mark feldman's summer trip grand canyon part 3 - august 2

6 AM: the great decsent begins!  it's cloudy and 70 degrees as i peer down the south kaibab trail.

what was surprising about this hike wasn't so much the views (those were incredible of course but i already knew that would be the case) but the sheer vastness.  it's like this: you look down and see the trail going to the bottom of a drop-off, and then when you get there and turn the corner, you suddenly see yet another huge drop-off that hadn't been visible before.  it felt like climbing down 5 different mountains on top of each other!  below we have the first view of the colorado river, and a massive wall of red limestone.

above we have me at the halfway point, taken by one of two crazy german women i met on the trail (i hope they're reading this!)  they were crazy (among other reasons) because (unlike me) they went all the way back up the same day!

gradually the river got closer and closer, and i touched down at phantom ranch at around 10:30.  the ranch is a great way to go - cool cabins, good food, and less to carry in.  for those reasons, you've got to make reservations at least 6 months in advance though.

all in all i would have to pick this morning as my top hike of the trip, with angel's landing a close second.

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