Daddy-Daughter Date at the Grand Canyon

There are few things in life that I enjoy more than playing show-and-tell with my kids.
 
Thirty-five years ago, my grandfather took two sprightly boys to the bottom of the Grand Canyon where we spent the night at the Phantom Ranch before trekking out the next morning. Little did he know that he had planted a seed that would germinate and continue to produce life three decades later.
 
I have now taken all my kids—whether in body or spirit—into the depths of the Grand Canyon. My latest adventure involved my two youngest daughters, Jenna and Savanah. I was able to show. Now, they will do the telling . . .
 
[My first question is asked from the rim of the canyon, before having hiked down.]
 
Dad: Tell me your overall first impressions of the Grand Canyon.
 
Savanah: It's pretty. It's super steep, too.
 
Jenna: It is big. Cameras don't do it justice. It is pretty. There is a lot of variety, too. You could see different kinds of river bends, like rapids. Different rock colors, rock shapes, rock textures. Even on the way up we could see a big change in environment from forest to straight-on desert.
 

Near South Kaibab Trailhead, looking down.

Steps built into the trail.

Looking over Cedar Ridge and O'Neill Butte.

[We are now at Cedar Ridge, just 1.5 miles into the hike.]
 
Dad: Tell me about the hike down so far.
 
Savanah: It's kind of steep. And it's really clumpy and rocky. The view's really nice though. It's cool to see the different layers in the rocks and how big the Grand Canyon is.
 
Dad: Jenna, describe our travels of today.
 
Jenna: We woke up around 4:30, Arizona time. The sun's not out. It is very dark, very cold. We quickly packed up camp and moved it in our car. Then we tried to hurry as fast as we could to the shuttle, but by then it was already 5:30, so we had to wait in line for another ten minutes for the shuttle to come. We came over here. We had to rush to the bathrooms so we weren't stuck in line and then we started our journey. Now we are hiking it. There are a lot of people. But it's nice being here in the morning. It brings out a lot of colors and gives you a chance to cool down. The trail is a pretty good path. There are a lot of steps and everything is lined in stones on the outside, so that's helpful.
 

Skeleton Point.

Arch on the skyline.

[Now we have hiked 4.6 miles and are resting at a spot called The Tipoff. We have passed Skeleton Point, which gave us our first view of the Colorado River.]
 
Dad: How far does it feel like we've hiked?
 
Savanah: Like ten miles!
 
Jenna: Three.
 
Dad: Describe to me how your body feels.
 
Savanah: I don't know why my leg keeps shaking. Other than that I feel good. My feet kind of hurt.
 
Jenna: I feel amazing, like I could hike another ten miles. I have no problems other than a rock in my shoe, but I should be able to get that out.
 
Dad: What is the one thing that has stood out to you the most on the hike down?
 
Savanah: Three things—first of all the view, because the view is super good and you are able to see the Colorado River from certain spots. And second, it's kind of cool how there's a random arch in the middle of the Grand Canyon. And then the ethnicity of the people around us and how they come from all over the world.
 
Jenna: When you walk with the edge on one side of you and you just look straight, it feels like you are walking on the sky.
 

Howdy, partner!

Crazy Mexican lady loved to get selfies right next to the edge.

Good view of Colorado River and Black Suspension Bridge.

About to cross the bridge.

Indian ruins at the bottom of the canyon.

[We have crossed the Kaibab (or Black) Suspension Bridge and are momentarily resting on a sandy beach on the Colorado River.]
 
Dad: What are your impressions of the river?
 
Savanah: It's really pretty. It's really big, too. I thought it would be more blue, but it is greenish.
 
Jenna: It's pretty green. I'm surprised by the sand. And it's hot down here. Ninety-two degrees is the high today.
 
Dad: We just saw some Indian ruins. What do you think about Indians living way down here at the bottom of the Grand Canyon?
 
Jenna: They don't have any problems if no one else can come down here. So coming down to the bottom is a problem, but once they're down, they're safe.
 
