Rim 2 Rim

It seemed like an eternity away when preparations were made for our Rim to Rim excursion through the Grand Canyon. The hotel reservations were made at the end of 2008. Our hike date was September 26, 2009. There were 10 of us that drove up to the North Rim the Friday before the hike. 8 of us hiked (me, my Dad, brother in law Chuck, 3 of the Goodmans, and the Thomas' who I met that day) and the other 2 were kind enough to drive us to the North Rim and then turn around the next day and drive back to the South Rim to meet us. It seems kind of funny that as the crow flies it is only 10 miles from North Rim to South Rim, but it takes 5 hours to drive.

September 26th dawned for us around 4:00 a.m. We ended up hitting the trail a little after 5:00. It was still dark and was somewhere around 40 degrees plus a bone freezing wind chill. I didn't take long to get warmed up though. The trip was fantastic and I have attached a small sampling of the photos that were taken along the way. I would like to note one thing. My Dad always makes fun of Karalyn (my sister) for the amount of pictures she takes, but between videoing and taking over 200 pictures we ended up getting out 2 hours after the last person in the group. I thought at one point about accidentally bumping his camera down one of the Canyons.

The hike starts at North Kaibab trailhead through Phantom Ranch and up Bright Angel (you can also go up South Kaibab trail) for a total of 23 miles. The elevation goes from 8,200ft down to 2,400ft and back up to 7,000ft.

This first picture is at the Supai Tunnel which is 2 miles down the North Kaibab.

This view is right after the Supai tunnel looking down the Canyon. The switchbacks are amazing.

Perspective (Can you see me)

Bright Angel Creek runs with the North Kaibab trail all the way down to the Colorado River.

This was one of my favorite pictures. We get to see the River, both bridges and Vishnu Temple (at least I think it's Vishnu).

The infamous Corkscrew about a mile before Indian Gardens.

I didn't actually take any pictures other than this and a couple of information signs at Indian Gardens. We got here around 5:00 p.m.

Here are a couple of good shots of the switchbacks on the way out of the South Rim. It wouldn't be quite as bad if it wasn't after 20 miles of hiking. Although it is really cool nonetheless. Sorry I couldn't get the pictures to rotate.

Here we are coming out at 8:00. It was a long day, but well worth it. I had a cold Dr. Pepper waiting for me in the hotel room.

Now that a week has past I am ready to start making the preparations to do it again next year.