Grand Canyon National Park: Wednesday, March 31st

Back to the Grand Canyon we went (Dave no longer was left wondering why we were planning to come back to the Grand Canyon but moving campgrounds - at the KOA, there was a cabin with bathroom for Ben and Liz to stay in, while we could camp just across the pathway - perfect!). We stopped for the obligatory ‘sign’ picture on the way in. As we entered the Park, there were three or four different groups of elk grazing in the trees by the side of the road – so wonderful to see these amazing animals in the wild. Animals in National Parks tend to be fairly unconcerned by cars; they are not all threatened by people at a distance.

We thought it would be neat to do the rim hike again to Powell Point so we took the bus to Mohave Point. It was certainly quite a few degrees cooler than the couple of days before, we wore far more clothing today and really needed to bundle up, it was pretty windy. We thoroughly enjoyed the hike though, of course Ben took as many pictures as Dave and they both went far closer to the edge than I could tolerate. It had actually dried up quite a bit and was nowhere near as muddy, so we made the hike quite a bit faster this time.

After lunch, we parked up at the Visitor Center and caught the bus out towards Yaki Point. Dave and Jake had been wanting to hike down at least a little way into the Canyon, so today was the perfect opportunity as Ben and Liz were happy to join them. Caitlin also chose to go, while the two little ones were fairly emphatic in their decision to head home! I was a tad apprehensive as we’d heard from the Rangers that the top of Kaibab Trail was still quite icy, but evidently it wasn’t too bad.

The five ‘hikers’ got off the bus at the South Kaibab Trailhead, while Nate, Becca and I stayed on until Yaki Point, from there, we could see the route that the Kaibab Trail would take – there was an ‘ooh-ahh’ point about a mile down, followed by some serious zig-zagging switchbacks. They were quite glad to be above it and not on it, I think!

We drove home and they enjoyed a hot chocolate while I cooked dinner - did I mention how chilly it was?!

When the intrepid crew returned, they said it was a great hike but quite narrow in places. Apparently, I would have been more than nervous had I been present, so it certainly worked out that I wasn’t! They hiked about 3 miles total, down about 1,200 feet and took yet more pictures – they were ready for a big meal by the time they got back!