May 8-10, 2010 - Grand Canyon National Park

We arrived at the Grand Canyon about noon on Saturday and are staying at the Grand Canyon Trailer Village. We can only stay 3 nights as that was all that was available when we made our reservations. Saturday afternoon we hiked along the west end of the Rim Trail to Hermits Rest where Hermit Trail starts into the canyon.





Sunday morning we hiked with the dogs on the east end of the Rim Trail out to Mather Point and returned on the Greenway Trail.




This is a picture of Phantom Canyon Ranch from the Yavapai Point Overlook.



Sunday afternoon the wind was blowing really hard so we took a drive on the Desert View Scenic Drive and stopped at many overlooks.





We stopped at the Tusayan Ruin, the remains of an ancestral Puebloan village. There was also a museum that showed how they found food, water and shelter 800 years ago.



At the Desert View Overlook near the East Entrance was the Watchtower, designed by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter in 1932 (she also designed Bright Angel Lodge and Hopi House). It was designed to blend into its surroundings and give spectacular views of the canyon. There are 4 levels with murals on the walls and ceilings.




Monday morning we hiked into the canyon on the Bright Angel Trail. We hiked 1½ miles down to the 1½ Mile Resthouse, descending about 1,131 ft.



This is a view of the Bright Angel Trail from a distance. It shows the trail from the top down to about the 3 mile Resthouse - we hiked about halfway down.



Just below the resthouse was a bighorn ram lying beside the trail.



It’s a long way back up to the top!



We ran into this Desert Night Lizard on the way back up.



We had to give the right-of-way to this mule pack-train - just like rush hour traffic.




This little guy greeted us back at the top of the trail.



These California Condors seemed disappointed that we made it back up alive.



We had a great time at the Grand Canyon and hope to come back soon to do more hiking and exploring.

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