Day 8 - The GRAND Canyon

It really is Grand.

I need a list of new superlatives for this trip. Awsome, amazing, stunning just don't do it justice and get a little tiresome.

We started Day 8 at 6:00am, quick breakfast, drive into the visitor centre to catch a bus to the trail head for the start of the Kaibab Trail. The walk started at 8:00am, the temperature was about 0 degrees and the wind chill made it feel a lot worse. If you were in the sun it was bearable, but out of the sun it was bitter.

We started the descent to Cedar Ridge - some 1,140 feet beneath us. The trail was cut into the canyon walls - basically a series of switch backs that slowly descended into the Canyon. With Jack on my back and the trail only being 3 feet wide in places I needed to concentrate. My fear of heights was not good for this trek. Looking over the edge of the narrow path and seeing a 300 feet drop was not good for the nerves.

Regardless we marched on - in a group of about 15 and a Ranger who explained the geology as we descended. About 20 minutes in we stopped to find shells and fossilised sponges in the canyon wall - evidence that millions of years ago the Canyon was under an ocean. Now the South Rim where we started our hike is 7,400 feet above sea level.

The Ranger talk, while interesting, was a bit slow. The first part of the hike had no sun, so we quickly went on ahead and found the sun and about 1.5 hours later arrived at Cedar Ridge. At Cedar Ridge we were only about a quarter of the way down - to go all the way down to the river is a full day hike (you camp out and hike back up the next day).

The views at Cedar Ridge were stunning. The colours and layers of the rock are hard to believe. It is amazingly rugid and incredibly steep and high.

We started our ascent with the kids in fine form. The rule of thumb is it takes 1.5 to 2 times as long to ascend. James and Olivia made it back up in 1 hour - less time than it took to get down. They were amazing. Jack slept all the way in my pack.

Next stop was Blue Angel Lodge on the canyon rim for lunch - which was a welcome beef chili served in a scooped out bread loaf - perfect after a hike.

The day continued at a furious pace with a trip to the visitor centre so that James and Olivia could hand in their completed 'Junior Ranger Packs' and become Junior Rangers at their 2nd National Park (they get badges). We watched a 25 minute movie about the park and then dashed into town for our next adventure.

At 4:10 we boarded a helicopter for a 30 minute flight over the canyon. James and I up front had the best views and Jack sat on Emma's knees and screamed for a lot of the trip. Despite that it was another great experience. From the air you get a real sense of the size and scale of the canyon - 277 miles long, about 10 mile wide where we were.

A great experience.

This LONG day ended with sitting on the Canyon Rim watching the sunset.

A great day.