As you can see from the pictures in the posts below, we are back from the Grand Canyon. Wow. Great hike! Our group was composed of super nice, strong hikers, and most importantly, good sports.
Hiking the Grand Canyon is often on people's "life list". It's a big undertaking. I love to see the sense of awe and wonder on someone's face as they gaze into the canyon for the first time. It's amazing to see the accomplishment that one feels when topping out after two hard days of hiking down to the bottom and back out. Ok, it's hard work, for sure -- exhausting to say the least, but awesome! Good work, everyone! :-)
The weather on this trip was the best I've ever seen at the canyon, with warm but not hot days in the lower elevations. Freezing but not brutally cold mornings in the higher elevations. Thus, we were able to take our time hiking down the S. Kaibab Trail and really enjoy the vistas along the descent. Phantom Ranch didn't have showers or flush toilets the night we spent there (like I said, everyone was a good sport) so what was the hurry? Upon arrival, Ranger Pam presented one of her "Jeopardy" Grand Canyon games. Always fun and informative. She also presented a nice tribute to the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps, whose 75th anniversary coincided with our visit.
Steve & I both sported lovely head colds all week (ugh!). Fortunately, my coughing fit was early enough in the evening I didn't deprive the gals of too much beauty rest in the women's dorm. (Hate it when that happens.) After the 6:30 a.m. "late" breakfast on Tuesday, we were headed up the Bright Angel Trail. No doubt about it, the hike from Phantom up to the South Rim is a tough one. You have a couple of miles of "warm up" along the Colorado River before going into one of the side canyons, making your way up the Devil's Corkscrew switchbacks and up to a full fledge rest break at Indian Gardens. You get a bit of a respite while making your way across and up from the Tonto Plateau, but then the switchbacks kick back in at Jacob's Ladder and on up to the rim. Yikes! Everyone accomplished the feat flawlessly. We had some sore muscles and were tired but happy at our celebration dinner at El Tovar.
The next morning we shuttled over to Hualapai Hilltop to hike down into Supai Village for a few days. Our gang remained good sports when we found out on our hike down that the cafe was closed that day! Valarie, a local Havasupai woman, cooked some lasagna for several of the hungry tourists that evening, so that is what we had for dinner. You never know what you're going to get, and this time proved no different.
The following morning we were able to load up our bellies at the cafe before hiking down to the wonderful waterfalls along Havasu Creek. (See photos below) I got a nice photo of Kathleen and her son, John, at Havasu Falls. Kathleen's trip was a birthday gift from John! Everyone who went down to the base of Mooney Falls had quite the adventure. There's sort of a ladder / tunnel / scrambling bit (ok, that's an understatement) that leads you down to the base. I call it the Indiana Jones part of the hike. Maria told me it was her Supai highlight. I beg to differ. After dinner, we all indulged in several games of "Pass The Pigs" and spent most of the evening laughing. If you've never seen PTP, you can try it online here. It's even better in real life!
On the trail at 6 a.m. the next morning, we were able to enjoy a comfortable, unrushed hike out of Havasu Canyon. :-)
3 days ago