What's It Like to Hike in the Grand Canyon?

After watching the sunrise,  we ate breakfast at El Tovar lodge before beginning our hike into the canyon.  Driving from the visitor's center to the lodge,  we were surprised to see many elk in the parking lot area.  They seemed to be very accustomed to having their picture taken.

When we got to the trail head,  we read the welcome sign.

  We were unsure how many miles we would hike down.

The sign did a very good job of making us cautious. 

We were not planning on hiking the whole day

 and did not pack a lunch.  

We did pack energy bars and lots of water.

After looking at the map, 

our goal was to hike to the 1 1/2 Mile Resthouse.

We had heard many horror stories about Grand Canyon hikes,

 but we found the Bright Angel Trail 

to be nicely groomed and very safe.

There were many switchbacks, which made the hike a lot easier. 

It was easy going down, but we were always thinking about 

how we would feel going back up.

There were many people of all ages on the trail.

We heard many languages spoken too. 

It was surprising to me to see so many foreigners.

I kept using this peak as a reference point 

to see how far down we had hiked.  

We reached the 1 1/2 Mile Resthouse in only 35 minutes.

  There were 3 latrines and water available.  

Wish we had known this ahead of time 

so we didn't carry so much water with us.

We were feeling good and decided 

to hike down to the Three Mile Resthouse.

It took us 45 minutes to hike this 2nd leg 

for a total of 80 minutes for 3 miles.

Lots of people were turning around at this point.

  Most of the people that continued were the ones 

with the huge packs and bedrolls on their backs

 that were planning to camp overnight at the bottom.

There was also a very large sign at this 3 mile 

point that really made you consider your plans.  

It was so easy to go down.  

How difficult would it be to climb back up??? 

We decided this was the end of the road for us.

After a short rest and bathroom stop,  

we began the ascent.

We felt really bad for the campers on their way back up!

Stops were more frequent and we could feel

 our hearts beating in our chests,

 but we just kept plodding along, 

one foot after another.

It was nice that most of the trail was 

in the shade at this time of year.

This was my attempt at being daring.

  I was planning on standing up, 

but approaching the edge of the rock,  

I lost my confidence!

We made it!  Without any problems!

This is a screen shot from Google Earth.  

I traced the trail that we hiked in blue.

It took us 20 minutes longer to go back up than it did to go down.

Not bad!

The whole hike was just over 3 hours!

I highly recommend this hike!  

Of course, this was at the end of October with the temperature only in the 50's.  Doing this hike in the heat of the summer could be brutal with temps soaring over 100 degrees.

I loved the Grand Canyon

and I am so glad that we were able

to hike at least part of the Bright Angel Trail!

Grand Canyon - Dusk and Dawn

Over the years,  I've never had much of an interest in going to the Grand Canyon.  It always seemed more urgent that I get to Europe and experience different cultures.  After all, it's just a bunch of rocks.

I guess I wasn't ready to appreciate the Grand Canyon yet. 

Now, at the age of 56, I felt that same yearning that I once felt for Europe.

When my husband told me he had a business trip to Arizona

and asked if I'd like to accompany him,  I suggested we go a few days early and see some sights.

That's how this amazing trip came to be. 

(click on photos to view larger) 

We flew to Phoenix and made our way north.  The landscape changed a lot during that 4 hour drive.  We had booked a motel for the night 5 miles from the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  We pulled into town a few minutes before sunset and drove right to the park.

THIS was our first view of the canyon.  The sun was high enough to light the top layer of stone.  It's almost impossible to grasp its beauty and size in pictures.   

We were at the Mather Point viewing area.
It was off season, so it wasn't very crowded - which was very nice.

The colors of the rock changed depending on which direction
you were looking.

Everyone had an iPhone or a camera.

After the sun disappeared, the colors became very pastel. Then it was too dark to really see anything.

The next morning,  we got up at 5:30AM, which wasn't hard to do since we were still on east coast time.  We dressed warmly and went back to Mather Point for sunrise.

Silhouettes were all we could see at first.  The sky was a brilliant orange.

But minute by minute, the painting began to reveal itself.

The increasing light painted highlights on peaks

 giving depth to the scene.

The sky itself was spectacular (The little specks on the bottom center of the picture are the people at the next viewing point).

As sunrise got even closer,
a part of the sky looked like molten lava.

As is usual for sunrise,  the color pretty much disappears
from the sky the moment the sun appears on the horizon.

Then it becomes almost impossible to look in the direction of the sun, which is a good thing because the show now begins in back of you.

It was amazing to see stripes of
orange, red, and purple on the rocks.

This is how we left the scene to go inside to eat breakfast. 

We had to fuel up for our hike into the canyon!