Arizona Day 7

We were excited to be in the Grand Canyon.

We were up early today despite the late night at the chuckwagon. We wanted to get up the road as soon as possible toward the Grand Canyon, which is an hour and a half drive. We were gassed up with fresh ice and rolling north by seven o’clock. That put us in the park before nine. Our first order of business was to try the Bright Angel Trail. This trail runs ten or more miles down into the canyon, and then ten much more difficult miles out again. We had no intention of going that far, though. We wanted to make it about a half mile down and then a half mile back up. This took us through a tunnel and along the lower rim of the hike. The kids had a great time, but the straight drop to the canyon floor (or at least the next switch back of the trail waaaay down there) was too much for Mom and Dad. Neither of us are afraid of heights, but we are afraid of our kids pushing and jostling and tripping to their untimely ends. The boys were also super tired, so no one was really enjoying the hike. We decided to turn around early and head back up.

The boys were amazed at how large the Grand Canyon is. 

Mom and Dad love the Grand Canyon.

We took this picture along the Bright Angel Trail. 

Lots of people offered to take our family picture on this trip. 

We made it to the first tunnel, but not the second tunnel like we had planned.

After we huffed and puffed our way back to the rim, we decided to ride the shuttle along the rim for a while. Hermit’s Road can only be accessed by shuttle bus, and there are many stops along the way. We stopped and checked out the views at most of them. It was really beautiful seeing the Colorado River a mile below. The boys spent the whole day looking for condors. We spotted some turkey vultures, which excited them for a while, but we didn’t see condors. After exiting and entering the shuttle several times, we decided to hike between viewpoints. It was a beautiful walk along the rim, and it seemed much safer than the Bright Angel Trail. We enjoyed the flat hike and were blown away by the size of the Grand Canyon.

We enjoyed our time on Hermit's Road.

Dad copying the drone sign, but he thought it looked like a pooping sign!

There were lots of great views. 

We learned all about John Wesley Powell this year in Knowledge Bowl. 

Every overview had a different angle of the canyon.

Mom liked how this picture of Mark turned out!

The boys are always such great travelers. 

Mom and Dad haven't been to the Grand Canyon since they were kids. 

The canyon is so deep it is almost impossible to see the bottom.

Don't worry. I'm not really sitting on the edge!

We came across this table on our hike. What a great spot for lunch!

The colors turned out weird in this pic, but I like the view.

Sometimes Dax and Seth like each other.

Our favorite overlooks were the ones where we could see the Colorado River. 

The fireplace inside Hermit's Rest was HUGE!

We had lunch out of the cooler back at the van before heading off to another hike. The Trail of Time hike went east along the rim following the age of the canyon. On the ground there were markers covering the two billion year history of Grand Canyon. Each step we took was a million years, and stones and interpretive signs were set along the way. We enjoyed looking at the different rock layers dating back to their creation billions of years ago. We still didn’t see any condors, though.

Seth took a few minutes to relax during lunch! 

Mom loves her new Adventure shirt!
Also, that is not a fake backdrop. It's the canyon all right.

We loved the info along the Trail of Time. And Seth in this picture is priceless. 

We had a great time at the Grand Canyon today!

We finished the walk at the Geology Center and then took a short ride to the Visitor Center. The boys participated in a Ranger Talk about spiders, scorpions, and bees, which completed their Junior Ranger program. It was their twelfth badge of the week!

The shuttle took us back to the van and we moved up the hill closer to our hotel, and miraculously found a parking spot while other cars circled like condors. Then we walked down to dinner. There is a decent restaurant in the hotel, and everyone ate really well after the long day. On the way out, the boys thought they spotted a condor. They sent Mark running back to the van to get Mom’s long camera lens, but they were disappointed to find out it was just a stump. Mark nearly killed himself running like that right after dinner, and the disappointment didn’t help. Finally, we got checked into the hotel and showered up, ready for a new adventure and another day!

We watched the sunset over the Grand Canyon. 

Mom fell asleep between the boys to prevent fighting.
Dad thought he could sneak a picture, but Mom knew what was going on!
She how she's got one eye open?