Grand Canyon: South Rim to Bright Angel Campground

On the trail again!

That may have been the most spectacular hike I have ever been on! The views were awe inspiring. We had great weather too. As we descended, the lower elevation and the rising sun combined forces against us and the temperatures rose. By the time we made it to the camp at 12:45, it was probably at least 100 degrees. That is a pretty big difference from the low of around 60 at Mather Campground last night.

This morning we struck camp and made it to the shuttle stop at Bright Angel Lodge just before 7:00am and after a little bit of waiting, finally made it to the trailhead. Within the first 25ft of the trail, we encountered a view that would stop anyone in their tracks.

....this isn't actually the view I referenced above.

This last section of trail was particularly steep.

The hike though beautiful, was also rough. We estimated that we descended somewhere around 4700ft in about 7 miles. We stopped along the way to take pictures, let mule trains through (~4 times) and to catch a little bit of shade. Once we passed Cedar Point (~1.5 miles down from the trailhead) we saw a lot less people. The hike took us around 4 hours 45 min.

The Black Bridge. River crossing for the South Kaibab Trail.

It is amazing to see a raging river like the Colorado in the middle of such amazing desert. Our campground feels like an oasis with huge trees providing shade to many of the campsites. Once we selected a site the first thing to do was take a dip in the creek! After putting my feet in the water, I had a bite to eat and then enjoyed Mother Nature's jacuzzi. Some previous campers had dammed up part of the river making a small pool to lie in. That hit the spot!

We ended up passing the day with two trips to the canteen (for sweet, sweet lemonade, card playing and A/C). It is pretty amazing that these amenities exist at the bottom of the canyon. We camped a few hundred yards away from the Phantom Ranch ($93/night for the cabins!). We also took a couple of trips to the Silver Bridge (Bright Angel Trail river crossing), dipped our toes (at that was about it!) in the 40 degree Colorado River, listened to a Ranger program on California Condor, and then went to sleep.

Lost - While holding the pot of boiling water with my handkerchief, I accidentally dipped a corner of the cloth in the stoves flame. A few seconds later flame was everywhere and once I put the fire out, I was sad to see that my trusty bandana was no more. :(