South Rim

27th Apr

 

Having watched the sunset over the Grand Canyon yesterday evening we had an easy morning.  The excitement of the past week had started to dissipate and we were back to normal things such as …… the washing!

 

 

 

There is a free bus shuttle service around the canyon so we used it to explore the eastern half of the South Rim in the afternoon.  We stopped at Mather and Yaki Point.  We watched a few hikers on the South Kaibab Trailhead, which is a steeper but shorter way down the Canyon and the route the Mule Train use when they return from their overnight at Phantom Ranch.  Perhaps we will try this trail another time but not today.

 

The previous weekend we had spoken to a young lad in running kit who had run down the Kaibab and up the Bright Angel Trail (approx. 17 miles) – in 4 hours!!!  He said there were other runners who were doing the “Rim to Rim” run which is from the South Rim to the North Rim and back in the same day!  That would be around 40 miles of uphill or downhill – unbelievable what people do on their weekends just for fun.

You get a very international feel about the Grand Canyon.  It draws so many overseas visitors, especially the Japanese, and we heard all sorts of languages and accents.