Day 26- Hiking Grand Canyon

See the Colorado River.  It is the red clay color due to recent rains.

So this morning my parents kindly said,"Why don't you kids go ahead and do your thing today.  We don't want to hold you up."  What that translates to is: For God's sake you all exhaust us.  We need some down time! It ended up being a good idea because so of the trails were very close to "the edge" and there were also several rough terrain places.  The shuttle service here is included with the park fee so you can get anywhere without taking a vehicle.  The four of us took the bus to the western most point which was Pima point and we hiked to Hermit's rest.  That was a nice, paved, well cared for trail. At Hermit's Rest we were able to use the restrooms and get a snack.  Then we boarded the shuttle service and  rode to Mohave Point.  From there we hiked over to Powell point which is one of the only three stops that the shuttle does on the return route.  This trail was much more challenging!  Not because it was strenuous but because it was a dirt trail that followed the rim of the canyon sometimes with only 6 ft or less between us and a straight drop down!  I have included a picture of the three guys walking the trail to show you how close to the edge we were!  Duncan was pretty nervous and even more nervous for Douglas.  He kept saying, "Mom, I'm not sure Douglas should be doing this."  I assured him we were all fine and we kept going.  It was very nice to watch him be protective of Dougie.  Most of the time we just see him torment Douglas!

At Pima Point

Check out how close to the edge the trail is!

We left the RV at 9:00 this morning and returned back at 2:30 in the afternoon.  We had brought plenty of water and some granola bars with us, but we were starved by the time we got back!  After a quick bite to eat, Douglas and I laid down for a bit.  I fell right asleep and Douglas escaped at some point!  I woke up and hour and a half later!  In the meantime, my parents arrived back at the RV refreshed and happy to see us!  Tonight we went out for dinner at another Steakhouse (actually there's not much else to choose from unless you go to Pizza Hut or McDonald's!).  Douglas and I shared a dinner of BBQ chicken and 1/2 rack of ribs.  I ate the chicken and Douglas ate an entire rack of ribs on his own!  AFter that we went to a couple of shops in Tusayan and headed home.  On the way to dinner we saw several elk one of which was less than five feet from the car. 

Bull elk right next to our car

We desperately need to do laundry.  That is on the agenda for tomorrow.  We also have a helicopter flight over the canyon scheduled.  It will be our last activity with my parents and then we each head our own way.  We will start to head east and Mom & Dad will continue on to Las Vegas!