And the First One Said to the Second One There

Let's go to the Grand Canyon!

Because Steve had never been to or seen this natural wonder of the world in person, we set off to the West and stopped at Goosenecks State Park on the way.

That's 6 miles of river that progresses in less than 1 mile, which is totally a reason to do a cheer. We also ran into the U Department of Geography, but that's not really a reason to do a cheer.

And then, it was on through Monument Valley.

And while Monument Valley held some really cool rock formations to view from the highway, the surrounding area was really just more God-forsaken land until we reached GRAND CANYON!

Steve was very excited to see this large (and impressive) crack in the ground. I don't think all of his dreams came true, but it sure had to be a close second. A close third was encountering this sign after we had viewed the drawings in the Watchtower. I totally didn't notice the naked people drawings.

And since we were finally around scores of other humans, we did a lot more than just view nature.

And we spent some more time gazing out at that impressive, grand crack.

And decided to conquer that grand canyon the very next morning, but we had to endure the coldest night of our trip yet. I'm just glad we missed the snow the night before. And I must be getting old or something because my body ached that morning--all that sleeping on the ground.

We had to bundle up for that hike down to Plateau Point via the Bright Angel Trail: long underwear on top, jacket, hat, gloves. And then, we quickly realized why they were selling and renting lots of crampons and yaktraks at the General Store--lots and lots of ice on that trail. A bunch of male wusses complained that they turned around due to iced-over stairs several feet below. Slick stairs? Sure. Undo able? No. And this is coming from the person who gets heart palpitations when crossing snow-covered chutes.

It would be my second time entering the canyon and I admit that it is no less impressive each time.

For a while the trail was a superhighway with people only hiking to the 1.5 mile or 3 mile rest houses and there were plenty of people who were hiking out after camping at the bottom. I am always amazed by the type of people who attempt (and complete) hikes like this one. It's no easy feat to climb out of that canyon, especially with a full pack, but plenty of people who looked like they were about to die totally were doing it.

But don't worry. Steve was not one of those people. Twelve miles with 6,000 feet of elevation change in less than 7 hours. There's no joke about that.

The canyon was unbelievably green and pretty dang awe-inspiring. At times, I would just stop and try to take it all in.

One of the great things about a hike like this one is being able to look back and see how far you've come, but one of the worst things is also seeing what you have to climb to get home.

Regardless, at each step of this hike I kept thinking that it couldn't get any better, but it did.

After experiencing the superhighway of a trail, it was pretty amazing to be at that spot in solitude for half an hour. And once others started joining us, we decided it was time to start back up. Unlike our time in Canyonlands, we did not get lost and the hike back up was pretty enjoyable given our steady pace and cool temperatures.

Not a bad way to celebrate Steve's birthday, I say.