Hiking the Grand Canyon

I am very behind on blogging. On Thursday, October 30, 2009, my sister, Shelli and I did a 13 mile hike in the Grand Canyon with my friends Sandra and Quinn Nixon. We went up on Wednesday night and stayed in a hotel just outside the park. As you can see in the pictures below, it started out freezing cold but then warmed up as the day went on. We started on the South Kaibab then headed across the canyon on the Tonto trail and headed up the Bright Angel. We started about 7:45 AM (about an hour behind schedule because my alarm didn't go off) and finished around 4 PM. It took us 8 hours. It took Shelli about 7 hours. It was a great and beautiful experience. Poor Quinn, the only guy had to listen to a lot of chatter. He frequently stopped us from talking to point out something beautiful to look at. He commented that if he weren't there we would miss all the beauty because we were too busy talking. He was probably right. The hike up the Bright Angel, only about 4 miles, was one of the hardest things I've done, maybe ever. I was wiped out but couldn't stop.

The only casualty of the hike was my right big toenail. My boots were too loose for much of the hike and I kept stubbing it on the way out of the canyon so I was sunk.


(This is Shelli and I bundled up on the shuttle to the trailhead -- It was freezing cold)

(These are my friends, Sandra and Quinn Nixon on the shuttle before the hike)

(This is me and Shelli at the top of the trailhead before starting our hike)

(This is me on the Tonto trail. We found a beautiful oasis in the canyon. It was surprising and amazing)

(This is me and Shelli at the end of the hike at the top of the Bright Angel. Shelli had been at the top for quite some time and I was the last to the top but I finished)

I would definitately do another Grant Canyon hike. I would like to camp overnight next time.