Thursday, December 15, 2011

"Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

Some pics from the Grand Canyon. Weather was... interesting, so it didn't create ideal light for photography but was gorgeous none the less with the snow all over the rim and halfway down the canyon walls.

The rest of the crew

We hiked in through the falling snow, into the rainy canyon.  It was a wet, and slippery nine miles. 





Since this was my first trip to the canyon, I was still wondering if this was some sort of cruel practical joke "you guys are a bunch of liars there's no canyon out there"



Finally below the snow... but not the rain.




Made to within a few kilometers of the mine we were looking for by sunset, so we found a nice ridge line to camp on.  It was a wet night. The rain didn't finally stop until the early morning hours the next day.  However it was a gorgeous view when we stepped out of our tents the next morning.



Then, out of no where, sunshine!


Hiked around the ridge and down the wash, hoping some of our gear would dry out in the morning.

Found our abandon mine shaft.  Most have been fun getting materials in and out of here when it was in use.



After replacing the batteries in the bat monitors, we hiked back to camp and packed up.  There was over a foot of snow on the ground in places making it tricky backpacking.  I was trying to conserve water on the way in since we weren't going to the river, this was a mistake.  The lack of water the day before caused me to start cramping in my quads about half way up the ascent. Just my bodies way of reminding me to get my fluids next time :)