The backpacking experience is a wonderful getaway.
This
time, we hiked the Tanner Trail, my fourth trip on this trail with the
last time being about six years ago. The forecast called for cooler
weather on our second day and a chance for rain. We started hiking at
8:00am Friday, keeping a comfortable pace. This trail is wide open,
offering little shade. Clouds gave us periodic shade as we followed this
demanding trail. At the tail end, the heat seemed to crank up. Finally,
we arrived at Tanner Rapids for a cooling off. The night stayed mild,
almost warm in our tents. Saturday morning, I climbed a rocky hill to watch the sunrise
hit the canyon down river. We relaxed and refilled our water before
starting partway up mid-afternoon. We camped at the base of the redwall
where we had some windy spells and then sprinkling of rain overnight. We
started hiking up at 7:45 Sunday morning, finding our water cache above
the redwall and continuing on enjoying cool temps and clearing skies.
The final 1.5 miles was a steep climb to the rim, finishing our journey
at 12:30. After a quick visit to the Desert Tower and a pizza lunch in
Tusayan, we headed back home. The Grand Canyon never fails to amaze me!
Here are my favorite pics from the hike:
 |
| navigating a rockfall |
 |
| a sloped trail |
 |
| night time games |
 |
| sunrise |
 |
| the group of 10 hikers |
 |
| back up |
 |
| sunrise Sunday morning |
