{"id":2492,"date":"2017-11-27T20:45:20","date_gmt":"2017-11-27T20:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/?p=2492"},"modified":"2017-12-04T23:18:57","modified_gmt":"2017-12-04T23:18:57","slug":"the-big-ditch-day-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/2017\/11\/27\/the-big-ditch-day-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Big Ditch: Day 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We awoke on day 2 with clear skies, warm temperatures and achy muscles.\u00a0 All the stoves were fired up to get some coffee going and some breakfast so we could get outta camp and explore.\u00a0 But we were all having such a good time just hanging out in our little back yard that we didn&#8217;t do much exploring till later in the morning.\u00a0 Our first expedition was about 30 feet away at the canteen where we ordered more coffee, played a game of <em>No Thanks<\/em> (Joe picked up a hat trick with his win on this game) and sent off some postcards.\u00a0 We finally got up enough oomph to head out of camp on a little walk (we decided there would be no <em>hiking<\/em> today, just <em>walks<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Coffee talk\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/136797225@N05\/38783912622\/in\/album-72157690478109955\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4580\/38783912622_d0a3fea97f.jpg\" alt=\"Coffee talk\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Our first walk was on up the canyon to the Phantom Canyon Overlook.\u00a0 We didn&#8217;t actually go to the proper overlook but turned around once we were able to overlook the ranch.\u00a0 Then we continued up the canyon along the North Kaibab trail in search of The Phantom. A lady we saw the previous day told us about this spot just past the confluence of 2 creeks where if you look back down the canyon you can see The Phantom.\u00a0 I was having a ton of fun trying to capture on film all the little nooks and crannies and vistas and creeks and plants and artifacts we encountered along the trail.\u00a0 We did find the confluence but we were unable to find anything that could be construed as The Phantom.\u00a0 We headed back empty handed but did eventually see a figure on a rock face further down that looked like a sort of phantom head&#8230;so we considered that the phantom.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Phantom?\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/136797225@N05\/23950080037\/in\/album-72157690478109955\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4524\/23950080037_bae408506f.jpg\" alt=\"Phantom?\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" \/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Back at the ranch we had a light lunch and some drinks at the canteen before heading out for another walk down by the Colorado River.\u00a0 Todd stayed back at the ranch to do some reading while the other 4 of use made a loop down at the river crossing the two different bridges they have there.\u00a0 We first crossed the Silver Bridge to get to the south side of the river.\u00a0 This bridge has a steel grate floor which allows you to see the rushing water below you.\u00a0 Apparently the mules will not take this bridge and instead have to go up river a ways to cross on the wooden floored Black Bridge.\u00a0 We followed the trail along the south side of the river and connected back up with the bottom of the South Kaibab trail that we had hiked down the day before.\u00a0 Through the tunnel and across Black Bridge we went but this time we took some time to enjoy the beach along the banks of the river.\u00a0 It is a really nice sandy beach along a portion of the river where the water moves seemingly very slow.\u00a0 The sun was getting low in the sky which gave a very different look to the canyon than it had just an hour earlier when we started our hike&#8230;..I mean walk.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Relaxing on the beach\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/136797225@N05\/38783914212\/in\/album-72157690478109955\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4519\/38783914212_329c8a05a0.jpg\" alt=\"Relaxing on the beach\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" \/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>We had dinner reservations at the canteen at 6:30 so we hustled back to the cabin and then to the shower house to take hot showers before our feast.\u00a0 It was a great shower house complete with towels and a nifty little sand timer to keep your shower reasonably short.\u00a0 At first I thought, &#8220;wow, I need to get these at my house so the boys know when their shower is too long.&#8221;\u00a0 However, despite the amount of filth that had collected on my body from 2 days of sweating and hiking in the desert I was clean and ready to get out of the shower long before the sand ran out of the timer. Perhaps they come in shorter durations?<\/p>\n<p>All cleaned up we headed over to the canteen for our stew dinner served by Eddie who was celebrating his birthday (a passing staff member mentioned it to the gathered dinner crowd as we were being welcomed in by Eddie).\u00a0 The meal was quite pricey (I think $27 per person) but it was really good and super filling.\u00a0 There was stew of course, but also vegetarian chili, cornbread, salad and cake for dessert.\u00a0 The whole dining hall sang happy birthday to Eddie.\u00a0 We wondered if it really was Eddie&#8217;s birthday or if this was a normal &#8220;prank&#8221; that gets pulled by the staff.\u00a0 &#8220;Hey Sally, let&#8217;s do the birthday thing to Eddie tonight.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Our second day of the trip was just as great if not better than the first.\u00a0 But we were pooped and wanted to get to bed early for our 5:30am breakfast that would fuel us on our way back out of the canyon.\u00a0 Below you can find a small selection of our photos from the day.