Grand Canyon 
Rim to River to Rim Adventure
January 18, 2008

Uploaded 2/22/08




            
 Here is the photo pictorial of our latest
            Grand Canyon adventures, the nearly 20 mile trip down South Kaibab
            trail on the south rim, down to the river, across the bottom,
            across the river again and up Bright Angel Trail on the same
            south rim. This is one of the longest hikes you can do at this
            time, with the north rim closed due to heavy snow until May.


            
We will start with
            shots taken the day before which includes the 3.5 hour drive
            up to the canyon through Flagstaff, and end up at with a spectacular
            sunset scene taken from the south rim the night before the hike/
            run.


South Rim, The Night Before
The Hike
(Canon 10D DSLR)
Click thumbnails below for the 1024 x 768 larger view

 
The San Fransisco Peaks
from across Lake Mary
on the way to the Canyon
 
 
Peaks zoom 1
 
 
Peaks zoom 2
 
 
Peaks zoom 3
 
 
Sunset on the North Rim
of the Canyon when we
arrived was spectacular
 
 
The last rays of light
 
 
Mesa in the canyon
with Earths shadow behind
it along the horizon
 
 
Last few golden rays
zoom
 
 
Visitors on one of the
look out points watch
the sunset
 
 
Note how the earths
shadow rises aligned with
the setting suns edge
 
 
Close up on the earths
shadow rising.
 
 
Best image of blue
earths shadow rising
behind distant butte
 
 
Earths shadow
100mm
 
 
The color changes inside
the canyon after sunset
are a sight to behold
 
 
The Crescent moon
just after sunset in the
western sky
 

Next Morning - Down into the Canyon
(Sony P10 Mini cam)

 The next morning, it was a balmy 6 degrees F, and we started down the snowy ice packed trail. We wore sharp spike like attachments on our shoes called "crampons" that allowed us safe travel over the icy terrain for the first few miles or so, until the altitude, which starts off at 7300 feet on the south rim, descends to about 1800 feet at the river. The snow level was down to about 5000 feet here at this time. 

 
At the top of the south
rim, the sun is just
coming up
 
 
Dawn dressed for 
some ice cold hiking!
 
 
Top of Kaibab trail, with
about 6 inches of snow
on the trail
 
 
We were ready!
 
 
The icy trail ahead
as it drops very rapidly
through the Kaibab
Limestone
 
 
On the trail looking down
inside
 
 
Large icicles starting
to form on the rock ledges
 
 
Gigantic 20 foot tall
wall of icicles!
 
 
And now you can see the 
full extent of the snow
level, well into the
Redwall Limestone.
 
 
Coconino Sandstone
vista
 
 
Typical trail scene, it 
warms  up pretty 
quickly as you descend
 
 
Here I am coming down
in the last of the ice on the
trail
 
 
Spectacular snow scenery
from the trails ahead
 
 
ONeil butte, in the
Supia formation
 
 
Dropping down through the
red beds of the supai group
 
 
Fossil trackways in the 
Supai are from 280
million year old reptiles
 

Photographing the huge
mammal like reptile
footprints from
ancient times 
 
 
Large detaching blocks of
rock in the Supai
 
 
Huge supai icicles
 
 
Nearing the end of the 
Supai group, we head
right for the top of the
Redwall Limestone.
 
 
At the top of the Redwall,
Dawn turns around for the
return trip, and I continue
onward to the bottom.
 

Heading down to the bottom
through the deep brick red
shales of the Hakati
 

Dropping through the
1 billion year old Hakati
shale.
 

Now I can see the river below
from within the bottom of the
Hakati Shale. 
 

Now in the metamorphic
Vishnu Schist, the bridge
I must cross is below  
 
 
Approaching the tunnel
that leads to the bridge 
 

Just inside the tunnel, you can
see the bridge on the other side. 
 

After crossing the bridge,
this is looking back across
the Colorado River!
 

After passing through Bright
Angel campground on the other 
side, you cross the creek
 

Crossing the creek in the
middle of the bridge. 
 
 
You then cross this bridge - 
Silver bridge to get back to the
south side of the canyon again
across the Colorado 
 

Heading up toward Indian 
gardens on the south side. 
 

So many waterfalls from
the snow melt! 
 

Just before Indian gardens
I spotted these deer feeding

 
 

The last shot - the last
rays of the sun before I head
up to the top, many thousands of 
feet above me. Its about a six
hour hike to do the 19 mile
round trip.

 
 


Camera:  Canon 10D 6.3Mp
or Sony P110
Exposure:  AE
Filters:  UV
Location:  Grand Canyon, Az
Elevation:  7300 ft.
Outside Temperature:  6 F
Processing: Photoshop CS
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