Early start today -- we have 19+ miles to cover, with 4,200+ feet of elevation gain, and only one day to do it.
After wolfing down some breakfast, grabbing some snacks and water, Nick and I were out of camp at 7:30am, with a promise to be back by 4:00pm.
There isn't really much to say about the hike, so I'm gonna let the pictures do the talking.
Bright and early
And we're off!
Heading up the wash, away from the river
Walking past the monument -- this sorta starts the trail
Climbing ever higher
About a third of the way up, we did stop at an outcropping to take some pictures, though.
A rare picture of me
Snow as we climb higher and higher
Getting to the top is MANDATORY
Around noon, we reached the rim and found ... a parking lot :-(
There were tourists around, looking at us like we were aliens, and they started asking us about the river, etc. It was a good time, but Nick and I had to scarf down some lunch, drink our beers, and start heading back down to the river.
We did take a few minutes to look for cell service, but came up more or less dry. Nick was able to get a call out, but we never had any data service. Alas.
Back near the monument -- almost back to camp!
We wound up reaching camp later than we promised: 4:05pm. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.
The boats are where we left them
I don't really know what everyone else did during the day, but I really enjoyed the hike. It was awesome to push myself again and know that I've still got it :-)
