How the Grand Canyon became Grand - for me

I have to start out by saying that while the Grand Canyon is obviously a beautiful and unique place, it became much more so, and much more personalized for me by going down into it.  By doing this hike, the GC became MY Grand Canyon!! 

So here we are, at the South Kaibab trailhead.  The day has come!  May 2nd and time to hike!!  Time to see if all those conditioning hikes were enough and how hard is this thing, really?!

 Up in time to catch the first shuttle to the trailhead and on the trail before sunrise.  It was weird deciding what clothes to take.  Because of the early rim start, I knew it would be pretty chilly (I think it was probably in the low 40s) that morning.  But that would be the ONLY time it would be anywhere close to below 70 or so on the whole hike!  My good ol' Frogg Toggs super lightweight rain jacket and my also lightweight easy-on/easy-off rain/snow over-pants did the trick.  There were several people who were also on the shuttle, but they almost all went to other stops.  Only two other people got off with me here - a young couple from TN, who kindly took this "before" photo.  I think they were going to do a down and back day hike.  I ran into a surprising number of people doing that amazing feat - and one women who surpassed even that!  But more on her later...

 A look at the precursor sunrise before descending into the canyon.

And yet another disclaimer!  All my Grand Canyon hike photos were taken with my point and shoot.  I really should've done as some suggested - rent or buy a lightweight SLR body.  It would be nice to have one anyways!  But, since I didn't do that, and couldn't bring myself to take my 6-pounder down (and, more to the point, UP!), all these photos were taken with my little Canon S90 point and shoot.  Very disappointing in some respects, but a decent job in others.  

 Sorry this is so dark and grainy, but it was pretty dark out still!

 The TN couple heading down the switchbacks ahead of me.  (Note:  whenever I have a camera on my person, it's always a good idea to get in front of me on a hike, unless you like stopping A LOT and having the hike take twice as long!!  But be warned - you WILL also be in a few of my photos...!).

 This sign echoed so much that I'd heard and read and that so many disregard!  I, however, have the utmost respect for these warnings!  Ever since a GC hike with my dad and oma (grandma in Dutch) when I was a youngster that left me with heat exhaustion...!  Like so many others, I think we went down in the heat of the day, really unprepared - without water, etc.  I had a massive headache on the way back up and had to lie down beside the trail a few times - while my 65-yr-old oma meanwhile, trotted up the trail no problem.  How embarrassing!!!  Oh well, I was too young and inexperienced to know about such things yet, and I guess I'm just not as hardy as my dad and oma!

 Beautiful sights such as these...

 left me craving my good camera!

 The way down, sun-kissed in perfect morning light.

 The first 3 hrs or so of my hike down was mostly shaded and cool, giant clouds blocking the sun till later on.  THANK YOU!!!!!

 The trails were in excellent shape and very easy.

 There's that TN couple again.  It wasn't long before they were lost from my view completely.  Who knows?  They were probably on their way up again before I'd even gotten down!

It was somewhere around here that I reached the "Ooh-Aah point."  I kid you not, that's what it's called.  And you know what?  It's very appropriately named!!!  

 Sunrise rays over the canyon peaks and ridges, and bathing the trail.

 If you look closely (esp. if you open these photos into a larger slideshow by clicking on one of them), you can see the trail winding its way down - you can even spot the bathroom building at Cedar Ridge (lower right).

 A larger view.

 What a magnificent morning, yeah??!!!!

From afar the trail blends in, even when you know what you're looking for!  Even up close, it's usually only the manicured, orderly nature of it that gives it away.  

 Here, in the more reddish soils and in the shade, the trail shows up as much lighter.

First pit stop - Cedar Ridge.  Time to try out their composting toilets (which are VERY nice, by the way)!

 Bothering a backpacker for a photo.  I ended up sharing the Bright Angel trail back up with these same three fellows.  Shows how slow I was that we could play leap frog on the trail, when they had a few extra years on me, and several more pounds on their backs!

 I kept thanking those clouds for being there for me!!  They didn't hurt the view any either!

 And yes, I had to get a photo of the toilet house!  And get ready, because this is only the first of several!  This is a documentary, after all...!

 I'm sure these photos all look the same to most of you, but each one is a special memory of a fantastic adventure for me!

 In shadow but just as beautiful.

 Mule hook-up (they get a view too!).

 Arrow somewhere near trail start, then connect the dots going down.

 You can see the zigzag trail in the distance.

And here we pause for station identification, or for you to take a break...   I took so many photos and am sharing so many of them, I thought I should split them up into different blog entries.