\u00a0 But, if you would like to see ALL of the photos you can see them as well as some videos at the album <a href=\"https:\/\/photos.app.goo.gl\/ypPa7KvRZDxtshYn2\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"flickr_72157690478109955_8336\"><div class=\"slickr-flickr-slideshow landscape medium \"><div class=\"active\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4521\/38783912482_f03d6d601e.jpg\" title=\"Morning sun\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Morning sun<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4578\/24942441568_25d7c8de1d.jpg\" title=\"Breakfast\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Breakfast<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4554\/38783913082_dd895caa32.jpg\" title=\"Tom\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Tom<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4580\/38783912622_d0a3fea97f.jpg\" title=\"Coffee talk\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Coffee talk<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4561\/23950076707_73e208462d.jpg\" title=\"Joe\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Joe<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4541\/38783912192_ab800cf79d.jpg\" title=\"Huck\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Huck<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4586\/38783912032_c85b08d4dc.jpg\" title=\"Uncle Rick\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Uncle Rick<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4566\/24942441138_3a3388e8dc.jpg\" title=\"Todd\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Todd<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4524\/23950076397_60c749fa55.jpg\" title=\"Morning on the trail\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Morning on the trail<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4563\/38783911702_734a4d7bbe.jpg\" title=\"Mule train\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Mule train<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4520\/24942438418_25feabe32f.jpg\" title=\"Mail bag\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Mail bag<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4575\/24942448238_ee49ec462d.jpg\" title=\"Lost already\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Lost already<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4579\/23950081107_9c8da510b1.jpg\" title=\"Huck\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Huck<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4571\/24942447908_aacaf8a3d2.jpg\" title=\"Phantom Ranch Overlook\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Phantom Ranch Overlook<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4556\/23950080847_1cc3069771.jpg\" title=\"Sharp\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Sharp<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4527\/24942447708_e1dfe215d8.jpg\" title=\"Creek\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Creek<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4523\/27038786979_e9f3b6642c.jpg\" title=\"Telephone poles\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Telephone poles<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4580\/24942447348_ccef2c23d7.jpg\" title=\"Uncle Rick and Joe\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Uncle Rick and Joe<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4582\/23950080347_b32ef9b6b3.jpg\" title=\"Rushing water\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Rushing water<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4554\/24942446938_7471fe5ede.jpg\" title=\"Confluence\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Confluence<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4524\/23950080037_bae408506f.jpg\" title=\"Phantom?\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Phantom?<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4530\/23950076177_dd3e1935ba.jpg\" title=\"Lunch\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Lunch<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4525\/24942445908_cd0c843b99.jpg\" title=\"Silver Bridge\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Silver Bridge<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4562\/23950079317_5dcf566d09.jpg\" title=\"Cable\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Cable<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4551\/24942445508_5d724f7d7c.jpg\" title=\"Pano of river\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Pano of river<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4573\/23950079137_b6670c65d8.jpg\" title=\"Joe at Silver Bridge\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Joe at Silver Bridge<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4554\/24942445068_6da3d33026.jpg\" title=\"Silver Bridge\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Silver Bridge<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4535\/27038783939_5bd7766db4.jpg\" title=\"Cactus\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Cactus<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4557\/23950078877_e98cd79933.jpg\" title=\"Black bridge beach\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Black bridge beach<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4519\/38783914212_329c8a05a0.jpg\" title=\"Relaxing on the beach\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Relaxing on the beach<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4543\/27038783579_b602936266.jpg\" title=\"Sand pattern\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Sand pattern<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4529\/38783913832_39c5bbd61a.jpg\" title=\"Creepy\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Creepy<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4520\/24942440678_2facea5cc5.jpg\" title=\"Night hike\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Night hike<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4518\/38783913672_2139df388d.jpg\" title=\"Moonshine\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Moonshine<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4517\/38783913572_6bf418151b.jpg\" title=\"No moon\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>No moon<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4582\/38783913392_283bea3425.jpg\" title=\"Big dipper\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Big dipper<\/p><\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\">jQuery(\"#flickr_72157690478109955_8336\").data(\"options\",{\"delay\":7000,\"autoplay\":true,\"transition\":500,\"link\":\"next\",\"target\":\"_self\",\"width\":\"\",\"height\":\"\"});<\/script><div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We awoke on day 2 with clear skies, warm temperatures and achy muscles.\u00a0 All the stoves were fired up to get some coffee going and some breakfast so we could get outta camp and explore.\u00a0 But we were all having such a good time just hanging out in our little back yard that we didn&#8217;t [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[7],"tags":[103,104],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2492"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2492"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2504,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2492\/revisions\/2504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}