Maiden voyage to Grand Canyon success!

[austinado16]

Here's the campsite at Mather (pronounced:  "math-er") Campground at 7,000'.  Flush toilet restrooms were super nice and very clean.  Laundrymat with clean showers ($1.75 per shower) and a big ice machine were less than 1/2mi away.  Full-on supermarket style grocery store with camp gear store and deli inside about 1/2mi away.

[lam1317]

i would like to hear more about your trip out west
and try to post as many pics as possible.
thanks lou from s.fl
have been talking about a trip like that for years
but gas prices have held me back.

[austinado16]

Gas prices were really a high blower for this trip.....let me tell you!

It was $3.25/gal when we left and to fill the Suburban's 34 gallon tank, that's an even $110.83.  I had estimated $277.00 for fuel for the 1,265mi round trip, but we wound up using $50-$75 more than that.....partly due to the fact that I was running 65-70mph, partly due to monster hill climbing and high altitude driving we had to do (Tehachapi Mountains are just over 4,000'.  Mojave Desert runs 2,000-3,000'.  Desert in AZ runs 3,000-6,000' and then the GC is at 7,000') and then on the way home we were pushing a headwind for the better part of 12hrs.  The 'burb has the aerodynamics of 2 sheets of plywood going down the road.

Fuel prices out on the interstate sucked.   The truck stops were $2.87/gal, but you could go a couple miles down the road and the Chevron and Shell stations would be duking it out in the $3.30's.

But, it was really a great trip and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!  Here's a shot at about 5:45am at the bottom of the canyon showing the Colorado (muddy as it would have originally been for millions of years due to the monsoon season) and both the Silver Bridge and the Kaibab (Black) Bridge.  From here to the top was another 9hrs hike for us!