Yet again, my Thanksgiving festivities took me down the road less traveled. Last year, I ventured to southern Utah, hiking and backpacking throughout Zion National Park. This year, Grand Canyon National Park was at the top of my list.

John’s flight from Boston arrived in San Diego at 1:15 a.m. on Wednesday, he was at my house at 2 a.m. and we were on the road by 3 a.m. Driving through the night was effortless with no traffic and perfectly straight highway. Our conversation kept us entertained as we made our way east into Arizona. John and I have been best friends since kindergarten and this was his first experience in the Wild West. We’ve done well at keeping in touch over the years and this adventure was our way of reuniting and celebrating our friendship.

Our first stop of the day was the backcountry permit office at the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. We were denied a permit for Wednesday night, but secured Indian Garden campground for Thursday night followed by Bright Angel campground on Friday night. Since we weren’t beginning our descent until the following morning, John and I cruised through the park and snapped a bunch of photos from the overlooks. We were both extremely fatigued from pulling an ‘all-nighter’ so we made our way out of the back entrance of the park and into the Kaibab National Forest where car camping is free.

Although temperatures dipped into the 20’s Wednesday night, this was the coldest weather we encountered because it actually gets warmer as you descend the canyon, causing us to shed layers while en route to Indian Garden campground. We arrived at our designated campground quite effortlessly, overtaking all shapes and sizes of travelers and tourists along the way. With our tent set up and permit visible to park rangers, we consolidated our gear to daypacks and set off on a hike to a plateau overlooking the Colorado River. As we approached the lookout area, a solo hiker informed us of his encounter with a California Condor. I immediately broke-out my camera and got into Steve Erwin-mode. The next twenty minutes made our 1,300-mile road trip worth every second.

Thanksgiving dinner consisted of precooked turkey from the market in the park village paired with instant garlic mashed potatoes. We sliced and diced the turkey and added the potatoes into my Jetboil cooking system to warm them. This was a slight improvement from the classic turkey sandwich I ate with my feet dangling off the edge of Zion’s Angel’s Landing. Check out the picture from last year:

The next morning, John and I arrived at the Colorado River by 8:30 a.m. This is when we decided to change our plans for the next stage of the trip. Since we had arrived to the river where our next campsite was located so quickly, we made the decision to hike the rest of the way out of the canyon. We consulted our map and searched for a trial that would allow us to return to the South Rim without back-tracking over terrain that we had already covered. While discussing our plan, we met a day-hiker named Jordan that had left the South Rim at 4 a.m. and was planning to ascend the South Kaibab trial. After further discussion of trail options, Jordan had invited us to join him and offered to drive us back to our car at the Bright Angel trailhead. This was exactly what John and I were hoping to do—hike all the way out, not cover any of the same terrain and not worry about getting back to our vehicle. The three of us set off from the Colorado River, ascending the Grand Canyon via the South Kaibab trial. This was a challenging hike because of our weighted packs and the countless switch-back trials but it was by no means difficult. We were out of the canyon a little more than four hours later and extremely satisfied with our experience and our decision to push ourselves to finish off the hike.

Somewhere during our ascent, I came up with the idea for the next stage of our adventure— Joshua Tree National Park in California. I had told John of my many camping and climbing trips to this park, but words and pictures still do little to describe its unique beauty. After pizza at the village market, we were back on the road. Our drive out of the park and through the National Forests while the sun was setting continued to add to the experience. We had to come to a stop when three Rocky Mountain Elk darted across the road.

The drive to Joshua Tree was tiresome and John and I took turns at the wheel to make sure we arrived safely to the park. We pulled into the south entrance late on Friday night and took the first campsite we could find in Cottonwood campground, marking the end of an epic day. Early the next morning, strong Santa Ana winds shook the tent until we were awake. I made a quick batch of coffee in my Jetboil cooking system and began the 45-mile drive from the south end of the park towards the northwest entrance. We made a stop at Jumbo Rocks campground and scrambled around on the gigantic boulders until our stomachs demanded breakfast. Crossroads Café in the town of Joshua Tree remains a favorite after a hearty breakfast for the final leg of our road trip. As soon as we neared San Diego, I cut west to the coast and drove the remainder of the way into the city on route 101. The sun was shining bright over the ocean and it was 70 degrees. There’s nothing like returning to San Diego from an adventure. Thank you all for joining me--I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving.

Yours in adventure,

Active Toby

Here is an Active Video from my recent rock climbing trip to Joshua Tree National Park:

Here is an Active video from the bike ride through the Anza-Borrego Desert:

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