Grand Canyon National Park. From the Thunderbird Lodge, to the Bright Angel Trail, to the 1.5 Mile point, and back. Peggy, Max, and I did this hike, starting later than intended. Max and I had planned to go down the South Kaibob Trail a ways but decided against that with the late start and expected heat. Samantha did a rim hike. The trail was not bad at first; not too steep. It got steeper past the first major reentrent and kept the same slope. We dropped 1,200 feet, only 1/3 of the drop to the river. This was also about 1/3 of the way there. There was unexpected water at our turnaround point—a pipe with a valve. On advice of a ranger we’d met on the way down we got our clothes wet to cool us for the hike back. It worked for a while. Max took off climbing fast. Peggy an I took our time and rested along the way. We were still going up with 15-20 minutes more to go when Max texted us letting us know he was already in the hotel room. He’d run part of the way up. I got some good pictures. It was scenic all the way but the hiking was nicer and more varied in Bryce. We had lunch along the rim afterwards and later a rain storm came creating great views with rainbows into the canyon.
