Grand Canyon

April 15-18We arrived Sunday late afternoon at the trailer village campground inside the Grand Canyon.  After getting settled in, we went to view the rim.  It is absolutely stunning seeing all the different layers and colors of sandstone and limestone.  It was nice being right by the village.  We were able to ride the shuttle everywhere and not drive. I was a little side tracked on Monday as I had a phone interview with Jacksonville State on Monday.  It didn’t go very well so it was a great diversion to go hiking.  On Monday afternoon we hiked the Blue Angel trail a mile and 1/2 down and back.  On Tuesday we hiked 3 miles down and then back on the South Kaibab trail.  Both days, Stefan had energy to burn and beat us to the top.  The south kaibob trail was my favorite.  It was just so beautiful and it was interesting to see the different habitats: forest, desert and river.  We didn’t make it to the river but hope to someday come back and go rafting on one of Tom Vail’s tours.  Stefan wrote an awesome haiku for his junior ranger at our resting point.

                             Cool, pretty canyon

                              A forest, desert, river

                               Cliffs, layers of rock

When asked how do you feel today at the Grand Canyon, he answered,

I am happy. I am energetic. I am amazed.

Janae wrote:  I feel happy, fresh, and cool.

                             Hike down the canyon,

                             To the large river below

                             where it rushes past.

Janae and Stefan leading the way back up

We enjoyed the ranger program on caves and learning how they are discovering more and more caves in the GC and artifacts from ancient cultures.  We especially enjoyed learning about the Condor birds and how they almost became extinct (only 23 left) mainly from metal poisoning from bullets and eating pennies.  There are sixty some living now in the GC and Stefan was thrilled to see one that hadn’t been tagged yet.