Grand Canyon rim to rim hike

Some of you know that Sheri and I were away in mid July doing a Grand Canyon north rim to south rim hike. Twenty-four miles; elevation change of 6000ft, starting at 8000ft! We've been to the Grand Canyon a few times previous, and had chatted about doing this hike, but hadn't been "that" serious about it! Well, me and my big mouth, suggested we do it this year when the kids were in camp. After an awkward pause, Sheri started to warm up to the idea.

So on July 12th we flew to Phoenix AZ, zipped our way to Canyon de Chelly for a few days and then headed for the Grand Canyon. We needed to leave our car on the south side, take a 5 hr shuttle to the north side and stay overnight. At 5am the next morning, we were on our way. Awesome experience and without hiking poles, a knee crusher. We made it to Phantom ranch by the Colorado river around 2pm and had the best cup of lemonade ever! The temperature was a cool 108 f.

After a a hearty stew supper, an informative interpretive program about the California Condor (seriously, really interesting!) and a black light hunt for scorpions, we dropped into bed. Seemingly minutes later (4am to be exact) we were on our way again, trying to avoid the 110 degree heat in the middle of the day. After meeting waaaay more hikers than the other day, and mule trains taking supplies and people up and down the south rim, we finally made it back out on the south rim by around 1pm.

What a great experience! Pretty tiring, but if you plan ahead with the proper gear, water, hiking poles, etc. it is totally manageable. To see a variety of shots from our trip visit my webpage at www.merlinbraunphotography.com