke up early on Monday morning so we could have time to pack the car, check out of the lodge, and check in for the River Runners trip, which is the only one day rafting trip in the Grand Canyon. Check in was by 7:30am, where we signed a waiver and they gave us our tickets to get on the bus. We then had a half hour to kill before the bus left at 8am, so we poked around the gift shop at the lodge and I bought a River Runner baseball cap to help keep the sun out of my face. I had planned to wear the cowboy hat I'd bought, but since I was going to also wear it on our mule ride two days later, I didn't want it to still be wet.
At about 8am they say we could board the bus, which was an old dusty yellow school bus. We knew not to expect a luxury shuttle bus from reading reviews, but some of the other people were a bit surprised at the run down looking transportation. They took our tickets and handed out plastic bracelets with bug spray stuff on them, and then cautioned us that they didn't expect it, but if the weather turned we wouldn't be able to be lifted out of the canyon by helicopter. Instead we would have to boat an extra two hours down the river to another pick up location, and then bus all the way back that much further. Luckily they were expecting the weather at the bottom of the canyon to be 91 degrees and not windy, so all was looking good.
We set off down Diamond Creek Road, which is the only road that actually goes down to the Colorado River in all of the canyon area. This was an adventure in itself, as I'd never been off-roading in a school bus before! The road was a really bumpy dirt road, and I wouldn't recommend anyone try going down it without an SUV, and maybe even 4 wheel drive, since we had to drive right through the creek several times. As we got about half way down (it's an hour down to the river) the bus stopped and out the window we saw a couple burros come out of the bushes! They are wild burros, but they know that they sometimes get treats from passing vehicles, so they knew to come out as we approached. The bus driver lady handed out pieces of tortillas for us to feed them out the windows, and there was even a little baby burro that was so cute. It looked like he was asking his mama permission to go get a tortilla, and then she held back and let him eat them all. There also was another darker burro on the other side of the bus, but he didn't seem to interested in the hand outs.
After feeding the burros we continued down the bumpy road and it started to get really rough. The bus driver lady really knew the roads though, and just kept speeding down, so fast we even got airborne in our seats a couple times!
We arrived down at the river a few minutes after 9am, were we got to use the porta potties and put our backpacks with towels and change of clothes in the boat's dry bag. Everyone on the boat shared one dry bag, so be sure to put your belongings in something to keep them separate. We also got little canisters to put things like sunscreen, sunglasses, etc in, which were easily accessible on the trip. Our River Runners then handed out life jackets and made sure they were snug and fitted on everyone, then we jumped on the boats.
We arrived down at the river a few minutes after 9am, were we got to use the porta potties and put our backpacks with towels and change of clothes in the boat's dry bag. Everyone on the boat shared one dry bag, so be sure to put your belongings in something to keep them separate. We also got little canisters to put things like sunscreen, sunglasses, etc in, which were easily accessible on the trip. Our River Runners then handed out life jackets and made sure they were snug and fitted on everyone, then we jumped on the boats.
(this is the "before" picture...we were so nice and dry at this point!)Three boats launched that day, one with 8 people, one with 6, and our boat with 6. We were with a nice family with two kids, about ages 10 and 12 from Connecticut. Our River Runner, Ray, instructed us what to do if we did fall out of the boat and let us know what to expect during the day, and then we were off and into the rapids.
The first few rapids weren't to bad, we got a little wet and got a feel for how to hold on to the boats. We stopped about 45 minutes in at a nice sandy beach for a short hike up to Travertine Falls, which was beautiful. We had to climb up ladders up the the falls, into a cavern in the canyon wall. We took some pictures and started to dry off, and then got back in the boats and continued on down the river.
The first few rapids weren't to bad, we got a little wet and got a feel for how to hold on to the boats. We stopped about 45 minutes in at a nice sandy beach for a short hike up to Travertine Falls, which was beautiful. We had to climb up ladders up the the falls, into a cavern in the canyon wall. We took some pictures and started to dry off, and then got back in the boats and continued on down the river.
After the stop at the falls we got to the bigger rapids. Now was the time I was very glad I'd bought that hat at the gift shop and wore waterproof mascara! We went through a couple big rapids where we got completely drenched. It was like a waterfall hitting you in the face. But I tell you, the Colorado River doesn't taste as bad as it looks! A little mineraly, but not that bad. After getting a mouthful of water and marinating my contacts in it as well, I learned to duck my head as we hit the rapids, and let the bill of the hat protect my face. I was also very grateful for the clear waterproof camera bag I'd bought online, it did a great job keeping my camera dry, and I got some decent shots through right as we were approaching rapids.
(getting wet now!)
The most scary part of the rafting trip was about the 3rd and 2nd rapids from where we stopped for lunch. Those were the biggest ones, and a few times I wasn't sure I'd be able to hold on, since we got airborne about three times! We were soaked though, and my hands were slippery on the metal grab bars, so I just leaned forward really far and hoped that if I slipped off I would at least land in the bottom of the boat and not fall over. The little 10 year old girl with us, and the parents for some of it, sat in the middle of the boat, closer to the back and didn't get as wet or have as hard of a time holding on. But the 12 year old son and my DH and I stayed up on the sides of the boat the whole time, and it was a wet blast!
We stopped for lunch about mid day on another nice sandy beach, and the River Runners handed out hoagie sandwiches, chips, carrot sticks, sodas and water bottles. I was wearing my swimsuit under my clothes, so I took off my T-shirt and tried to dry it on a rock, but since we were only there a half hour it didn't dry all the way. I also had to put my hair in pigtail braids, since I'd (stupidly) worn it down and it was so tangled and wet I couldn't do anything else with it, but still wanted to keep my ears covered from the sun. Ray got out the dry bag after lunch, and people could change behind the rocks into dry clothes if they wanted, but we decided we were comfortable air drying since it was so nice out.
