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Weather: Our day in the Grand Canyon saw temperatures of around 80-90 and cloudy
skies all day with some sun breaking through at various times. The lack of sun made hiking
much easier but also took away from the awe of the canyon.
We got to the Grand Canyon just after the sun went down and set up camp
after grabbing dinner at a nearby steak house (because it would have been
too much trouble to cook). Pat, Tim, and Steven had rattle snake as an
appetizer and Steven decided it tastes like thick, spicy, calarmari.
So the next morning we woke up and went to a couple of look out points just to see
the canyon a little. The sky was actually pretty cloudy, so we couldn't see as well
as I would have liked to, but it was still darn amazing. We then went from the point
over to the village store, which turned out to be a full scale gift store/super market.
We bought about 4 gallons of Gatorade to bring with us hiking to keep our electrolytes
up. We also got bagels and orange juice for the next day as well as pasta for the night's
dinner. Pat, Tim, Chris, and Steven had enough energy and decided to tackle the hike
down the canyon along
the Bright Angel trail, while April and I would hike along the Rim Trail because we had
slightly less energy and wanted to relax.
April & Shawn:
We hiked along the Rim Trail from Bright Angel Lodge to the Abyss, about 6 miles. There
was a lot of wind and the trail really was along the rim (to within one foot in some places)
so our hike was not exactly as relaxing as we had thought, but we wouldn't have wanted
it any other way. The lack of full sun dulled the red of the canyon, but we still had
wonderful views the whole way. We actually took a ride on the canyon shuttle from the Abyss
to Hermit's Rest (see map) and then back to Bright Angel Lodge where we rested and waited
for the other guys to return.
Tim, Chris, Pat, and Steven:
They worked their way down the side of the canyon and all the way to a point overlooking the
Colorado River. That was 6 miles, and then they walked 6 miles back, uphill. They did the climb
up that was supposed to six hours in three. When they got back up to the top they were
all very proud of themselves, not to mention exhausted. We got back to the campsite after
an amazing sunset and Tim and Steven fell asleep while Chris and Pat tried to cook pasta
with our failing supply of propane and then the wood fire we had. After awhile Chris managed
to make perfect pasta and the four of us still up had some before falling asleep.
The next morning we packed up the camp and had a last look at the canyon before departing for
Las Vegas!
© 1997-2001 Shawn Patton
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