Wild Wild West Part I

Grand Canyon National Park Hike

Last fall we took a trip out west for some fabulous National Park exploration.  Our trip method worked quite well:  fly into Vegas, rent a car, escape Vegas as quickly as possible, drive over to Arizona, up through Utah, and back to catch the flight home.

We chose the south rim of the Grand Canyon for our canyon experience driving past the Hoover Dam. We made sure to remember to get a speeding ticket on Route 66 while heading to the Village, quite funny actually.  Feel free to ask Cayle all about Arizona driving school.  

Here is our route:  Starting over on the right of the map and heading down South Kaibob trail to the Colorado River.  Then climbing up Bright Angel Trail to the finish, which is the end of the red line over on the left.

Here we are before we took the plunge down South Kaibab.  What a fun and beautiful hike!  Neither of us had been to the Grand Canyon before, and we knew the only way we wanted to experience it was by hiking down and through it.

So, our packs started out looking like this.

And our packs slowly progressed to this state.  My pack is practically sinking into itself, and Cayle's is about to burst!  Hiking a mile straight up the Bright Angel Trail switch backs is tough, guys!  My goal was to not be passed by anyone who looked older than me (pack or no pack).  I did reach my goal, thanks to Cayle and extra REI straps.

This is a look off from the trail.  The natural color saturation of  canyon land is breath taking.

I am quite happy to have found the campsite for night #1.  We had to hike about two miles extra off Kaibob to the alternate campsite area  i.e. camping in the middle of a large plateau with no water or shade.  Best galaxy viewing ever, though.

We were so happy to get to water after rationing off through out the first night.

Oh yes,  I found wine half way through day #2!  You should have been there to share in my excitement.  Thank you, President Teddy Roosevelt, for putting in Phantom Ranch.

The hike was broken into three segments spanning further distances while descending and shorter distances on ascension days (only a six mile up day at the end).  Our second night of camping at Indian Garden was relaxing and less eventful.  No tornado like gusting winds helping us envision a flying tent ride heading east through the canyon.  Instead, we had a cooler night along a stream that was pleasantly relaxing.

We had such a great time!  This is a truly amazing part of our country.  Coming up as the second portion of our Wild Wild West experience will be Zion National Park and our hike through the Narrows.