We woke up lazy. I considered Dan and I could take our time getting out of bed since Vanessa was always on for a sleep in. I was astounded to find that she was already wide awake when I opened the Astro’s side door. She didn’t even have her face bra on, she was raring to go! This was a different Vanessa from the one that had visited back in November. It wasn’t late, so we had plenty of time to get a fire going for breakfast. V coined Dan “The Gourmet Dirtbag” as he prepared his breakfast special on the grille over the fire made from pallet wood, while simultaneously boiling water in his old school kettle for coffee. I had a hot chocolate appetizer and took over the cooking of breakfast while Dan went off to find a bathroom. Thankfully, I didn’t disappoint. Eventually, we all had egg, bacon, potato and cheese goodness on our plates and my companions both had hot coffees. Not a bad way to start the day!
Dan had to do a quick pack up to get to work on time and wished us a happy weekend away together. We left camp not long after, heading north for The Grand Canyon, which was number one on V’s wishlist. She enjoyed the scenery I’d seen so many times before as we took the highway through Sedona. It was near lunch time by the time we hit my favourite place in Arizona and V was on for a coffee so we found a choice carpark then crossed the tourist-busy road to the Canyon Breeze Café where we both had ice cream for lunch. We enjoyed our cones out on the patio in front of the red cliffs. Unfortunately V had a minor work emergency she had to deal with, but besides that, we just relaxed and enjoyed the creamy goodness. Work crisis over, V got her coffee and we continued on.
V enjoyed the road through the canyons of Sedona and I still wasn’t sick of the drive, even after having done it half a dozen times. We didn’t really stop after Sedona, the drive went really quickly and we were at the Grand Canyon before we knew it. We had a few options, but after some discussion, V decided she’d be happy to see my secret spot where we could hang out, have an early dinner and watch sunset. The amount of traffic going into the park was disgusting and the campgrounds were predictably all full. We drove straight through the park, past all the madness and I was impressed at Vanessa’s self control to look at her lap while we drove past the first glimpses of the canyon. She wanted her first look to be isolated and on foot, not from the window of a car. I didn’t have much trouble finding my secret spot where I’d enjoyed sunrise over a year ago. There were only a few cars in the parking area and we saw three hikers come out of the path as we started, so I was hopeful we’d have the place to ourselves.
I packed a bag of cooking gear to accommodate for appetizers, dinner and desert, we donned our warm clothes, then we were off. We struggled a little along the muddy fire road, switching from the road to the forest to avoid sinking into the earth. Last time I’d been here, I was knee deep in snow. It was only about a mile before we came upon the massive hole in the ground. Vanessa immediately lost her shit before transforming into zen mode.
We hung out for a bit before we kept heading around to the point. We passed through the picnic tables and BBQ grills intended for use by wedding parties and out into the canyon. The view just kept getting better and better. The canyon was full of colour with its red rocks and green plateaus. There were only a few patches of snow around so it was one colour away from being Christmas. At the secret spot, there were a few people already but they didn’t hang around long. As soon as we got settled, I set up the cooker to get dinner going while V cut up some cheese to have with our biccies. We were both starving having not really eaten since our gourmet dirtbag breakfast so were pretty well famished.
We kept taking in the scene before us, looking every which way around the big hole in the ground, having at least a 270 degree view. Our neighbours left so we had the place to ourselves for a minute before another family arrived. We took photos for each other but they too didn’t hang around long. Our dinner of turkey and pea pasta in a white pesto sauce (left overs) went down super well, especially since it was nice and hot.
When the family left and we were isolated again, I took my opportunity. I’d warned Vanessa that I wanted a naked photo at the canyon and she kindly obliged to be photographer as I took my clothes off and posed out on the point in various different ways. Constantly looking back over her shoulder as look out, she didn’t need to since we were completely alone in the Grand Canyon. Wow.
Playtime over, I put my clothes back on and relished the warmth. We hung around for the next hour or so taking photos and mucking around with Kooo-eeee’s that created an astounding echo off the canyon walls. When we weren’t doing that, we just sat back and enjoyed the silence and isolation in one of the most visited places in the world. Just a few hundred meters away, there were hundreds of tourists on the south rim with their selfie sticks but we hadn’t seen any of them. This is truly the best way to enjoy the canyon.
We stayed until sunset, sharing our post with only one other guy, a very quiet, awkward photographer. Both Vanessa and him clicked away with their shutters, the only noise that could be heard. Once the sun went down, the canyon’s colours were in a beautiful light. Still awed by what we’d just experienced, we slowly trekked away from our spot, finding it hard to keep ourselves from stopping for more photos. Finally, the Grand Canyon was behind us and we walked out of the forest in the dim light. It was pretty much dark by the time we got back to the car and we were both well and truly ready for camp and an early night.
The first freecampsites.net spot we tried was down a dirt road which was too muddy for my liking so I turned around and went for the next one. Vanessa fell asleep somewhere around here so I was a lone hunter. The second spot didn’t materialize so I was feeling disheartened when I turned into Lipan Point on impulse. I knew it wouldn’t be a legal camp, but you never know what you might find! I found the jackpot. This lookout point was obviously a trailhead because there were plenty of cars parked, which means we would blend right in! Vanessa was happy, I was happy. It would be her first incognito camp.
We used the bush bathroom, brushed our teeth and got into bed. Vanessa was straight asleep after looking up at the stars and I soon followed her after doing a bit of writing.
