Travel

        Well, Thanksgiving was coming up, and since it was going to be just the two of us this year, we decided to take a trip over to the Grand Canyon.  Neither of us had hiked down to the bottom before, so we decided to load up our packs and camping gear and head out!

        It's Thanksgiving, no one will be hiking the Grand Canyon, right?  WRONG!  We were very lucky to get a backcountry permit, but we did, and we headed down on Friday, after a nice Thanksgiving meal in a hotel restaurant.  

        WOW!  What an incredible trip.  The hike was long and strenuous, and we could barely move for a few days, but it was worth it.  The first night we stayed at a campsite about halfway down the Bright Angel Trail called Indian Gardens.  The next day we made the short (only 4 miles) hike down to the Bright Angel Campground at the bottom of the canyon, near the Colorado River.  It was in the high fifties down there, while it was in the thirties at the South Rim.  We spent a very rainy night there, but it had cleared up by morning, and we strapped on our packs for the loooooong hike out.  Well, that rain at the bottom was snow at the top, and the last mile or so of the hike was slippery, but we made it out!  

       We had a great time, and it's a wonderful trip!  We would recommend it to anyone who is in good enough shape to make the hike.  God sure made some amazing things!  Here's a few pictures:

     Looking up at a ridge from the Tonto Trail, about halfway down inside the Canyon.

    Looking out toward the main Canyon from the Tonto Trail.

    A big cottonwood tree with the Canyon in the background, on the Tonto Trail.

    Near the start of the short hike on the second day...more of the canyon from the Lower part of the Bright Angel Trail.

    we have to go down THAT?  A view down the Devil's Corckscrew on the Bright Angel Trail.  Worse, we have to climb that tomorrow?

    There is a surprising amount of water in the Canyon, like this waterfall near the Bright Angel Trail.

    One more view of the Grand Canyon, from the Bright Angel Trail.

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