Day 2 – Into the Grand Canyon (S. Kaibab)
Apr 10
2010
I was up and ready to go this morning. After years of wanting to hike the Grand Canyon, I was so excited to get started. We had an hour drive and we stopped along the way for a hearty Denny’s breakfast, our last real meal for the next two and a half days. When we finally arrived at the canyon, we toured the rim a bit and made one last shopping stop.
first look into the canyon
hubby, peach, and sylvis a the rim
hubby and i ready to begin our trek
At last, we caught the shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead and started our descent into the canyon around 13:00.
south kaibab trailhead
view from the start of the trail
I was still a bit anxious when we started. I knew I could do it but I just didn’t know what lay ahead of me and I was a bit nervous. I had heard that the trail could get scary. I have a history of freaking out on extremely narrow, two-sided-fall trails. I was led to believe that this trail could be like that in places. It was not. It was, however, a very downhill trail. By that I mean that there was steepness the ENTIRE way. There were not stretches of level ground with steps between – there were steps or steep declines and switchbacks all the way down.
looking down at the first of many switchbacks
looking back up at that same set of switchbacks, nearly invisible in the cliff-face
a little trail and a lot of view
Also , I have never done any packing. I started the trek this morning carrying 25 extra pounds of supplies and equipment. I was unsure how my legs, back, and shoulders would adjust to this extra stress.
out of sequence but here's me showing off my awesome pack
By the end of it, my two big toes (not to mention my broken fourth toe) were killing me. But the views… the views were incredible.
panoramic views
me, hubby, canyon
hubby in nature
our first view of the river!
twisty turny trail
hubby taking it in
desert blooms - this is one of many photos taken by peach with my little d10 after his very nice SLR died
vista
getting into the red earth
lean on me
crazy swedes passing hubby as they RUN the trail (by peach)
the river, in all its silty glory
monoliths (by peach)
hubby and me (by peach)
red rock (by peach)
And the hike was wonderful. It has been so long since we really did any hiking that I had almost forgotten how enjoyable it really is. I LOVE hiking. Even toward the bottom, when my toes had started throbbing, I had a huge smile on my face and was enjoying every minute of it. Although, I will admit to being overjoyed at the sight of the black bridge, which I knew to be the end-marker of our descent and the gateway to our end-point.
first view of black bridge - the end is in sight
more river views
zoom-in on the above shot showing the silver bridge and some mule corrals
getting closer to black bridge and the end of this crazy descent
panorama (by peach)
Once we crossed the bridge, it was fairly level ground and only a ten or fifteen minute walk to the Bright Angel campground.
hubby at the mouth of the bridge tunnel - smiling because there's no more downhill!
view of silver bridge taken from black bridge
enter black bridge (by peach)
sylvis and hubby and me coming out of the tunnel (by peach)
peach, sylvis, me, hubby at black bridge
fleur de cactus
We found a campsite and settled in.
peach busting out the tools to set up camp
hubby building shelter
sylvis and me guarding home and hearth
My toes were thrilled to get out of my boots and into some comfy flip-flops – what can I say, they are beach feet!
drying and airing out the socks and boots
Peach cooked dinner (Mountain House lasagna for hubby and I – a surprisingly tasty meal), which we took with us to the ranger program up at Phantom Ranch where we learned all about the CCC and the improvements that they made to the canyon. When we returned to our campsite, we shared a dark chocolate cheesecake dessert (basically just chocolate pudding with toffee crumbles, no cheesecake flavor) before calling it a night.
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