Dad: Do you think it was tough to get down?
 
Savanah: Yeah. They were smart to do it, though, because they could plant their crops around the river and live around here and stuff. And the ruins are super close to the river.
 

Silver Bridge.

At the confluence of Colorado River and Pipe Creek.

[We take a lunch break at the confluence of the river and Pipe Creek. Just before we got here the clouds became dark and ominous and it felt as if a storm was about to hit us.]
 
Dad: Tell me about the recent weather we've been having.
 
Savanah: It was really cloudy, but now it's really bright and sunny, now that it's noon. It was pretty windy on our way here [hiking along the river], but now it's sunny.
 
Jenna: It's been really cloudy. About five minutes ago there were a lot of clouds and wind, but it's starting to go away, which makes me sad.
 
Dad: Tell me what you've done these last 45 minutes on this lunch break,where we are at and what you did.
 
Savanah: We're by the Colorado River. We're like two feet away from it. And we are sitting on these rocks and we had a protein bar, a sandwich and a homemade gatorade that Dad made out of this pile of stuff that he made. Super cool! And we did like a little photo shoot. It was really fun.
 
Dad: Jenna, can you tell me about your fall?
 
Jenna: I tripped. I can't remember how, but I went face-first. I didn't hit my face, but I scraped both of my legs. One leg is deep-cut and the other leg has tiny-spread little cuts. My hands are a little puffy and it temporarily stained my legs with red-rock sand.
 
Dad: Do your legs hurt now?
 
Jenna: No. They stopped hurting five seconds after I fell.
 
Dad: Did you have a hard time washing off the sand?
 
Jenna: Yes, it is a challenge to get the sand off.
 

Devil's Corkscrew.

Shaded alcove along the trail.

Photogenic lizard.

[The big shade trees at Indian Gardens have been cut down. We find shelter from the sun at a picnic table away from the crowd. I estimate we have hiked 11.8 miles to this point.]
 
Dad: Tell me about the heat on our hike up to Indian Gardens.
 
Savanah: The sun was out almost the entire time. There were barely any clouds. It was really hot. When we went in the cave it was a lot nicer. In the cave it was cooled off. Nobody could see us. Everyone was walking past on the trail and they couldn't see us or hear us or anything. But when we got out again it was still super hot and when we got to Indian Gardens it started to cool down a bit.
 
Dad: Describe the trail from our lunch spot on the river to Indian Gardens.
 
Jenna: It almost seemed like you were in the same place the entire time because it kind of looked the same throughout. We passed through the Devil's Corkscrew. That is where you have a lot of switchbacks, and after all the switchbacks and you look back, it looks like a corkscrew, and they named it Devil's Corkscrew. The trail doesn't have a lot of drop-offs near it. We came close to little creeks the entire time, passing over the creeks several times. During one time after the Devil's Corkscrew we had a look-off point. We passed some sort of watery something. It was like a trickling slide and it was wider and we had to go through that.
 
Dad: Describe Indian Gardens in as much detail as you can.
 
Savanah: Apparently there used to be two really big trees, but they cut them down where the water was. Where we were resting a bit, that was up the path a little bit from that and to the right, was like a little pergola and it had trees surrounding it and was really green and vibrant. There was a big rock where we ate that had a lizard on it. It [the lizard] was blue and looked like it did pushups.
 

Bright Angel Trail above Indian Gardens.

Endless switchbacks climbing out of the canyon.

Hair-pin turn on the Bright Angel Trail.

[From somewhere off the trail, in the midst of never-ending switchbacks.]
 
Dad: Give me a report on the trail since Indian Gardens:
 
Savanah: The trail after Indian Gardens was dry; it wasn't as green as Indian Gardens. Once we got to the switchbacks it was super windy. They've been going on [the switchbacks] for about an hour. I feel really tired. The only thing that actually hurts is my ankles.
 
