Today I went to Grand Canyon National Park. I spent last night at Woody's Campground in Flagstaff. Flagstaff is about an hour and a half from the Grand Canyon. The day began very peacefully. I got up around five, packed, and began a very peaceful drive to the canyon. The air was crisp and I hardly saw any cars on the road. I put on my Iona C.D. while I was driving. Iona is a Celtic band who plays always beautiful, sometimes haunting songs about spirituality, nature, hope, and love. It was a perfect match for the morning drive to the Grand Canyon.

I arrived at the Grand Canyon around 8:00 a.m. Why so early? The Grand Canyon is one of the busiest National Parks in the world and I don't like huge crowds when I am out in nature. Before I strolled over to take some pictures of the canyon I hit the bookstore and bought a couple of patches,which I collect, and ten beautiful old fashioned postcards which I intend to frame when I get home. After hanging out with the tourists for about an hour I headed over to the South Kaibab Trail.

When I started hiking down the trail towards the bottom of the Grand Canyon I had no idea how far I would go. I knew I wasn't going to go to the bottom because it is a 4,OOO foot drop in elevation which means when you get to the bottom you have to go up 4,000 feet. As I hiked down the trail the views became better and better. I intended to stop a number of times and turn around but found myself going farther and farther down into the canyon. It's just so easy going downhill...and...before I knew it I was half way to the bottom of the canyon!

The hike back up was a butt kicker, but I have hiked much longer, steeper trails....when I was a young stud, of course. I once climbed 9,000 feet in elevation over a three day period in the Sierras. I have been climbing the bluffs near my house for months now so the climb, while difficult, was not a killer. That was not the case for most of the tourist I saw who really had no business going so far down the trail and am sure they wish they hadn't as they were huffing and puffing their way up, up, up.

Once I got to the top I went back to the picnic area and made myself a sandwhich and downed an ice cold diet Dr. Pepper which I pulled out of the bottom of my ice chest. It doesn't get any better than this! Than after taking about a half an hour break I got back in my car and drove five hours to Cortez Colorado where I checked into a hotel. I had originally intended to camp in Mesa Verde Campground but I didn't get into Cortez until almost dark and I was real, real, tired by this point. Tomorrow I'll head over and check out the Native American ruins of Mesa Verde National Park before I head off to the wilderness near Telluride. After two days of crossing some brutal desert landscape I am really looking forward to the high alpine terrain of the Rocky Mountains. I'll probably go into shock at night when the tempts are likely to be in the 30's. But, I think I am prepared. I brought along my down comforter from home, along with my Northface sleeping bag and fleece blanket, just in case, it gets really, really, cold.