We stopped for lunch about mid day on another nice sandy beach, and the River Runners handed out hoagie sandwiches, chips, carrot sticks, sodas and water bottles. I was wearing my swimsuit under my clothes, so I took off my T-shirt and tried to dry it on a rock, but since we were only there a half hour it didn't dry all the way. I also had to put my hair in pigtail braids, since I'd (stupidly) worn it down and it was so tangled and wet I couldn't do anything else with it, but still wanted to keep my ears covered from the sun. Ray got out the dry bag after lunch, and people could change behind the rocks into dry clothes if they wanted, but we decided we were comfortable air drying since it was so nice out.
Then we got back on the boats and it was smooth waters the rest of the way. Now was when we were able to enjoy looking up at the canyon walls, instead of gripping the boat for dear life. The cameras came out of the bags and our necks started to ache from looking up so much. Ray told us some neat stories about the different parts of the canyon, and even let us get so close to some really awesome smooth rocks that we could touch them from the boat!
Around 1:30 we stopped again at another beach for a break, and we walked up some steps to find a porta potty. After about 20 minutes or so we got back in the boats for the final leg of the river, and at about 3pm we arrived at the final landing spot. We tipped Ray for the great day, and then walked up the path to the helicopter pads. We gave our names to the Hualapai member waiting for us, and he summoned the helicopters. The first one came about 10 mins later and we got called to get on.
We then got a wonderful but short (10 mins) ride up to the rim, our first ride in a helicopter. It was really different than a plane, and we didn't really feel any force taking off, we just sort of magically floated up and away. It was a really unique way to see the canyon we'd just floated down, and then we went up a pretty side canyon to the airport. I was hoping we would be able to see the Skywalk sticking out somewhere, if not from the river than from the helicopter, but since we didn't it made me really think it's as far away as I've read, and not over the river at all.
After we got off the helicopter we went to a waiting van (thank goodness not the school bus again!) with the same crazy driver lady. She then proceeded to take us airborne at about 40 MPH down the dreaded 14 mile dirt road from Grand Canyon West, which I must say is not as bad as the reviews say. Yes, it's a dirt road, but it seemed pretty smooth and easy to travel, especially compared to the Diamond Creek Road we'd taken that morning. I think I would be ok taking my little sedan on that road, although at a much slower speed, but who knows, we may have just lucked out and traveled it after recently being graded.
We arrived back at the Hualapai Lodge at about 5 or so, and hopped in the car for the 12 mile drive down route 66 to the Grand Canyon Caverns Inn. This is an old school 50s style hotel, but it fit in just right with the route 66 look in that area. Check in there was easy, and with our AAA discount the room was only $91 for the night with tax (2008 prices).
The room itself wasn't that big, but because we had a king bed, it felt bigger than the Hualapai lodge room, and seemed cleaner too. The bathroom was really small, but it at least had a separate vanity and sink area, so my DH could shower while I got ready. After unpacking the car, we drove about a mile down the road behind the Inn to the Caverns Restaurant. This is also where the Caverns tours leave, and there was a gift shop there too. Since it was a Monday night, there was only one other table occupied when we arrived. My DH ordered a beer and I ordered a margarita on the rocks, and I must say, that was absolutely the strongest mixed drink I have ever had in a restaurant in my life. Pretty much felt like every sip was 3/4th tequila and 1/4th margarita mix. But I wasn't complaining after our long day on the river!
We ordered steaks that came with salad, baked potatoes and corn, and with our drinks it was about $40 (2008 prices). We then drove back down the road to the Inn and saw a lovely sunset over the desert, and went back to the room to play some cards and have another drink. My DH then discovered his favorite part about the Inn, there was a built in bottle opener on the side of the sink. We went to bed around 10 that night, tired from the long day.
We arrived back at the Hualapai Lodge at about 5 or so, and hopped in the car for the 12 mile drive down route 66 to the Grand Canyon Caverns Inn. This is an old school 50s style hotel, but it fit in just right with the route 66 look in that area. Check in there was easy, and with our AAA discount the room was only $91 for the night with tax (2008 prices).
The room itself wasn't that big, but because we had a king bed, it felt bigger than the Hualapai lodge room, and seemed cleaner too. The bathroom was really small, but it at least had a separate vanity and sink area, so my DH could shower while I got ready. After unpacking the car, we drove about a mile down the road behind the Inn to the Caverns Restaurant. This is also where the Caverns tours leave, and there was a gift shop there too. Since it was a Monday night, there was only one other table occupied when we arrived. My DH ordered a beer and I ordered a margarita on the rocks, and I must say, that was absolutely the strongest mixed drink I have ever had in a restaurant in my life. Pretty much felt like every sip was 3/4th tequila and 1/4th margarita mix. But I wasn't complaining after our long day on the river!
We ordered steaks that came with salad, baked potatoes and corn, and with our drinks it was about $40 (2008 prices). We then drove back down the road to the Inn and saw a lovely sunset over the desert, and went back to the room to play some cards and have another drink. My DH then discovered his favorite part about the Inn, there was a built in bottle opener on the side of the sink. We went to bed around 10 that night, tired from the long day.
To be continued with touring the Caverns, and then on to the South Rim for our overnight mule ride to the bottom of the Canyon!
3 comments:
Nice comprehensive review.
Wowww! You got some pretty awesome photos - I love the falls!
Pleasant publish! Saunas are great. I’m hooked! saunajournal.com
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