A Nice Day in October?

This shot was taken last week along the North Wrangell Trail.
Yesterday, Oct 20, I had planned on hiking up the North Wrangell Trail again but didn't make it far because I was ill prepared. There was a lot of ice on the trail, even at the beginning and I was only wearing shoes.

So I took a walk down Spur Road instead. View toward Crittenden Creek on the mainland as the shadows were getting longer.

Set up on a temp road in a clear cut and watched the stars move. This was about a 6 1/2 minute exposure of a small section of sky.

Mount Waters is bathed in moonlight.

The Beginning of an Adventure

Shadow says her goodbye. Little did we know, we would spend another night at home after a slick runway forced Alaska Airlines to skip their Wrangell stop.

This was somewhere south of Ketchikan, near the US-Canada border.

View out the airplane window near Vancouver Island.

Mount Rainier.

The Grand Canyon

Visiting the Grand Canyon has always been a dream of mine (Christina's). I remember sitting in school and watching videos on the Grand Canyon and thinking how how wonderful it would be to go there someday. And now my dream has come true! The areas we visited were all so beautiful and amazing, but each very different and unique.


This was our first glimpse at the Grand Canyon. I (Christina) couldn't hold in my excitement and I asked Quent to quickly take a picture to capture the joy on my face. The pictures we have really do not do justice for the beautiful grandeur we saw before our eyes. There are so many details in this great land. Our eyes could have looked upon it forever and would have not received the full effect of the impressive Grand Canyon.

Quent standing on a cliff overlooking the canyon.

The Roosevelt Fire burns on the edge of the north rim.

Sunset

We were able to witness our first Grand Canyon sunset not long after we arrived. Unfortunately a cloud bank stood in the way of capturing the colorful rock formations but the sunset itself made up for it.

A tree at the edge of the canyon.

After the sunset enough light remained in the canyon to see its incredible scale, depth, and layers.

South Kaibab Trail

We originally planned out this trip in Michigan during Christmas when we went out to eat with a couple friends from Michigan Tech. After quite a bit of planning Pat and Sara met us in Phoenix and from there we continued to the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately they weren't able to stay with us for the entire trip but we had a lot of fun while we were together.

This picture was taken a little before dawn as we were waiting for the bus to take us to the South Kaibab Trailhead.

Walking down the switchbacks near the beginning of the South Kaibab Trail.

A view from the trail...

...and a view of the trail.

South Kaibab Views

Smoke from the Roosevelt Fire.

The hikers make their way down a steep section of trail.

Taking in the spectacular view.

The Trail

The smoke form the Roosevelt Fire burning on the north rim makes up the haze filling the bottom of the canyon as well as the band near the top of the photo.

I figured I could help out with some trail maintenance.

Getting Deeper

A mule train pauses so the riders can take in the view and the mules can rest.

Rounding a corner of the trail.

The easiest section of the South Kaibab Trail passed through this scenic plateau.

During a break we spotted this lizard. He was camera-shy and attempted to hide but eventually I got a decent shot of him.

The Last Pitch

After walking across one of the lower level plateaus we started descending again. Pat waits for the rest of us to catch up while gazing at the muddy Colorado River.

A particularly red section of rock. This layer even stands out when a person gazes down at the canyon from the rim. By the time we made it through this little section of rock all our shoes were pink with dust.

Looking down at the switchbacks and bridge that would take us to the Bright Angel Campground.

Trail's End

We briefly paused in the tunnel before crossing the bridge to the north side of the canyon. The shade didn't provide much relief in the 107 degree heat (probably wasn't quite that hot yet but close to it). But the sight of the Colorado River beneath our feet provided a mental relief.

After picking out our campground we all enjoyed the wonderful clear, cool water of Bright Angel Creek. It was amazingly refreshing!

Smiles all around, and looking forward to a good night's rest.