Hikes at the Bottom

 This picture hardly looks like the bottom of Grand Canyon.  It isn't.  We hiked about 2 miles up the Clear Creek Trail and were given some great views of the very muddy Colorado River, the South Kaibab Trail and the canyon in general.  Usually, the river isn't as dirty looking as it was at the end of March, but there's been a lot of runoff and the river can often be a dirty mix - that's why the Spanish called it "coloured".  We also hiked 2  - 3 miles up the North Kaibab Trail along Bright Angel Creek - a flat walk in a narrow canyon for the first mile or two - simply gorgeous hiking and ever so easy. 

The Nine Minute Mile!

I went to my first coaching session at running this a.m. and discovered that I'm doing about a mile in nearly 9 minutes!! That's pretty bad, but if I can maintain that rate I should be able to do the Spokane run in less than an hour. What are the chances of that, I ask??

Life at the Bottom

 I loved these old buildings near the confluence of the Colorado River and Bright Angel Creek.  I'm sure they'd been used for stabling mules but were inactive on the days we visited.  A great short trail that we did was the river loop from the campground across the two bridges which span the Colorado River.  One of the bridges is only suitable for hikers; the other is good for both mules and hikers.  On a personal note, I really wouldn't want to be 5 or 6 feet higher off the ground on some of the trails in Grand Canyon, particularly the river loop.  There are some perilous drops into the Colorado!

Getting to the Bottom of A Big Thing

We finally hiked down to the bottom of Grand Canyon! This was our third visit to the National Park and each time we didn't have the right equipment with us. It was a super hot day, the day we hiked down the South Kaibab Trail, but the desert flowers were beginning to bloom and it is a marvelous trail. It's not even all that hard on the knees. We spent two nights at Bright Angel Campground, saw the famous Phantom Ranch, had a couple of nice hikes while down at the bottom and hiked out via the Bright Angel Trail on a day that was mercifully cool. Hurrah!

Ten Days in NJ

Heading back west later today but we sure found some fine weather here on the east coast. It's very warm and the forsythia and magnolias, daffs and hyacinths are all putting on a fine display. Although it is pre-migration, the bird life has been interesting and it's always wonderful to see those spring bulbs. Tomorrow and the next day are predicted to be record setting highs in NJ - they are looking at 28 for Friday!! Glad I'm out of here. I have really noticed the humidity. The running has gone okay and I'm managing about 30 - 40 minute runs, but the day I left it late in the day it was WAY too hot to run. We've had some gorgeous hardwood forest walks and we also get to look at our gorgeous Callie! She seems to be coming into her own this week - playing so happily on her own, sleeping well and just being...well....perfect.

One Ski Trip

I got out on one ski trip this year to the cabin just north of here. We had a long slog of a hike into it in very heavy snow and then couldn't ski because of the avalanche hazard. It was still beautiful up in the high country and we could tour around a bit. It was a good little slide into the cabin entrance! I have to say that I'm ready for spring but it's good to know we have snow up high to fill up the rivers, creeks and lakes this summer.

Snow

This is the good thing about living in a place with snow - this picture was actually taken a couple of weeks ago when we went to "our" ski hill up Bjirkness Creek FS Road. This morning we've got another 10 cm to shovel. I have to say that I'm getting sick of it. Winter came to Rossland on November 3rd so this is almost like living on the prairies with the length of winter! However, this year the prairie seems to have managed to avoid the worst of winter. There's been some lovely skiing, I have to say, but it's March now and I am definitel ready for spring.