Jenna: For a while there weren't any switchbacks. It was just a long trail with quite a few turns. After we hit the switchbacks they lasted for a good four miles, and we're still on them. An up-side is that we were in the shade for almost the entire time because we were along the wall and it was the first to get the shade along the canyon. My body feels good. I feel really tired, but I'm not exhausted, just sleepy tired. My feet hurt a bit. Also, we saw a helicopter fly in and out of Indian Gardens, from a bird's perspective.
 

At the top!

[Mission accomplished! Total distance: 16.7 miles. Total time: 11 hours 45 minutes. Elevation drop: 4,780 feet. Elevation gain: 4,380 feet. I am extremely proud of the girls. They did much better than I expected.]
 
Dad: How does it feel to be to the top?
 
Savanah: So nice! You feel so much more relaxed after an eighteen-mile hike that's super steep and rocky and goes back and forth a lot with all the switchbacks. So it feels super nice to be up at the top and relax. My feet still hurt.
 
Jenna: Amazing, but my feet hurt really bad.
 
Dad: What was the most memorable part of the entire hike?
 
Savanah: Probably going over the bridges and eating lunch.
 
Jenna: The hike! Also, looking down and knowing where you've gone.
 
Dad: Last question. Would you do it again?
 
Savanah: Maybe.
 
Jenna: Yes.
 

California Condor perched in a tree.

[After we think we we're done, we have one last experience while one the rim.]
 
Jenna: I looked over at a look-off point and I saw a pretty large bird flying around and I looked closer and looked at the bottom of its wings and saw white triangles, which means it was a California Condor. I saw its bald head too, so that helped. It had a little bit of white on the top of its wings, but that was a little hard to see. So I yelled, “Dad, it's a California Condor! Dad, it's a California Condor!” Then we watched it for a bit, but we weren't able to get too many good pictures until it got perched on a tree and covered in branches. We could see it, but we couldn't see it fly, which was sad.
 
Still Jenna: California Condors interest me because (1), it is my life goal to see one because they are an endangered species and there are like only 400 of them. And (2), they are only in this area and our area, which is the Bryce Canyon area. And (3), because they are the second largest bird in the world. ♠

Post-hike pizza party at Tusayan.

Pioneer Cemetery—Spanish Fork

Mary Catherine Redd fell ill on a spring day in 1851.
 
Her family had sold their farm in Tennessee and came west with the Saints. Shortly after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, John Hardison Redd moved his family 55 miles south, just above the present site of Spanish Fork.
 
They had built a log cabin and the men were busy in the field planting crops. As Mary Catherine lay sick she requested the company of her younger brother, Lemuel. He was hard at work plowing in the field and her father thought it best that he didn't come in until evening when the sun had set. Lemuel never made it to see his sister. Mary Catherine died within a few hours. She was only seventeen.
 
She was buried on a bluff overlooking the river bottoms. Others would follow. Another brother, John Holt Redd, was thrown from a horse and died from his injuries. Just three days later, his mother died from a broken heart. In 1858, John Hardison was killed after being kicked by a horse.
 
All four members were buried in what was known as the “Redd Cemetery.” Since then it has taken on other names such as Old Palmyra Graveyard, East Bench Graveyard and Upper Cemetery. Today it is known as Pioneer Heritage Cemetery.
 

The first time I visited the site, it wasn't what I expected. Nowadays it is surrounded by a modern subdivision with large houses. None of the original grave markers exist; instead there are 101 small headstones with no inscription. They are lined in semi-straight rows across neatly manicured grass.
 
The bluff still overlooks the Spanish Fork River basin and it isn't difficult to imagine how it may have looked 168 years ago. The riparian land of the river bottom is largely undeveloped except for a few farms.
 
Circumventing the cemetery is a walkway with several plaques and memorials giving the history of the graveyard. One lists 116 people who were buried here, all between the years 1851 and 1866. When the new cemetery in Spanish Fork was built around 1865, most citizens opted to be buried there. Many had their deceased family members exhumed and transferred to the new graveyard.
 

