Arizona - Grand Canyon, Bright Angel Trail

 

The first section was listed as "easy" and I would agree, mostly a gentle downward slope.

Easy going to get to the first tunnel/hole in the rock.

After that it was listed as "difficult", a bit steeper, stone and wood steps and rough rock slopes.

We could see mules making their way up

and a sign had told us what to do.

We waited at a wide section and let them come past. Very hot sweaty mules but they looked very healthy. From there on we saw (and smelled) a lot of mule poop on the trail.

Further down, at the next tunnel, we took a break for some chocolate, to give Mike and River a break and to take off some of our layers of clothing.

We met people who were just finishing 3 days of hiking...rim to rim. They started on the other side of the canyon, hiked down, camped in the canyon (must have somehow crossed the Colorado River) and were now hiking back up this side.

Time for a family photo. Maya had just slipped and landed on her bottom, that's why the sad face. I had decided that I was turning around at this point as I knew the hike back up would be tough. We had been hiking for 22 minutes and knew the return trip would be twice as long. The kids decided to return with me and there wasn't much debate until it was decided that we were all heading back up.

I had bought a walking stick with me (that folded up small enough to fit in my carry on luggage) and I found I really needed it.

I stopped now and then to bring my heart rate back down

and on one of the rest stops we turned and saw this....

Big Horn Sheep keep their HORNS forever, and every year they grow larger, sometimes reaching 40 pounds. The big horn sheep are quite remarkable animals, adapted to canyon life in many ways. They have soft padded hooves that cling to the rocks as they jump from one rock to the next without even thinking about the danger of falling. And what about the lack of water in the canyon cliffs? A big horn sheep can lose 30% of its body weight with no problem and then drink that same amount of water the next time down to the river! Isn’t that incredible? from explorethecanyon.com

Kept an eye on us

and then headed down to join another one.

Aimee and Maya went on ahead, while Mike, Avery and River kept me company.

The clouds made constantly changing shadows and we were,luckily, hiking in the shade.

It took me over an hour to make the return trip. The plan had been to go to the third dot on this map but we turned around at the 2nd dot and it took an hour and a half in total.

We headed back to the visitor centre via the shuttle bus.