Grand Canyon

 

 “let this great wonder of nature remain as it now is. Do nothing to mar its grandeur, sublimity and loveliness. You cannot improve on it. But what you can do is to keep it for your children, your children’s children, and all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American should see.”  President Theodore Roosevelt on the Grand Canyon 1903

I had to go to the Grand Canyon. President Roosevelt said I should. He is on Mount Rushmore and the Teddy Bear was named after him so his words carry a lot of weight with me. He was right in 1903 and he is right 113 years later. I don't think a photo has yet to capture nor have words been said that convey just what an awesome sight it is. The only thing to say is what Teddy said. You have to see it. Every American needs to see 

We camped in the National park on Monday night. In the park means no hookups,no water and gasp..no wifi. We built a campfire and had a feast that could not be beat.

 

After a lot of walking on Monday and our internal clocks still on New Hampshire time, we settled in to our tent rather early. The night ended up being a bit cold as temps went down to 38 degrees. The nights get cold due to the high altitude but the days are warm at the Rim and the temps down in the canyon are generally 20 plus degrees warmer than at the rim. We awoke early ready to hike the South Kaibab trail. It is one of the most popular trails so again it's best to get there early if you want to hike without dodging people. Even getting on the trail just after 7 wasn't enough as there was a pretty good crowd at the trailhead. But that's ok because we met and struck up conversations with people from Germany, Denmark, two separate couples from Holland along with nice people from Michigan, Colorado and Kansas City and a family from Oklahoma who took a picture of us and I took a family picture for them.  The trail goes to the bottom of the canyon and is approximately 9 miles. Cassie and I are in shape for the 9 miles down, it's the 9 miles back up that we aren't ready for. So we did what must do and  tthat is hike a small section. Most go down 1.5 miles to Ooh Aah Point ( so named because when people see the view from there they say..I think you get it). 

 
We went a little further to Cedar Ridge which is a  small flat ridge that offers 360 views that are just astounding. 

 

 

It was here that I gave Cassie a braclet called a Wandering Braclet. It gives the GPS coordinates of a location and it serves as a momento of trip to a special place. Hence the name of our trip. "To 36.0544 n 112.1401w and back"

 

The Grand Canyon was everything TR said it would be. It is iconic and a bucket list destination for a reason. 

 

Now off to Zion National Park in Utah.