We ended up getting a later start than we planned (surprise, surprise, right?). I got food poisoning (never again cafe med, never again.) and Albert added another leaf spring to the rear of the truck (our home on wheels).
Reached San Diego in evening the, 6/9 (picked up our sweet brand new backpacking tent, thanks Craigslist) and had an awesomely gluttonous weekend with Tina and Sara. So much good food, but none that topped their Korean Taco's! Checked out the wild animal park (We liked the rhinoceros) and the beach.
Late starts seem to be a trend, got to Jacob's Lake (45 min. or so from the North Rim entrance) at 2am--drove straight through from San Diego. We got our back country pass the next afternoon and took off on our hike through the Grand Canyon in the evening.
The first evening I fell in the Grand Canyon, we encountered a rattlesnake (which doubled our hiking pace) and Albert got stung by a scorpion!
(lesson learned: never wear flip flops at night in the canyon)
We camped in Cottonwood camp (a steep 7 miles from the trail head) both nights and hiked down to Bright Angel Ranch and the Colorado River on the second day (another 7 miles, but flatter), an elevation change of 5761 feet. The Colorado River was muddy and fast, but Bright Angel Creek was refreshing, as was the lemonade (and ice!) from the canteen at the ranch. The campsites there were awesome, right along the creek with waist deep pools in some spots. It was HOT! In the shade, 112 and at one point beyond the thermometers reading (140) in the sun.
On our way back to camp from Bright Angel we saw a lady coming up quick on the trail, she was running home. Running home through the Grand Canyon, because she lives on the South Rim and had just finished doing some work on the North rim. Incredible.
The views from the North Rim (Point Imperial), campsites, and hikes are amazing. Albert was pretty impressed "It's SO BIG!"
I definitely recommend hiking the Grand Canyon to Bright Angel Camp. The North Rims rough, but worth the trouble. Someone pointed out that the people coming off the South Rim hike were a little fresher looking (it's a slightly shorter hike).
We spent last night in Kaibob National Forest, for free! Now we're making our way to the petrified forest and badlands.
Internet/phone reception is spotty, but we'll call, update, mail as often as we can. We'll put a link to some more pictures as soon as we get a decent net connection.
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