The objective of the first "day" of our hike - now that we had arrived - was to get to the Esplanade, which (as it turns out) is not just a fancy name, but a reference to the layer of rock that constitutes it, a 330 foot red sandstone shelf. Mileage was about 5 miles*: 2 miles along the Rim, then 3 miles or so of hiking down into the canyon, with an descent of about 850 ft.
(* = Author's note: Distances in come cases may be approximate, based on measured versus reported.)
The trail along the Rim is a series of undulating hills. At one point one reaches the high point and begins the last downhill. In the back of my mind, of course, is that we have to come up all of this as well: the trail in will be our trail out, at least here.
The trail down:
The sky was partially cloudy, but we were spared any significant rain. It made for even more spectacular views though; I do not remember seeing clouds of this kind when I hiked here 3 years ago.
Monument Point. This is a useful gauge of how for down (or up) one has come:
This was a very steep descent with a series of narrow switchbacks. Descents for me - and for most people that I hike with - are the more difficult part of the hike. Rocks can slip, poles can slide out, feet can slide - twisting knees and ankles or just causing one to fall. All of us went down at least once during the descent.
One of the things that struck me as I continued down was the silence. There are no birds, no insects, no particular wind or rain in this case, just silence. To someone that is surrounded constantly by sound, it was terribly noticeable.
Looking back up at Monument Point for perspective:
Even in the Grand Canyon, you can find flowers in Autum:
Our campsite for the night:
Sunset getting ready to put on a show:
And, of course, very fragile. Step lightly.
Dinner this night was pizzadillas (basically quesadillas with pizza makings). Sadly, I failed to grab a picture.
But the view on the veranda while waiting for dinner was amazing.
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