For many years the cemetery sat in disrepair. Weeds overran the property and occasionally cattle took advantage of failing fences and trampled the fragile site. In 1941, a project was taken up by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers to erect a monument and make a record of those buried in the cemetery. They scoured existing records and inspected the grounds where they managed to find only fragments of the original headstones.
 
After 1943, several groups took it upon themselves to maintain the little graveyard, cleaning it up and hauling water for the few plants and trees. In the early nineties, the owner gave the property to the city of Spanish Fork. Since that time a wrought-iron sign was made over the gateway of the cemetery. Boy Scouts have used Eagle Projects to install new headstones, and a statue of a pioneer family now adorns the grounds. Figuratively speaking, after a century and a half, the old pioneer cemetery has been resurrected.
 

A story is told about a Native American child named “Alpharetta” who was taken in by Mary Ann and John Boice. During the spring of 1854, the child's mother died in childbirth, and the father asked the Boice family if they could care for the child. Mary Ann cared for Alpharetta along with her own son, but soon Alpharetta died from the measles and was buried in this cemetery.
 
Sometime later, the Boice family was called to move to Kamas. While en route, they were surrounded by a band of angry Indians dressed in war paint. One of the braves, Alpharetta's father, recognized the family and got off his horse and convinced the chief to let them go in peace.
 
Stories like those of Alpharetta and Mary Catherine Redd abound at the Pioneer Cemetery in Spanish Fork. No doubt there are hundreds more, many of them lost forever. This is probably the biggest reason why I love visiting cemeteries. I always learn something new with each one I visit. Now, this solemn graveyard atop a bluff overlooking a river, will always have a soft place in my heart. ♠

48 Hours in the Gateway City

Our first experience with St. Louis comes by accident. On our way to the hotel, the GPS takes us the wrong direction and we end up in a residential neighborhood south of Downtown. The homes are all made of red brick and uniform in shape with front steps leading to the sidewalk. It looks like a scene from Archie Bunker. A man sits outside his door and reads a newspaper. I wish to get out and explore this new world I have briefly entered, but can't. Within five minutes we have corrected our route and are back on Interstate 44 toward our hotel.
 
We lodge in the area of Laclede's Landing. Our balcony on the third level sits nose-to-nose with a double-decker conduit of traffic. To say the least, it is very noisy. Yet our view extends beyond the din, toward the skyscrapers of Downtown and the stadium for the St. Louis Rams.
 

Flooding on the Mississippi River from Martin Luther King Bridge.

We waste little time and return to the streets for exploration. Near our hotel is the Martin Luther King Bridge. It will soon be under construction and is currently closed to vehicles. We slip past a concrete barricade and walk onto the bridge. We find ourselves looking down over the Mississippi River. Other than a group of people in the distance, we are the only humans on the bridge.
 
The river is well above flood-stage, with an entire street completely submerged in the slow-moving water—street signs poking above the surface. The St. Louis skyline is inescapable. The Gateway Arch and skyscrapers form a perfect silhouette. The overhead steel beams give the bridge a picturesque appeal. Jenelle comments that she would love to do a bridle-shoot here. We watch a train that appears to be at least a mile long creep along the edge of the river and under the bridge and through a small tunnel.
 
After the bridge we walk back toward Downtown and manage to cross the barriers of traffic. Skyscrapers surround us. In spite of all the buildings, I feel like there isn't much to see. No stores, no shops, no places to eat unless it is upper-end. A lot of nothing. At least that is how it seems.
 

Within minutes we begin seeing groups of people wearing Cardinals jerseys walking in our direction. They appear sullen. Soon, the entire sidewalk is flooded with Cardinals fans. Busch Stadium is just up the street and the game must have just gotten out. From a parking garage above, an antagonistic man yells down, “You guys can't even win a game!” Everyone ignores him and continues to walk.
 
