Grand Canyon Mini-Hike

By the time we got out this morning at 7am, the temperature had already climbed to the 50's from the early morning low of 36. The winds are still whipping today, so it felt good to have a toboggan on. The canyon is still enormous and beautiful, and the kids are still oohing and aahing over it.

We had a nice breakfast at Bright Angel Restaurant (same place as dinner last night). Then, we did a modest hike down the Bright Angel Canyon trail. We met some folks (a father and son) from Minnesota who had started down the North Rim 4 days ago, spent 3 nights, and were almost to the top of the South Rim. They said this was by far the steepest part. Several nice folks asked if we wanted pictures of all 5 of us, which was nice.

We saw lizards, hummingbirds, squirrels, a chipmunk, a raven, purple martins, other unidentified birds, cacti, and pretty red flowers and purple flowers.

Halfway down, we started shedding our layers, as we were quickly warming up. The kids took turns being 'the camel', or the person carrying the backpack with all our drinks. We are trying to be mindful of staying hydrated and eating salty snacks, and we seem to be doing well so far.

Lots of adventure points being accumulated today. :)