Day 40 - The Big One

So I thought maybe we had made a mistake by doing all the Utah parks before the GC.  I thought we had seen so many amazing rock formations and canyons already that now the Grand Canyon would be underwhelming.  HAHAHAHAHA!  I giggled for the first half of our first hike out to Bright Angel Point (1/2-mile round trip).  It was absolutely stunning.  Awe-inspiring.  Like nothing I could have imagined.  Positively 100% Grand. 

Brad is afraid of heights.  (Acrophobic?)  We had a little talk with the girls on the way about not horsing around and definitely staying on the trail – the center of the trail if possible.  They were great.  There was one little viewpoint that we ventured out on while Brad stayed hugging the safe side of solid ground.  Other than that, he was basically fine.

After our first impactful impression, we visited the gift shop, post office and lodge and ate a bite of lunch.  Then we headed out on our first GC hike – Transept Trail.  It was 3 miles round trip along the rim from the lodge to the campground.  Great views and not too difficult.  We still needed some refreshment afterwards (hiking at 8,000 ft!) so we had a snack and rested on the porch of the lodge.  We waited around for a geology ranger talk so the girls could finish their jr. ranger books.  Then they went for their book check and pledge taking and received their 6^th badge.  We were done.  Back to camp.

The North Rim is a 40-mile drive from our camp, but is a beautiful drive.  Sadly, we drove though a large section of forest that had been burned.  Not sure how recently.  We saw beefalo just inside the entrance to the park.  They were brought in and bred here in the early 1900’s so they are not indigenous.  They are smaller than bison, but otherwise look very similar.  On the way back they were crossing the road so we gave them the right of way.  (obviously!)  Beautiful day.  To God be the Glory!


GC Day 1