We know that many will soon be looking for a place to eat. We make a split-second decision to find a place before lines get out of control. We choose Hamburger Mary's, an eatery on Washington Avenue. We walk in just before 7 pm and can tell that some sort of show is about to begin. They seat us in a section away from the stage where we can watch the show on a screen and perhaps catch glimpses through the bar. In the end, I am glad we don't have a front-row seat. The spectacle ends up being a drag show, with men dressed up as women and showing their moves for tips.
 
Aside from the hedonistic vibe of the restaurant, my hamburger is very good, although overpriced. On our way out, we make sure that none of the drag queens are in our way.
 
We stop at a small grocery store to buy food for breakfast. The prices are more in line with that of a gas station. By now, it is dark and it feels as though the thugs are coming out. Things are getting a bit sketchy. I can't help but to remember that St. Louis is the homicide capital of the United States. Whiffs of marijuana fill the air. Everyone, aside from us, is buying smokes or alcohol. We feel an urgency to get back to our room.
 

Old Courthouse from the Gateway Arch.

The following morning is our best day of weather in Missouri. The sun is out and skies are blue.
 
Our first stop is the Gateway Arch. You can't help but to be mesmerized by this gigantic structure. At 630 feet high, it is the tallest man-made monument in the Western Hemisphere. It seems to be ubiquitous. At every new turn there is a new perspective.
 
We spend about an hour near the arch, just admiring it's majesty and finding new angles for photography. You can pay money and take a ride to the top, but we have neither the time nor budget.
 
The arch was completed in 1965 and meant to memorialize St. Louis's history as the gateway to the Western frontier. It is hard to believe that this city was once the border of the wilderness, with terra incognita beyond its limits. It is the city from which Lewis and Clark set out on their epic exploratory mission.
 

Nearby is the Basilica of Saint Louis, also known as the Old Cathedral. Because of it's historical significance, it was allowed to remain standing while the rest of the buildings in the area were demolished with the construction of the arch.
 
We visit the basilica and then the Old Courthouse, which is in perfect alignment with the arch. The courthouse is free and is famous for being the setting of the Dred Scott case before it went to the United States Supreme Court. The building is similar in appearance to the United States Capitol Building. It's dome is modeled after St. Peters Basilica in Vatican City.
 

Basilica of St. Louis.

The Old Courthouse was home to the Dred Scott Case before it went to the Supreme Court.

St. Louis is a beautiful city, with ample parks and statues. The trees are in bloom during our visit. We manage to find a bite to eat, then make our way toward Busch Stadium to root, root, root for the home team!
 
Our seats on the third balcony provide a panoramic view of the city's skyline. I think we are the only people in the stadium without some sort of Cardinals memorabilia (and I'm not going to pay $89 for a hoodie!).
 

We sit next to a father and his two boys. The sibling next to me (about 12-years old) is the most energetic of the two and never shies away from asking questions. At least twenty times, from the bottom of his lungs, he tries to begin a chant: “Let's go Cardinals, let's go!! [Clap, clap.] Let's go Cardinal's, let's go!!! [Clap, clap.]” Only a couple times does anyone join in. “What's wrong with everybody today?” he complains.
 
He asks where we are from, but has no idea where Utah is located. Then he asks, “But you ARE a Cardinals fan, aren't you?” When I tell him I am not a Cardinals fan, he becomes bewildered, wondering how a person like me could exist in the world. But then I tell him that neither am I a Padres fan, but hope that the Cardinals will win, since they are the home team. He is reassured by that.
 
In the end, the Cardinals lose. They fall apart in the top of the eighth inning.
 

Stan "The Man" Musial.

After the game we stop for pictures at the entrance of the stadium with a statue of Stan “The Man” Musial. For the next hour we wander the streets, not finding much to do, but enjoying the beauty of the city. About this time a St. Louis Blues hockey game gets out, and suddenly we find that we are “the only ones in town” without a Blues jersey.
 
We take the Metrolink back to Laclede's Landing and find a place to eat called the Old Spaghetti Factory. Our wait time is one hour. Jenelle is worn out so she kicks back in the restaurant while I wander about the city on foot.
 

