Travel Blog

First, I feel I must apologize for the Arches pictures that are scrolling at the top of the page. I'm waiting for Phil to get off work, and I just picked five in a row from my picture list, and they're all Arches. But they're pretty, so I'm going to leave them.

We're having a snow day at the Grand Canyon. I'm enjoying it, but I think I'm in the minority. The major problem is for folks who have never been here before. They sort of wanted to see the canyon, and here's the view:

You may not believe me, but there are rocks out there. Needless to say, we've had a few cranky customers today.

But our past days off were fabulous weather-wise. We decided to actually get out and hike. We picked South Kaibab Trail because it's steeper and more difficult than Bright Angel, and we wanted a workout. We weren't disappointed, even though we barely went three miles.

Here's the view from the top:

And here's the trail we went down (and down and down):

Here's me taking a little breather:

And here's Phil hanging out close to Oo-Ah Point (yes, that's what it's really called).

When we got down there where all those other people were, and met some Penn Staters, took a picture of the canyon, and headed back up.

I suppose the staircases are supposed to make things easier on folks, but I hated them. I'm already hiking...why do I have to get on the StairMaster?

That's where my day became less fun, but it wasn't too horrible. We made sure to take lots of rests so my heart could return to a normal rhythm. But remember all those switchbacks coming down?

And when we made it back to the top, a smiley mule was there to greet us:

A couple more times up and down that trail, going a bit further each time, and Phil and I will be ready for the 2-day trip to the river and back. We can't wait!