The beginning of this month JP and I hiked the Grand Canyon with some good friends Dan Bingham and Kimberly Kassis. We back-packed down the South Kaibab trail, camped out in Bright Angel Campground, had a tasty steak dinner at Phantom Ranch and then took it easy going back out...we had our packs hauled out by mules and then we took our time going up the Bright Angel trail.
We got to experience the Grand Canyon in a unique way as most people do not hike down to the bottom. We hiked through blizzard/winter conditions at the rim, wet and rainy spring/fall conditions in the middle and summery hot conditions at the bottom. We had a wonderful time, and for those of you who haven't seen the Grand Canyon with your own eyes, we highly recommend it!!
South Rim Views:
Natalie, Jp, Dan and Kimberly at the South Rim lookout of the Grand Canyon
Jp getting all geared up for the hike down.
Dan, Kimberly and Natalie at S. Kaibab trail head.Views from South Kaibab Trail:
Our first view of the Colorado River
Our first views of the canyon we were going to be camping in.
One of the bridges over the Colorado River to the Bright Angel/Phantom Ranch areas.The bottom of the Canyon...Bright Angel Campground and Phantom Ranch:
Our tents at Bright Angel Campground.
Jp at Phantom Ranch
Phantom Ranch Cabins...for those who aren't adventurous enough to sleep in tents. 
The steak dinner we had awaiting us after a long day's hike.
Jp and his new furry friend. We tried coming up with names...SaMULE, BartholoMULE...
We had to have our backpacks to the loading dock by 6:30 AM for the mules to carry them out. That meant we had to break camp much earlier....hence the dozing off at breakfast.Bright Angel Trail Views:
Kimberly stretching out before the hike uphill.
One of the mule trains we passed. 
Dan by a waterfall.
Jp looking at a Ram we saw on the trail. It was huge and it came barreling down the mountain side!!
Natalie showing off the cramp-on's. They made all the difference for hiking in the snow...no slippage with them on. Another piece of useful equipment that were hiking poles.
Natalie, Jp and Kimberly almost back to the top of the south rim...definitely worth air punching over!!
Jp, Natalie, Kimberly and Dan at the top of Bright Angel Trail. It was a difficult hike, but extremely rewarding!
1 comment:
Wow, I am impressed with the views! And am even more impressed that a big horn decided to barrel down the mountain to get it's picture, how scary!
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