Grand Canyon-- Taking the long way around

On Monday morning we rolled out of our sleeping bags and tent at an early hour in the morning to make our way to Mather Point to watch sunrise over the Grand Canyon.  Since we were there in the middle of June the days are long and in most of Arizona daylight savings time is not used which results in sunrise at 5am.  We would have a lot of early mornings during our hike but if hikers aren't on the trail before sunrise you are getting a late start.  At Mather Point we joined a group of about 50 other people gathered to watch the light progress across the stone walls.  We tried to take in the grand scale of canyon from the South Rim, imagining what it will be like to walk across the expanse, to stand at the banks of the Colorado River which is barely visible from the Rim.

After sunrise we continued along the Rim to the Trail of Time.  The trail had way points marking out the time scale of the Grand Canyon and discussed the different geological layers.  It was a great introduction to all of the different layers we would walk through so we could better appreciate the Redwall Limestone and the Bright Angle Shale.  There were great viewpoints along the trail and we didn't have to share it with crowds at that time in the morning.  We actually saw more elk than people.  Through the morning we learned that the elk had made the South Rim their home-- they aren't native to the area.  There were actually notices on the water fountains asking visitors not to turn the water on for the elk.

With such an early start it seemed like half the day was over before the visitor center opened.  Alex loves the films shown at the National Park visitor center so this was a must.  Then we wandered onto the Geology Museum.


We headed back to our campsite to pack up and double check that we had all our gear for the hike.  We left the car at the Backcountry Office and checked in with the rangers there to make sure we had our permits correct and any updated trail information.  We weighed our packs and then headed back towards the Rim to grab lunch and wait for our shuttle van.  While it is only 20 miles across from the North to South Rim, to get there in a vehicle is a 200 mile drive.  We loaded into a 15 passenger van and settled into the back seat to watch the landscape of Norther Arizona roll past.  Most of the passengers were setting off on their own Rim to Rim hikes.  One was a hiker from Canada who was hiking the length of the Arizona Trail but due to some issues with dehydrating he was skipping the Grand Canyon crossing at that time to do the cooler sections of the trail at higher elevation.  The North Rim is at about 9000 ft.  The low for the night we were there was about 35F.  We were both glad that we had checked the lodge room availability repeatedly and finally snagged a room so we didn't have to camp.  We checked into our room and grabbed some pizza for dinner and ate it on the porch of the lodge overlooking the canyon.  The North Rim takes more effort to get to so there are significantly fewer people which makes enjoying the views a little more relaxing without the crowds.  We watched the sunset and then made our way into the lodge to hear a ranger program on the Desert Big Horn Sheep.  Besides hitting all visitor center films, another rule of travel is not to miss any ranger programs if possible.  We headed back to our room to enjoy the comforts of a real bed and shower before our early wake up call the next morning.