Bryce vs The Grand

Last week Jake and I went camping/biking/hiking at Bryce Canyon for a couple days, followed by the Grand Canyon for a couple days. It was a lot of fun, and although I have wanted to go to the Grand Canyon my whole life, I have to admit our Bryce adventure was more fun. (However I do  know that backpacking rim to rim or going to Havasupai would trump both. I just have yet to experience that).

Here were some of the good and bad about our Bryce Canyon experience
-Our campsite was awesome. Bright red rocks surrounded us right when we stepped out of the tent.
-we got kicked out of our awesome campsite because it was a double site and we only paid for a single. The next night we got stuck in a site right next to the road and outhouse with no trees. Complain, complain.
-Biking Thunder Mountain trail was, yet again, one of the best rides I've ever been on.
-We spent $2 for a hot shower (which was so worth it) and it shutting off when Jake was covered in soap.
-"The best 3-mile hike in the world" really is the best 3-mile hike in the world.
-We were always so surprised when we walked by someone that actually spoke English. The entire time we were at Bryce, maybe 5 families were American.
-I saw so many I heart NY or I heart SF or I heart HK. I thought of a new one. I heart HSWW. (.....hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry....)

Good and Bad of Grand Canyon
-We got to stay in Jacob Lake Campground. Next to Jacob Lake Inn where Jake used his credit card that said Jacob Lynn Layton and they thought it was a company card. Jake went along with it.
-Both nights families decided to pick the campsite and set up their tent literally 10 yards away from us, when they had probably 45 other sites to choose from. That site didn't even have shade.
-We made the ultimate smore's. A layer of peanut butter under the chocolate + my fine roasting skills = the best s'more you will EVER taste. "Peanut Butter makes the world go round" -Jake
-We made friends with some Spaniards on our bike trail. Jake fell in love with them and talked with them about European soccer for like 20 minutes (so they thought we were pretty cool). Than they gave us the t advice to start hiking Grand Canyon later, like 10, so when you come back up it will be like 4 and be really shady and nice.
-We followed their advice and started at 10. The only problem is, apparently we hike a lot faster than them because we were hiking back up at noon. Lets just say that wasn't the best 5-mile hike in the world.

Biking Failures

So the past THREE times I have tried to go mountain biking I have failed in some way or another.

Last Friday: My little sister came down to Provo to go on a great trail in American Fork Canyon with us but we had a series of unfortunate events. We woke up late, had to stop at the ATM to get 1 more dollar in cash to pay the entrance fee, didn't know the construction up the canyon would give us a 30 minute detour, and our car was almost out of gas. So by the time we got halfway up we had to turn back around because we didn't want to run out of gas and Jake was going to be late to work. Instead we went on a smaller, but still fun trail, where my sister had to sit down for 10 minutes because she was so dizzy/dehydrated. We failed.

Last Saturday: We went to Snow Basin Resort and paid for a day pass to go up the lifts and ride down the biking trails. It was fun, but a lot more rocky and less flowing than we had expected. Also on the last ride down only my sister and I went, and my bike got a flat tire. We soon figured out that my extra tube had the wrong type of valve; good thing Rachel had a spare. Although my bike failed and the flow failed, we still had a  grand time.

Today: Jake and I tried to go BACK up American Fork canyon to the trail we tried last week. We had no setbacks until we got onto the trail. 100 yards up our tires, chains, and brakes were so caked in mud that our wheels wouldn't turn. I guess it poured up there last night without our knowledge. We had to carry our bikes back to the car, and spend 30 minutes de-mudding them.

I wonder if I should just quit trying. Hopefully tomorrow in Park City will be more successful.