Grand Canyon, baby!

Cat's friend Robert put together a group of friends to hike the Grand Canyon rim to rim. His Mom and her good friend would be the adult hikers in the group and his Dad would drop everyone off at the North Rim, then drive to the South Rim to pick everyone up and drive them home. I was really excited for Cat to get to have this adventure but also a little envious. So when one of the kids slotted to go on the trip got hurt and wouldn't be able to hike, I asked if I might be able to take her spot. I was excited and nervous when the answer was yes...

Cat and I did a training hike of about 8 miles toward Emerald Lake from Aspen Grove. We were hoping to see a mountain goat and we finally did! (Way up on a cliff.)

The group left from the school at about 1:20 on Friday afternoon, and drove to Kanab. We stayed at the historic Parry Lodge, a hotel that sheltered the likes of John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Roy Rogers, Clint Eastwood, and Ronald Reagan when they were making Western films in the area.

We were up bright (dark) and early, and in the car
on our way to the North Rim before 4:30am.

We started our hike in the dark but the sun began rising very quickly.
The curving line of lights in this picture is comprised of hikers' headlamps.
We were following the North Kaibab Trail.

Most of the teenagers in the group,
shortly after we started.

I was really surprised by how lush and green it was,
especially during the first half of the hike.

There's normally a bridge that crosses this stream to allow people
to get to Ribbon Falls but it was destroyed by flooding recently
so a few of us took off our shoes and waded across.

We should have taken our shoes with us to walk the trail
to Ribbon Falls, but oh well. It was definitely worth it to
hobble on rocks and see this amazing sight.

We walked up to the top level and the kids had fun taking pictures in the water.

Behind the waterfall!

The waterfall is in the background.

This is one of the several bridges we used to cross streams along the trail.

scenery...

On the Silver Bridge across the very muddy Colorado River

Looking back at the bridge and river

Looking down at the switchbacks as we were ascending
Bright Angel Trail toward the South Rim.

Crossing a very shallow stream

Oh, deer.

We did not partake of the toilet water at the Indian Gardens campground.

We hiked in the rain!

And saw a very cool rainbow.

Headlamps on the switchbacks ahead of us during the final ascent.

All finished!

Soooooo tired at dinner.

We went to the visitor's center the next morning and got a birdseye view of where we'd hiked.

The arrows on the right side are approximately where we began on the North Rim.
The arrows on the left side are the area where I took the Toilet Water picture,
a few hours before we finished.

The whole hiking group.

I'd been nervous and how much endurance this hike would take, and whether I'd actually be able to do it, especially without getting hurt. I kind of assumed it would be as steep as the steepest hike I've ever done: the Y in Provo. It was never that steep. The last several miles were definitely a significant elevation gain but it didn't feel too bad for us because (1) we were moving very slowly because one of the boys in the group was hurt and needed to hike slowly and pause frequently, and (2) it was dark and we couldn't see what was ahead of us other than the headlamps of the other hikers.

From start to finish, the hike took us about 14.5 hours. Cat and I both felt that we would have finished significantly sooner if we were in a smaller group, were better prepared (such as bringing Tevas for the Rainbow Falls hike), and if nobody had gotten hurt. As it was, we had a great time with the people in the group, loved the scenery and the weather (even the rain!), and didn't suffer from any injuries or significant soreness. I'd definitely do it again! And I loved so much that I got to have the experience with Cat.