Awesome Adventure!!!

We hiked down the south Kaibab trail with Lucy, her daughter Mary and her friend Ian. It was a gorgeous morning and we had a marvelous time. By the time the afternoon came, most of us were at the Bright Angel Campground. By then, Nan's knees and legs were fried. I went back up into the red limestone formation and doused her with water and took her pack. It was 105°F at the bottom, but the Bright Angel Creek was spring fed - cool and refreshing. Our planned trek out to Clear Creek was put on hold and we convinced the ranger that we needed to stay put at the Bright Angel campground - they agreed and we had two fabulous days of day hiking and cooling off in the wonderful spring fed waters. It took us two days to hike out the north Kaibab trail via Cottonwood campground. The scenery was beyond description - you just have to experience it to understand it. We both found the north Kaibab trail as we had experienced it in the year 2000 with Mike and Maren - wonderful, scenic, and challenging. We were all awe inspired for another few months until the trail will call us back for more scenic adventures. Join us! It will be in the Sierras in September - Mineral King area.

We're going back

Its been five years since Nan and I ventured down the South Kaibab trail in the Grand Canyon. We have done two other major trips to the GC since then, but this year we are going back to do the entire Kaibab trail - rim to rim. We're going to start on the south rim and head to the north rim with a 9 mi detour out to the clear creek drainage on the north rim. Our friend and extraordinary hiking partner Lucy (from Montgomery AL) is going with us. Her daughter and her friend Ian are also going to join this hiking troop. It should be a fabulous time in the GC. We've never been there in May and we're looking forward to it. Temps on the rim are running 70 day/30 night; at the Colorado river it is more like 90/60°F. For those of you who have not been to the GC, you better get your butts there - its a magical mysterious place full of awesome scenery that you cannot describe to anyone - you just have to 'experience' it and the best way to do that is to wander down into the bowels of its inner canyon. There are Vishnu Shists (rock types) there that are 2 billion years old - some of the oldest rocks on the planet - this is one of the few places on the planet where you can actually touch, see, and experience the wonder of geological time and space. We're already talking about a repeat of the Hermit trail for next year. If you want to get in on this fun-filled adventure - you'd better let us know. These permits are some of the most difficult that we have to plan and plan for so that we can get the back country permit trips that we want. The number of people that want these permits is truly phenomenol. I faxed our request Jan 1 2006 at 0700 a.m. this year - thankfully it was early enough - but, I have to admit I fell asleep and thought it might be too late!!! People from all over the planet want to hike the Grand Canyon and once you've been there you know why.