Rim to Rim yet again!

Although I grew up in Arizona and have lived here all but two years of my life I had only been to the Grand Canyon a couple of times and had never hiked it... until this year! In the last year I have hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon 4 times! This weekend marked our 3rd time hiking with a group of people put together by a man in our ward, Ed McMullin, which has become known as "Club ED." (Ed is amazing as he puts together transportation, arranges shuttling of vehicles and sometimes even provides dinner on the trail!) I also made 1 trip down to Havasupai Falls for a girls weekend (I know not your typical girls weekend - a backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon but oh so much fun!).

This weekend was amazing as we hiked down in the afternoon, had a little BBQ in the bottom with brats and smores (thanks to Ed himself), and hiked out by moonlight. The hike out was AMAZING! The canyon is always beautiful and amazing and this trip was definitely no exception. On the way down everything was so green and lush, the water was running high from the winters snow runoff, there were frogs croaking in the creeks near the bottom, the gentle breeze rustling through the trees. I wish I could have brought the sounds of the canyon home with me. The way out was particularly amazing. We started hiking out right after it got dark, however the moon had not yet come up. As we were hiking along the trail and the moon peeked over the rim it was as though a big spotlight had just been shined down on the canyon and it was awesome. The shadows from the south rim peered onto the canyon walls of the north rim. I wish that I had a good camera and tripod so that I could have captured it. Hiking out was so serene and peaceful as there were no other hikers on the trail, it was spectacular!

I have really gained a love of the Canyon this last year and I am sad to leave Arizona and miss the bi-annual rim to rim trips with "Club Ed." However, we have had a lot of fun times with old friends, made new friends and have created some really good memories and we will be back!

Such awesome scenery, if only my camera could really capture the awe of it all.

On the bridge that takes us across the Colorado River.

This is a picture of the switch backs that we went down the first time we hiked the canyon. This picture seemed a little bit more significant after this trip as these were the switch backs that we hiked UP this time!

Keepin it real! We took some funny pictures with Julie and Travis at the bottom before starting our steep ascent upward. This one was my favorite (except my eye looks really scarry). Julie suggested making a face that you would be afraid to see at night in a dark alley. Who do you think wins the prize for the scarriest?

This is us with Ed at the end of the hike, and look we're all still smiling! Such an awesome thing to do every year. What a great guy - we love you Ed!