GRAND CANYON!

Well, if the Grand Canyon was the only adventure we went on during this whole trip, then I would be satisfied! WOW. I really don't have words to describe how amazing it was to hike down into the canyon and camp overnight. Simply brilliant.

The morning started VERY chilly, but slowly warmed up with the help of a HUGE American breakfast! Wierdest food: scones (they call em biscuits) with gravy! EW! Brian (Jen's friend) thought I'd like to try it. Uh uh. No. That's just wrong.

Dan, Brian, myself an Jen (such a cute pic of her!) in her car on the way to the GC!!



Upon arrival at the Grand Canyon national park, we paid our $20 entry fee to the ranger-looking guy who agreed to pose with his thumb up =) Good on him.

And then.... our first sighting of the canyon....
WOW! Pictures really don't do it justice.

Our tour guides Jen and Brian (Brian had just done it the month before- crazy!)
Happy picture before:



The last picture shows you where we were headed (you may need to click on it to enlarge). It was a campsite called Indian Gardens and marks approximately half way between the top and the Colorado River at the bottom. It is the area where there is the densest amount of trees, pretty much in the centre of the photo. Doesn't look too bad from the top... but wow, it was a huge trek to there! The hike down took approx 4 hours of continuous downhill hiking on stones and dust. Every stop we took enabled us to soak in the view around us. This truly brought me close to the creator and His magnificent handiwork... Great time for a bit of reflection and just standing in absolute awe.

This was a pic as we were approaching the camp ground. My legs were SO thankful for flat (-ish) ground!!

Our camp ground was busy, we booked the last space.

They had very clever pack racks: to prevent wildlife, particularly deer and squirrels getting into your packs! Also good for humans.

Ate some lunch at the campsite (pepperoni on bagels)... I opted for peanut butter on a bagel which seemed to amuse the Americans sitting near us...

As we were enjoying the creek near our lunch tabel, we heard rustling from the table. I thought someone was cleaning up our table.. Low and behold, an encounter with a squirrel eating our leftover pepperoni!

To be continued...