Grand Canyon

I survived the Grand Canyon for the second time! My first trip to the Grand Canyon was with my brother Jose and my Dad back in 2001. This time, instead of hiking to the bottom and back in one day (not recommended by the Rangers), Martha and I took the Bright Angel trail down to Plateau Point. From the ridge to Plateau Point it's a 6.1 mile (9.8 km) hike that descends ~0.6 miles (0.9 km).

ISO 500 | 18 mm | f/13.0 | 1/640 sec

ISO 500 | 18 mm | f/11.0 | 1/500 sec

You may think, oh, only to Plateau Point, that's nothing! However, this time we were hiking in 123° F (50° C) weather! Most of this was in the middle of the day, so there isn't much shade or any at all. After sizzling some time at the Point and catching a few glimpses of the Colorado River, we headed back to Indian Gardens to wait in the shade until the sun wasn't so hot. See this location on Live Maps.

ISO 500 | 23 mm | f/13.0 | 1/640 sec

As soon as the sun was hidden by the western ridge, the temperature dropped nearly 20 degrees. That made hiking much more bearable, but it was still 103° F (39° C). We took the 4.5 mile hike back fairly slow, but at least this way we go to see some awesome colors and contrasts that you don't see during the day. It was a bit hard choosing which pictures to post here, so please look at my full set of Grand Canyon pictures in my Picasa Web Album.

ISO 500 | 24 mm | f/11.0 | 1/500 sec

ISO 500 | 18 mm | f/10.0 | 1/400 sec