The hike into the Grand Canyon was a GREAT success! We started the hike at the South Kaibab trail, at 07:00AM, and had a great time going down the trail all the way to the Colorado river, where we arrived around 10:00AM. On the way down we had a very rare opportunity to see TWO California Condors. These rare birds were a spectacular sight to see, both in the air (with there huge wingspan) and on the ground.
Once we arrived at the river, we hiked for about 2 miles to a quiet spot with a small beach, where we enjoyed our lunch, and relaxed for a while, before we ventured onto the Bright Angel trail, for our hike back out of the canyon.
At around 12:00PM we started for the 7.5 mile hike to the South Rim. The first 3 miles of this trail go through the hottest part of the canyon to Indian Gardens. This part of the trail is quite difficult and slow going. At the Indian Gardens we took a break, and filled our bottles with water before hitting the toughest part of the day: the 4.5 miles to the top.
The first stop after Indian Gardens is the 3 Mile Rest House, where we took a short break before hitting the trail to the 1.5 Mile Rest House, and the final stretch to the trail head.
Everyone made it to the top safely, and we can all look back at a fabulous experience which we will remember for a very long time!
