Saturday, July 15

We set the alarm for 4 AM. That’s NOT a misprint! We wanted to see the sunrise at Mather Point. After that it was time for breakfast and then another highlight of the trip… hiking the Bright Angel Trail. We were on the trail by 6:50 AM. We made it as far as the second tunnel. SPECTACULAR! On the way back we had to make way for the mule trains headed down the trail. What a cool experience! If I weighed less than 200 pounds, I’d ride a mule to the bottom, spend the night, then ride back up.

Then we hopped a shuttle to check out about 3 other vantage points, took a zillion more pictures, and returned to our hotel room by noon for a nice nap. I’m reminded of the Army commercials that brag about doing more by noon than most people do all day. We were beat!

We ventured outside the park for lunch at McDonald’s in Tusayan, Arizona. We both wanted to go to the really unique looking Wendy’s they have there, but it was crowded with people from tour buses. Then it was back to the park to do laundry and souvenir shopping, and more sightseeing. Susan spotted a park ranger, and a guy with one of those antenna, tracking-type things. Based on their proximity to where we saw the condors the day before, we correctly assumed they were tracking the condors. We spoke with a very dedicated, passionate man from the Peregrine Fund (www.peregrinefund.org). He answered all of our questions, and spoke about his life’s mission to restore these magnificent raptors to their rightful place in nature. I wish I had recorded our conversation. It was fascinating! I ventured out to Hopi Point to take a few photos towards sunset, but then a cloud bank moved in and I returned to our room before sunset. It’s about 9:23 PM MST as I type these words and I am TIRED after a long, rewarding day.

Tomorrow we will take even more photos at a few more Grand Canyon vantage points, and then it’s time for the long drive back to Vegas. I’m sure we’ll stop for some more photos at Hoover Dam too. I hope you aren’t too bored by my storytelling, but I’m sure having fun telling them.