The Grand Canyon South Rim

When you first see the Grand Canyon, you are struck by the enormity of it.  It is quite breathtaking.  The layers, colors, and shapes.  You just cannot help but keep looking and looking.

There is an extensive bus system that takes you to different view points along the south rim.  We were surprised how many visitors were there this time of year.  The buses were always full.

We stopped at the visitor’s center to ask which would be the best trail to take with the kids.  They recommended Bright Angel Trail.  So we filled our camelbaks with water and off we went.

Summer has been enjoying taking pictures.  She is developing a good eye and it is fun to look at her pictures.  Her perspective is always different than mine and she sees things that I miss.  I hope she will continue with the photography throughout our travels.

A small photo just cannot capture the grandeur.  You just have to see it for yourself.

As we were hiking down, we passed a small group of people in their 70’s.  I noticed one of the men with bilateral knee braces and asked him how his knees were holding up.  He said they were doing good today.  He also said that they started on the north rim, hiked down, camped at the bottom, and were now hiking up the south rim!  What!?!  Dave and I were both impressed.  I wish I would have asked to take their picture.  That is just awesome!  Dave and I are planning to continue with our adventures, so maybe that will be us in a few years!

This picture shows a continuation of the trail we were on.  There were many signs at the visitors center warning that if you take a trail to remember that it takes twice as long to climb up as it does to go down.  And to watch your time, so you can be back up before sunset.  Our best guess is that we only went down about 3/4 of a mile.  We would have liked to go farther, but we had two kids that needed to get back to the restroom.

 

At this point Luie is getting pretty desperate for the restroom and saying “I don’t think I can make it mama!”  So I changed his negative to a positive and he chanted all the rest of the way up:  “I can do it!  I can do it…..!”  Yup, he made it!

We saw people using binoculars and telephoto to look across the side of the canyon.  We couldn’t see with our naked eyes, but with telephoto, we were able to see and photograph the goats on the steep cliff of the canyon.

In the evening there were a lot of mule deer and elk roaming around.

What an amazing day!