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!
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