A Bright day onthe Bright angel trail, and on the rim.

The “bright angel” of the trail must have been looking out for me, because when I woke up, my ankle was feeling much better and the weather just could not have been better!.  So I started heading down the trail just before sunrise at 6am.

There are many dire warnings at the trail head about not walking all the way down to the river and back in one day.  They say things like “there are many people in better shape than you can possibly be who have tried to do this and died..”    This is probably true, but it refers to trying to do it in the summer, when the temperature at the top is around 80, and it can be as hot as 105 at the bottom.  I’m pretty sure that these do not apply to a day like today – perfectly crisp 41 degrees at the top in the morning, and 78 at the bottom!  In fact, I met several people doing the same thing as me, including a group of very fit young people, who were JOGGING the rim-to rim trail!!!!!  And also two 70 year old gentleman who said they were planning on doing this leisurely, and had brought head lamps in case the came back after sunset- which would make it a really long day, since the sun sets around 7:15pm.....

But early in the morning , and particularly toward the bottom, it was very quiet and peaceful, a lovely reprieve from the throngs of people on the rim.

This being said – the fact that is was doable, certainly does not make it easy – this is no stroll in the park….  It is 9 miles (one way) and a change of elevation of 4600 hundred feet (also one way). 

The way down took me almost exactly 3 hours, and was really pleasant.  Here I am on the Tonto plateau (about ½ down) – I don’t think I looked as happy on the way back up.

 

I made it to the river shortly before 9am.  

Since I had given myself a turn-around time of 9:30am, I decided to keep walking along the gorge, to the foot bridge that goes to the camp ground (the bridge is in the background)– I think I’ll have to add “Stay  at the Phantom range campground overnight” to my bucket list, it looks really cool…

 Then the long climb back began – here are the switchback getting out of the lower gorge,

 and the trail just in front of me (taken from the same spot).

 On the way, I saw many creeks, and pretty water falls, which is unusual this time of year, and result of the recent storms.

I tried to rest at Indian gardens (a welcomed oasis of shade on the Tonto plateau) before the last 4 miles climb, but was literally harassed by squirrels:  they must not have read the sign saying that they should stay away from tourists, and that they carry bubonic plague….  So I moved on…. 

 From the Tonto plateau, there is a very good, and very daunting view of the rim, which is where the trail eventually leads back....

The last 3 miles of switchbacks were tough – and also much more crowded.  

 I rewarded myself with some ice cream by the rim!  My i-phone, knowing what matters,  choose to focus on the ice cream, and not the canyon……

While I did this, Joe spent some quality time with the super-duper camera lens.  Here is a (small) sample of the magnificent pictures he took.

 He also met some interesting wild life (shown here is a female elk), and many pretty flowers....

To celebrate our last day at the Grand Canyon National park, we had dinner at the El Tovar:
Appetizer and local wine,

 Desert with Merlot (entree not shown.....)

During dinner, and walking back to the room, we encountered this really big elk, who seemed to greatly enjoy the grass in front of the restaurant. (he was with a couple of females and yearlings, the rangers worked hard at keeping everyone within safe distance - this is the beginning of the mating season, and they can be quite territorial).

We enjoyed our last evening lights on the canyon.  Tomorrow, our last stop on this south-west adventure, Sedona.