Grand Canyon

Eric & I took two days to drive from Renton to the Grand Canyon via Nevada & Las Vegas. We camped just North of Ely, NV in below freezing temps; it was a cold night. The next day we met the rest of our party in Vegas and headed to the GC, South rim, via the Hoover Dam.

 

Brothers at the Hoover dam:

 

 

2nd night was spent at the campsite on the rim. Temp as a warm 36 degrees. Our first view of the Grand Canyon was at sunset:

 

Next morning we began the 7 mile hike down the South Kaibab trail to Phantom Ranch.  Start of the trail:

 Dry & hot:

 

 

 

 

  Mule train at the rest area:

 Wildlife:

 Looking down at the Colorado River & our 1st camp: 

 1st camp:

 

Day 2: Hiking 7 miles from Phantom Ranch to Cottonwood Camp, with a stop at Ribbon falls:

 More wildlife:

 

 Lunch & a rest at Ribbon Falls:

 The "hero" shot:

 What's for lunch??

 





Day 3: Eric & I hiked to the North rim and back, and then down to Phantom Ranch: a total of 25 miles, 4000 ft up and 5500 down. The rest of the party hiked back down to Phantom Ranch where we met them:

 At the top of the North Rim:

 There is our camp, down below:

 A view back to South Rim, where we left the car two days earlier:

Headed back down:

 Back at Cottonwood, looking up to the North rim... where we had stood just 3 hours before:

 And finally back to Phantom Ranch & the rest of our party, tired but triumphant:

Day 4: We hike from Phantom ranch to Indian Gardens (half way back). The rest of the party set up camp here; Eric & I climbed the rest of the way out... a total of 10 miles.

 

 Colorado river:

 Our goal, the South rim:

 Near the top, looking back down at Indian Gardens:

At the top:

 

After returning to the top, we found our car & drove to our friend's house in Vegas for a shower & a night of sleep in-doors. The next day we drove down 'The Strip" in Vegas (it does not hold a candle to the glory of God we had just seen in the GC). Then we drove through Death Valley on our way to Mt Shasta where we spent the night (another cold night in the tent... but we slept well). Then through Bend, OR on our way to Renton.

 

Looking for water in Death Valley: 

 

We managed to beat the gov't shut-down by one day. However, we did cut our itinerary one day short. But the side effect of closing the park was that after the first day, there were fewer & fewer people in the canyon. In fact, we saw no one the entire hike from Indian Garden to the rim; it was like we had the canyon to ourselves.

 

This was an amazing trip. The Glory of God was on display from the deserts of Nevada to the epic-ness of the Grand Canyon. The colors, the fauna & flora, the companionship was all great; and it all pointed to the Creator of it all.