Travel Blog

We went hiking again on one of our days off. I got to pick this week's hike, and I chose a hike that is not on the maps. We heard about it from some rangers, even though none of the rangers we talked to have done it yet. It's not like no one ever sees this spot. In fact, you can rent it out for weddings and whatnot, but since it is a place that people pay to rent out, the park keeps it off the maps. Phil and I got directions, but we never do anything the easy way. So we decided to try to get to Shoshone point by taking the Rim Trail from Mather Point, past Yaki Point and on to Shoshone Point.

But before I share pictures of the hike, take a look at my cutie-patootie here:

If you can tear your eyes away from that sweet face, we'll move on. Anyway, we started at Mather Point, which is THE most popular view point on the South Rim. Here's what it looks like from far away (I wasn't going near the crowds).

You can sort of see the people by the railing there. When I took the above picture, we were already pretty far down the Rim Trail from Yaki Point. We got some pretty nice views of the canyon on this hike, and the Rim Trail was nice and even and in pretty good shape. 

And it was fun to see the South Kaibab trail from a different perspective.

That first picture of the Kaibab trail is what Phil and I hiked down about a month ago. And the second picture shows some more of the switchbacks that are way down in the canyon, but still part of the Kaibab trail. Eventually folks get to Phantom Ranch and rest for a night or two before coming back out.

Partway into our hike, while we were taking a rest beside a tree, this fellow flew up to us to have a conversation.

We weren't sure what he was trying to tell us, but we told him if Timmy was down the well, there was nothing we could do about it.

We never did make it to Shoshone Point because the route we decided to take is still a bit snow covered, but we think we got pretty darn close. If we would have had snowshoes, I think we could have made it. But the hike was fun, and I got to take Phil's picture next to this funky plant, and that just made it all worth it.

GO STEELERS!