While hiking the trail we also happened across a bunch of local wildlife.

Unfortunately the shuttle bus was not running as it was the off season so we turned around half way along the rim and went back to grab the car. From there we drove to the end where we could hike the first part of the Hermit trail for some new views of the canyon.

All in all an excellent hay of hiking.

At the end of the day a storm blew in and the winds picked up bring clouds that really obscured our views.

In the end we had an amazing day outside!

The first part of the trail was a gentle incline then it came to a part that was sunny so all the snow had melted. This gave us the confidence we needed to continue on.

Beaver and Moosie came along as well.

Looking back to where we started.

Eventually we came to a series of switchbacks that were to steep to do without additional traction so we played it safe and turned around.
Instead of giving up we decided to hike some of the other trails such as the Rim trail and the start of the Hermit trail.

At one of the lookouts we tried to hike down one of the trails but we soon found that we were sliding more than walking and with no railing there was a good chance we could have slid right over the edge!

We still managed to get some great views and took lots of pictures.

We then stopped by some ancient ruins to snap some photos and learn about the history of the area.

Finally to end out our day we checked into our hotel, the “Bright Angel Lodge”.

Oh. And there was a train. Trains are cool.

After stuffing ourselves (neither Jane or I could finish our plates) we zipped over to the local Target to see first hand what will soon be coming to Canada to replace Zellers. We picked up a few snacks and I bought a cable to recharge my phone. Somehow I managed to forget to pack one.

Our route took us past a volcano that erupted around 1000 years ago so we took the opportunity to stretch our legs and take some photos

Our drive to the Grand Canyon we went the long way up the east side and entered near the watchtower.

Here we had our first views of the canyon and was it ever amazing!

While checking out the views we also had some close encounters with the local wildlife.

We also took the opportunity to tour the watchtower.

Beaver even had his photo taken!

We did a whole bunch more but I’m going to save it for another post.

We landed and rented a car, our choices were limited but we ended up with a Dodge Charger. Vroom!

Seeing as we gained an extra 2 hours of daylight we stopped in at the local REI to stock up on supplies and see what toys they had to offer. From there we enjoyed an easy drive through an intense snowstorm to our hotel in Flagstaff. Snow is awesome when you’re driving a rear wheel drive vehicle and the locals don’t do snow removal.

In the end we arrived safe and easily passed out for the night in our hotel.

This will give me that touch of class my touring bike needs, and hoprfully relieve some pressure.

Really nice video of two guys hiking the CDT after 3 years of planning.