In the Canyon: July 1-9.

The Canyon trip was truly Grand. Hot as hell (topping off at 125 in the sun, 108 in the shade), but we did most of our hiking between 3am and 9am, then sat in the crystal cool waters of Bright Angel Creek during the day. Phantom Ranch had Buttwipers and a swamp-cooler lodge, thank you. The side hikes were amazing. The view of the Colorado from Plateau Point, a mile and a half from Indian Gardens, 3000 feet above the river, was, well, surreal? The River Trail, cut into the cliffs high above the nexus of Bright Angel and the river: I could not do it photographic justice. Ah, the immensity of it all. So much time, so much earth to erode.
The last two days we spent on the north rim, which is an entirely different micro-climate: cool, wet, Ponderosa pines, beautiful green meadows, kind of like Oregon, yet, always, when you emerge from the forest, the humbling edge, the multitudinous, variegated colors, and, for the brain, the utter impossibility of the great abyss--even after looking at it for days, it's still just a painting on the wall. There's a hotel up there that sits on the edge, where you can have a drink and watch the sun set. Or you can have breakfast in their dining room, which looks south across that terrible hole. Something else with eggs over easy. And because it's a 250-mile drive from the tourist-packed south rim, the humans are few and far between. Wunderbar!


From Plateau Point. A couple of rafts down there.

Indian Gardens.

North Rim View.