February 5,
Last night I was blessed to enjoy the hospitality of some friends in Phoenix. This morning I headed out after a good breakfast and picked up Jonathan from the Phoenix airport. We headed towards Flagstaff and had smooth sailing up to Grand Canyon. We arrived around 2:30 and inquired at the Backcountry Information Center about the trail conditions on S. Kaibab Trail. The guy there told us that the trail was pretty much free of ice and snow, sunset was at 6:00, and the next shuttle would leave for the trailhead shortly. We hit the trail just before 3:30pm and needed to be back for the final shuttle at 6:50pm. They say that you should allow twice the time to ascend out of the canyon as you do to descend, so we decided to turn around at Cedar Ridge at 4:30pm. We jokingly said that we could “always just sprint out of the canyon” to make it in time. Um...yeah right. The elevation difference between the trailhead and Cedar Ridge was 1,000 feet, so we were definitely feeling it as we climbed out.
So far the day has been awesome...later we’ll go out and attempt some star photography at the campground (our tent is already set up). Tomorrow morning we need to head out pretty early to make it to Zion National Park in time to do some hiking (either Angel’s Landing or Observation Point if conditions permit). We’ll set up camp there and on Monday morning will drive two hours up to Bryce Canyon to enjoy some hiking there before we need to head out that evening.
Beard status - Fair. I think it feels un-loved though, on countless occasions I have assured it that it is a most welcome addition to my face and should feel free to grow and thrive. Apparently it remains unconvinced.
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