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bob & jean above colorado river, grand canyon

Hello, and welcome to our blog.  We both get great joy out of seeing new lands, relaying our observations, recalling our memories and sharing our photographs of flora and fauna, scenery, places and the people we have met along the way.  We hope you enjoy our stories and photos about our adventures.

Frame To Frame – Bob and Jean

22 comments

  • oh my goodness what a fantastic travel blog! so far I especially like the foxes in Algonquin park but I will be back to check out your blog some more. I think my heart would stop if I saw a giraffe and/or elephant at Kruger! loving the animal pictures! I am from Toronto now living in Alberta so especially loving the Ontario pictures, I miss Ontario my home..

    • Thanks so much Kelly for checking out our blog and for your enthusiastic feedback. Do come back for a visit and see what else we have been up to. I hope, through some of our posts, that we can alleviate your homesickness or at best maintain a connection for you with your home province.

  • Gabrielle Rosen

    Thanks so much for your reply and the info. Thanks for your site. It is inspirational !!

  • Gabrielle Rosen

    Hi. Have you been to Oakbank Pond in North York Ontario recently ? We were there 2 months ago and the water level was extremely low and there were no signs of any turtles. Have you been recently ? Is the water level still low (why ?) ? Any turtle sightings ? It would be nice to know. Thanks. Gabrielle

    • Hi Gabrielle. No, that is one pond we have not visited yet so can provide no input on the water levels. We have been seeing turtles at Milliken Pond in northeast Toronto, though. Hope this helps.

  • Hi Jean and Bob,
    These are great suggestions. I noticed that when I exercise I lose appetite. It will probably be even worse with the heat so salted almonds and pistachio nuts sound like a perfect food on the trail. You have mentioned electrolyte tablets. I have checked various websites and there are many varieties. Could you recommend your favourite brand?
    Apart from hiking in the Grand Canyon we are planning to hike and camp in other parks in Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Utah for over 2 weeks (Monument Valley, Mesa Verde, Death Valley, Zion Park, Moab, Escalante, Bryce Canyon, etc.) Thank you so much for all your advice and encouragement!

    • Glad to be of help. I can’t recall what brand of electrolyte tablets we used, but the outdoor outfitter located in the store at Grand Canyon National Park can provide great input. I’m sure most brands would fit the bill.

  • Hi Jean and Bob,
    I have come across your bog as I have been researching our upcoming trip to the Grand Canyon this summer. Thank you so much for beautiful photographs and very informative descriptions. I enjoyed it very much and felt encouraged to undertake the hike down to Indian Gardens. I am a little worried about my lanky 14 year old son though. He is not used to strenous hiking and very high temperatures. We are planning to go to Arizona right after school ends so it is going to be very hot. Initially we were thinking of going all the way down to the Phantom Ranch and I am still debating it. We are planning to camp overnight at Indian gardens. Just a few questions: What time of year did you travel? (it looked like summer) I noticed you had nordic walking sticks. Were they helpful? Did you train before the trip? (I thought maybe we should start stair climbing to practice for the hike up). Once again thanks for sharing your exciting experience.

    • Thank you for your comment. We traveled to the Grand Canyon mid-June to avoid summer crowds and hotter weather. We are used to high summer temperatures here in Ontario, and were still worried about the intensity of the heat that we might endure in the canyon, but by starting our hike at 5 a.m., we were able to do most of the descent in cooler temperatures. Having said that, we wish we had began our hike even earlier; some people ahead of us may have set foot on the trail around 4:30 a.m. Returning from Indian Gardens, we found ourselves on the shaded side of the canyon for a good share of the return to the Rim.

      I think Indian Gardens is a very attainable goal for your son. Just one note, I believe you have to reserve a camping spot ahead of time…just a heads up. I could be wrong, but we found out that the mule rides into the canyon are booked easily a year in advance.

      Regarding the hiking sticks, they definitely were a benefit as they helped to ease the pressure on our knees when descending and gave support on the uphill climb. No, we did not train before the trip, but we are active and had skied and skated the winter prior as well as having completed a couple of modest but lengthy hikes here in Algonquin Provincial Park earlier that spring.

      I hope my information helps with the planning of your trip. Have a wonderful vacation. It is definitely a place we plan to return to.

      • Thanks a lot for your reply and helpful hints. I feel much more confident now. Somehow before reading your blog (which I found to be one of the most interesting ones on the Canyon so far!) I came across lots of scary information about many health hazards in the Canyon. I believe one needs to be well informed about risks preparing for such a trip but I got so scared that I almost gave up the plan of hiking the Bright Angel Trail. Luckily, I had a chance to see your blog. I have decided to adjust our plans a little and instead of hiking all the way down to the bottom I thought of following the trails you hiked. Also thanks a lot for the photos and information about the flora and fauna of the Canyon. Now we know what we need to look for while walking the trails. Very inspiring!!

        • I’m glad that you found my input helpful. A couple of other pieces of advice, although I’m sure you know this already. We carried lots of drinking water, to which we added hydration tablets. I think these would be even more important when you are hiking given the hotter temperatures. Don’t underestimate the need for salt replacement. We did. Salty snacks are a must…the saltier the better. I think, in hindsight, pistachio nuts might have been good because you can suck the salt out of the shells, too. Discarded shells littered the sides of the trail everywhere we went. Let us know how your trip pans out.

  • Hello again, Olga is. I would like to know exactly how much height barriers where you sit – 50-60 centimeters? Thank you very much

    • Well, I am a little over 5 feet tall, so looking at the photograph, I would guess that the barrier was about my height. Sorry I can’t be more specific. Hope that helps.

  • Hello friends! I am Olga. I live in Ukraine, Kiev. Tell me please, what approximately the height of the stone enclosure Grand Canyon in your picture where you sit. Thank you very much!

    • Hi Olga. From that lookout at Plateau Point on the Bright Angel Trail, we were standing 1,300 feet above the Colorado River. It was an impressive view but not sure I would be up to doing that hike again. It was torturous. Thanks for showing an interest in our blog.

  • Great blog. Please let me know if you have shots of Hamilton Harbour. Thanks. Chris, executive director, Bay Area Restoration Council.

  • Came across your site as I was researching our upcoming trip to Peru and Equador. Great photos and stories. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

    • Thanks, Rob. We enjoy reliving our travel experiences every time we write up one of our blog stories. It has been very helpful that I keep a detailed diary when we travel.

  • What a wonderful blog! We also love to travel and enjoy nature. I am an “owlaholic” .

    • Thanks, Marilyn. It was actually our sighting of the Northern Saw-whet Owl that sparked our serious interest in bird watching, and what a stellar year we had in terms of seeing owls. They are such magnificent birds.

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