Great pics Jerry.Glade you shared the trip.
I gave the fish a little break for a week while I went to visit my family in Arizona and hiked the Grand Canyon. Nearly 30-years ago several of us hiked down to the Colorado River at the bottom and back up from the South Rim but this time my three sisters, a brother-in-law, a nephew and I hiked from the South Rim across to the North Rim.
It was 15-degrees when we started out at 5:30 in the morning on the South Rim, which is 7,000-feet above sea level.
When we reached the Colorado River at the bottom, which is only 2,400-feet above sea level the air temps were in the low 70s.
We saw some wildlife along the way including this nice buck
and this ram
I kept my eyes open for trout in the river
or in this creek that we hiked along for 7-miles as we started up the North Rim
but didn't spot any.
My nephew and I took a little side trip to see Ribbon Falls
We ended up on the North Rim at 8,250-feet above sea level
Overall we hiked 21-miles on trails that were cut into or built up on the canyon walls
It was amazing to look back across to the South Rim and realize how far we had come
The Grand Canyon really is one of the "Seven Wonders Of The World"
Last edited by Jerry Blake; 10-21-2008 at 10:22 PM.
Great pics Jerry.Glade you shared the trip.
get d net <*((((((>{ PROUD MEMBER OF TEAM GEEZER
Wow that was some nice pictures thanks for sharing with us!!!!
I have seen the Grand Canyon. That last picture is breath taking. Thanks for sharing....
That was just awesome Jerry. I appreciate your sharing the pics. God's handiwork is just beautiful.
"Be Ye Fishers of Men" You catch them- He will clean them
What a great vacation Jerry, those are some really good pictures. Thanks for sharing your trip with us.
A bad day of fishing
beats a good day at work.
Jerry
I made a trip several years ago but we didn't do any hiking. Those pictures are wonderful Jerry, however, anyone that has ever been there will probably agree that pictures do not do the grand canyon justice... It is one of those things you just have to see to believe. I'll be going back one of these days for sure.
Awesome pics Jerry. Thanks for sharing. Looks like a great trip. My family and I were there several years ago and it is truly something we will never forget. We didn't do the hike but we did take in the scenery. 15 degrees! Brrrrr...... :D
It was such a great experience that I had to share. The crack going diagonally across that last picture is Bright Angel Canyon. You can see at the right were it meets the Colorado River. Roaring Springs come out of the rocks a couple thousand feet below Bright Angel Point (where this picture was taken) and makes Bright Angel Creek.
The North Kaibab trail follows the creek all the way up Bright Angel Canyon, past Roaring Springs and on to the North Rim.
We had planned to hike straight through, which should have taken less than 12-hours but one of my sisters got sick on the way down so when it started getting dark and my sister didn't feel like she could continue on without some rest, four of us "slept" (rested) on the ground trying to stay covered with space blankets at Cottonwood, which is 7-miles up the North Kaibab trail from the river.
Cottonwood is at 4,000-feet and the air temps were probably in the low 40s when my sister felt well enough to continue on. That was at 2:30 in the morning and the moon was so full and bright we were able to hike without using our lights for a couple hours.
We were still about 4-miles from the North Rim though when the sun came up so we still got to see the great views. My nephew and brother-in-law had continued on that evening since we didn't have enough space blankets for everyone and they made it to the North Rim about 11:30.
My sister felt much better after our rest and made it out on her own power. We all made it to the top by 11:30 am - 30-hours after we started. Having to take it slow for my sister worked out great though because we all had plenty of time to stop and enjoy the views and take pictures. I got everyone's cameras and downloaded all their pictures onto my laptop so I have 600 pictures to go through.
Here's another one from the North Rim
If y'all ever get the chance to see the Grand Canyon I would highly recommend taking the time to drive around to the North Rim. It's over 1,000 feet higher than the South Rim and much prettier in my opinion. It also has much less tourism traffic than the South Rim. Only problem is that they close it down in the winter time because they get so much snow it's too much trouble to keep it open. In fact it was the last weekend you could get lodging there.
Last edited by Jerry Blake; 10-21-2008 at 10:21 PM.
You're right - pictures really don't do it justice. Just looking over the edge really doesn't make you appreciate the vastness and how drastically diverse different areas and elevations are either. When the Weather Guessers give the forecast for Grand Canyon National Park they give expected temps for the bottom and the North and South rims and it can vary by 50-degrees or more because of the difference in elevation.
Last edited by Jerry Blake; 10-16-2008 at 10:02 PM.