Last year my parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary by doing a 20 mile day hike into the Canyon.  They loved it so much that they planned to do it again this year…and convinced Matt and I to go along.  Actually we were pretty excited to go INTO the Canyon.  We are AZ natives and have never done more than make the drive to this Natural Wonder, stare at it for a bit, and then go back home.  Not this time.  We were going IN.
I was so determined to bring my fancy camera and fancy lens and get some really purdy shots while we were on our hike.  But as I loaded my day-pack the night before with all the essentials like oh food and water, I had a moment of sanity where an additional 7 pounds sitting on my back didn’t seem like such a bright idea.  So my iPhone is responsible for capturing our experience and I gotta say, it took some pretty decent shots!
So come on a little tour of one of the most amazing landscapes in the world and see what I saw…with some little surprises along the way!

We started in the early morning and burrrrrrrrrr it was cold!!  See my poofy headband?  That was to insulate heat in my cranium.

And there are my adorable parents.  ”The Pros.”  I’m all bundled up like it’s going to snow and they have shorts on.

It didn’t take long before we had put a good distance between ourselves and the rim.  Goes pretty quick when you are going DOWN!

And this guy.  I should say these guys.  They practically own the place!  Every corner we turned, there was a squirrel.

Alright little guy, step back from the cliff.  Slowly. Slooooowly.  One little acorn in not worth it!!

Besides the humans bring all kinds of goodies for you to munch on.  And obviously your cuteness gets you fed well.  Awwww, would you like some trail mix?  Cliff bar??  Pink rehydrating liquid?

Bummer.  Didn’t see this until towards the end of our journey.

You really need wardrobe for 2 different seasons when you do a Canyon hike.  When we started in the morning, the temps were in the 40s.  By the time we got to the bottom, they were in the 70s.

See we’re already in shorts.

The trails aren’t all that steep…just a lot of switchbacks.

Oh man I was dying to put a 6 month old in that tree stump for a photo!!  Is that not a photographer’s dream spot??

And this???  Can you just see a bride and groom under the arch on the left?  Coolest tree ever!!
Why are the coolest photo scenes in the most unreachable places??

Here is my Dad saying,”You’re taking another snapshot?  Another one?  Didn’t you just take one 5 steps back?”
Can’t help it.  Photographer.

Went through that dark dark tunnel to get to Phantom Ranch.  That was our lunch break point.

The bridge over the river

Why didn’t anyone tell me I had hair-gone-wild?!?

There’s beach sand in the canyon.  Like the real stuff!  It was so weird to all of a sudden be stomping through it and it wasn’t even near the water!  Weird.

The sand.  And my sexy hiking boots.

It’s BATMAN!!  We ran into Batman on the trail.  He looks like he’s been in the sun a little too long no??

We had to do some tricky stone-stepping across some ragging waters!!

The Canyon really is a crazy cool mix of desert and trees and cactus and vegetation and rock.  All of it in one place.  I think God was showin’ off a little here

This was posted quite frequently on the trails.  The thing about hiking a canyon is that you go down first, and then the real huffin and puffin begins.  I guess it’s not uncommon for someone to get stuck.

Aaaaaaand now we gotta go back up.  Dang it.

The last 3-4 miles were not as easy-breezy as the first 14.  We started a bit after 7 am and finished right before sundown.  17 miles.  One day.  Totally worth it.

Seeing the Canyon reminded me of this:
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.  (Romans 1:20)

Victory!!!  Now where do we get a burger!?!

We want to go again next year.  There are lots of different trails and ways to hike this baby and we definitely want to see more!  Who’s coming!?!?
If you’ve hiked the Canyon, let me know what trails you loved!  We did Kaibab on the way down and Bright Angel on the way up.  Great combo to see a variety of views!
Til next time xoxo