The Old Spaghetti Factory in the area of Laclede's Landing.

Not only is there a Cardinals and Blues game in town today, Comic Con is here also. I also learn that in St. Louis it is only optional for a car to stop at a red light. Many cars brazenly push their way through traffic, to the point I am a little scared to cross the street.
 
Back at the restaurant I enjoy a plate of spaghetti. Although once again overpriced, our meal is very good and service is excellent. We return to our hotel with a final night of rest in St. Louis.
 

The next morning we check out of our hotel and immediately drive across the Mississippi into Illinois. I have long been fascinated with Native American history and culture and was pleasantly surprised when I learned that the remains of an ancient city of the Mississippi mound-builders was just five miles away.
 
Cahokia was once the largest city in America north of Mexico. Collapse came before the arrival of Europeans and the reason largely remains a mystery. Today, several of their man-made mounds still exist, including the largest, Monks Mound. Archeologists speculate that homes and temples of the leaders were built upon these heaps of earth. Some of the smaller ones are burial mounds. With such a small percentage of them having been excavated, most of what lies underneath remains a mystery.
 
Admission to the grounds and museum are free. One could spend a full day wandering the extensive trail system. In addition to several mounds, there are groves of trees, swamps and whitetail deer. We only have a couple hours to spare, so we barely scratch the surface.
 

Monks Mound is the largest mound at Cahokia.

St. Louis skyline from Monks Mound.

Back on the Missouri side of the river, our time is winding down. As stated earlier, I really hoped to see what life is like in St. Louis beyond the traps of tourism. With this pursuit in mind, we take an exit off I-70 into Old North St. Louis.
 
I feel like we have just entered the hood. I find my red-brick buildings. Most of them are tall and skinny. Several are vacant and partially destroyed by fire. As a geographical reminder, our location is not too far from Ferguson, Missouri, the site of riots in 2014 resulting from the shooting of Michael Brown by a white police officer.
 
I pull over a couple of times to take pictures. Nearby a man of color has a verbal altercation with his girlfriend in an alleyway. Behind me a truck speeds through a stop sign. Jenelle feels unsafe and stays in the car.
 
Around the corner is the beautiful Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church. It looks out of place in this neighborhood. It makes me wonder the nature of the neighborhood at the time of it's construction.
 

Home in Old North St. Louis.

Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church, as seen from Mallinckrodt Street.

Our next stop (on the way to the airport) is the Calvary Cemetery. I could spend hours here. This graveyard is gigantic and contains some of the most important burials in the city. The blooming trees and rolling slopes make for a beautiful setting.
 
General William Sherman and Dred Scott are buried here and we visit both of their graves. It is interesting that pennies are placed on Dred Scott's grave, supposedly honoring Lincoln as the great emancipator.
 

Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis.

Near the end of our rope of time, we now look for a place to eat before going to the airport. We drive down West Flourissant Avenue and into the boundaries of Jennings (which, in turn, borders Ferguson).
 
What we find is Lee's Famous Fried Chicken. When we enter, we are the only whites inside. Everyone else is as black as ebony. But there is a different feel to this. I quickly notice that everyone here is dressed in their Sunday best, the men in suits and vests, and ladies in a dress, pearls and lipstick—some with a wide hat for shade. We hear them talking about singing in the choir. They have just got out of church. The girl behind the counter must be in her early twenties and has smooth skin and hair made into a hundred tight braids.
 
Rather than feeling like I am in the hood, I feel as if I have just stepped inside a room with Aunt Chloe and Uncle Tom, “whose truly African features [are] characterized by an expression of grave and steady good sense, united with much kindness and benevolence.”
 

Fried liver at Lee's Famous Fried Chicken.

For me, this is one of the most pleasant surprises of our trip. I find myself in their world, well off the beaten path.
 
Jenelle orders chicken strips, which I will admit are better than KFC. As for me, I order fried liver and Cajun rice. It isn't too bad either. ♠