(Day 3: Grand Canyon)

Although I woke up early we had a fairly leisurely start. We spent a bit of time at breakfast using WiFi to blog and connect with the outside world. The weather was quite cloudy but was forecast to improve so there was no great rush. The ground was still damp from the overnight rain and raindrops on the trees sparkelled in the sunshine. 

Once we were finally ready we walked from our lodge to the visitor centre, about three quarters of a mile, from where we caught a shuttle bus to the start of the South Kaibab trail. We had thought about doing the Bright Angel trail, as we haven’t done this for a while, but then we decided that the scenery was much better on South Kaibab and that thought won the day. The view from the top was amazing, with clouds still lifting from the north rim.

While the view was amazing, it was incredibly  busy today; I have never seen so many people on the trail, which makes me think it must be really bad at busier times of year. Some groups were also very loud (just talking, but loudly!) and I found myself missing the peace and quiet and the sounds of the canyon. We continued down to Cedar Ridge and headed right out to the end for the view. Even sharing it with people, it gave a great sense of scale and was both awe inspiring and calming.

I found the blue birds. There were lots of them here, even willing to pose for photos. There were also ambitious squirrels, after anything they could get their paws on. One even sneaked up and nudged the back of my hand while I was trying to eat some energy block! We contemplated going further down but decided instead to ascend slowly, enjoying the scenery and then take the rim trail back.

It was quieter on the climb and we stopped at a few places just to soak it up. I was happy and really enjoyed our walk back. At the top we sat at a picnic table and ate a snack. After complaining about the lack of birds yesterday, they were all out to play today, including the tufted Juniper Titmouse (?).

The walk back along the rim was very quiet.

We decided to go straight back to the room rather than detour to the visitor centre; Andrew’s ankle had walked far enough and my foot was sore (turns out I have a blister, which is unusual from the tried and tested boot and sock combo). It meant we could relax, eat a few  crisps, shower and then go for dinner. I was hoping that the clouds would clear, as the weather forecast had advertised, so that we could try some star photography. Dinner was back at Maswik, due to an uninspiring menu at our lodge (although we did pass a couple of grazing deer on the way to our lodge, so the walk to investigate the menu wasn’t a total disappointment), which meant driving, so we took the camera kit with us. After dinner, we went straight to Yavapai point, which I thought might offer the best chance of facing the right direction for the milky way. It did! The photos are OK…but the sight of the stars to the human eye was brilliant! 

That is it. Time for bed, just as soon as I can upload this… Failed miserably, will try again tomorrow….text up, no photos….yay! (Photos now up, after arriving  at Cali Cochitta!)