No Small Mountain (the Grand Canyon)

Monday, March 24, 2008, 8 am? 9 am? (which time zone are we in?)
The next morning after some free hotel breakfast (an actual hot meal, no continental style breakfast here), we headed back into the Grand Canyon. Mid-morning we arrived at the South Kaibob trailhead. Since no one remembered a map (1 of the 10 essential hiking items) I made Adrian photograph the map sign at the trail head. (Haven’t these people seen or read Into the Wild?). The hike into the canyon is like climbing a mountain in reverse. You do all the down switchbacks on the way in knowing that every step down is a step up later (when you’re more tired).

The hike had some great view points, so we stopped to take lots of pictures and let Jessica sketch a few times. The hike had major stopping points at “Ooh Aah Point," “Cedar Ridge,” and “Skeleton Point.” I never did figure out why it was called Skeleton Point.

We finished the hike in about 4.5 hours. With all our stopping, the hike down actually took half an hour more than our hike back up. We were sweaty and exhausted so we decided to try to find the IMAX so we could enjoy the Grand Canyon from indoors.

We found the IMAX just outside of the park, and shelled out entirely too much money for the 34 minute show. The IMAX video was a bit too educational, but it was fun, as the IMAX usually is. We determined that the best way to visit the Grand Canyon was either by air, or from the river while whitewater rafting. If I ever drag my children to the Grand Canyon, we will do it one of those two ways. (Can you tell how much I loved the Grand Canyon?) From the IMAX video I determined there were surely amazing things to see, but we were not going to see them from the trails along the south rim. Luckily, our time in the Grand Canyon was complete.