Grand Canyon Hiking - September 2011

Warning: I took over 900 photos, the pictures on this page are the best of the best.

The background on this site is from the GCNP Corridor brochure.

After a 3 hour fog delay at DIA, Chris W. and I made it to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon thanks to Tom's awesome ride loaned to us. We headed for the rim to snap some quick photos and then to find the cabin and dinner. Here are a couple of photos from Friday evening.

Lots of crowds on the South Rim at sunset, most didn't speak English.

Saturday - South Kaibab Trail to North Kaibab Trail - destination; North Rim (20.9 miles according to the trailhead sign)

We started around 5am at the South Kaibab trailhead. Jerry (the trip organizer and leader) had parking, transportation and lodging all figured out for us newbie's from Colorado. Awesome job Jerry!

Not much to see here, sun was still 45 minutes away.

Chris W, Steve (the crow), Dennis and Jerry.

Cedar Ridge restrooms below.

Steve (the crow) pissing off the wildlife.

Jeff P. in great spirits as always!

Great shot of first light on the trail to the right of the rock.

The trail was very mellow and in great shape. Easy class 1 hiking.

Panoramic before the Skelton point.

Finally some exposure and first good views of the Colorado river.

Chris is in the photo, killer trail! We have tons of energy and are having a blast.

Grand Canyon Rock Squirrel

Switchbacks down, dropping elevation quickly.

Part of our group above us.

Silver Leaf Nightshade

This is below Tip Off, we ran into a couple of mule trains in this section.

The Colorado river with Silver bridge downstream.

Kaibab (black) suspension bridge (upriver).

Chris at the tunnel before the bridge. Elevation 2,450ft. or so.

This guy greeted us on the north side of the Colorado river.

We had no boat or permit so we kept walking....

We read the sign and decided to take the advice. We were not hot, but decided to soak in the cold river.

Hiking from the river to Phantom Ranch.

Bright Angel campground camping sites. The Bright Angel creek is not usually muddy, but the rain storm from Friday mudded everything up.

Phantom Ranch Ranger station complete with flush toilets and swamp coolers.

Looking to the south from the Ranger station.

This tree was out of place. The leaves were the size of my head.

Heading north from Phantom Ranch, we entered the inner canyon gorge.

The pythons released.

Dead scorpion, thankfully the only one we saw on the trip.

The first part of the North Kaibab trail was a narrow gorge with a beautiful creek and box canyon. This provided lots of shade and the temperature was very mild.

Jimson Weed.

Jimson weed produces a really cool flower. Parts of the plant, especially the seeds and leaves, are sometimes used as a hallucinogen. This is also known as Loco weed.

The flower is the size of a tennis ball.

Chris' expression pretty much sums it up, this place is amazing.

Without seeing the bloom, I can't figure out the cactus. My guess is some sort of Hedgehog cactus. I guess I will need to come back in May to figure it out.

Leaving the narrows of the inner-canyon, now we start to heat up in the sun.

Everything we read forgot to mention this beautiful creek all along the North Kaibab trail.

The first and only glimpse of our dinner location. Reservations at 7:30pm, lets GO!

It looks like a fly, but it is a huge bumble bee the size of my thumb.

I know it is not Agave, but the plant kept me thinking of those Rio margaritas...yum.

This is one of those moments where you look north and south and think, holy crap, I am 12 miles from either rim. It just so happens that we were 12 miles from either rim. Half done for the day, woohoo! Picture on the left is looking south, picture on right is looking north. If the pictures stacked, buy a new monitor...