on our hike this morning into the canyon, we followed bright angel trail. signs along the way want hikers to understand that dehydration, heat stroke, and other horrible horrible things will befall the unprepared hiker. they implore you not to go too deep into the canyon because you must hike your way out. the title of this post is taken directly from one of these signs.
we set out after sunrise on the bright angel trail. the trail follows an old native american route. we followed it all the way to plateau point, which is a nice overlook of the colorado river. the complete route is 12 1/2 miles with a 3000 foot elevation change. that elevation change occurs over about 3 miles. it's steep. here is a picture of the trail that we took the evening before the hike. you can see the line of the trail extend all the way to it's end point at plateau point.
the morning sun made the canyon even more incredible to view, and getting close to the walls as we descended made the visit to the canyon much more intimate. here is a view along the trail.
when we reached the 4.5 mile mark, we were at a rest stop called indian garden. we were shocked by how lush and verdant it was. there is a river there, and a large grove of poplar trees (which provides a very welcome shade from the sun and 80 degree temperatures). as we approached indian garden, we took this photo of the spring time greenery along the trail. this is 3000 feet below the rim.
from indian garden, we continued out to plateau point. we were rewarded with expansive views of the canyon, intimate views of the river, and the roaring sounds of the rapids.
the climb out was hard, as expected. we were cheered along by this little guy.
we also saw an impressive number of huge california condors cruising right overhead and nesting in the cliffs. there were squirrels.
tomorrow we depart the grand canyon and head for zion national park. we have no idea what to expect. we'll be consulting our national parks book tonight, just as soon as we get back from this sweet cafeteria.
hopefully we will have internet access. keep your fingers crossed.
4 comments:
that's seven years good luck seeing the desert mountain goat. California isn't the same without you two. Enjoy Zion. As you know, its sweet.
Wow! I'm exhausted just reading about the hike! Meanwhile there is snow in the forecast for tomorrow... you're still coming home, right?
Wow, verdant indeed!
My favorite line in this post is "there were squirrels"
Post a Comment