Hiking the Rim Trail (Grand Canyon South Rim)

"We have an unknown distance yet to run,an unknown river to explore..... with some eagerness and some anxiety and some misgiving we enter the canyon below."

John Wesley- (leader of the first exploration into the Grand Canyon in 1890)

The Rim Trail extends from the village area to Hermits Rest and covers a distance of almost 13 miles. Viewpoints along the way allow for quiet contemplation of the amazing scenery below. The beauty of the rim trail is that you can begin and end at any of the viewpoints, riding the shuttle bus between stops if you wish. 

The South Rim trail is considered to be one of the most scenic hiking trails in all of the canyon. The trail meanders along the canyon rim leading through pinyon pine and Utah juniper, often windblown into exotic shapes.  Come along with us as we casually hike this amazing trail~

these windblown trees have so much character

honestly -- they were one of my favorite things about this hike.

We started our hike in the early morning -- the fog was just lifting over the canyon.  In the early afternoon we took a little break - caught the shuttle back to Bright Angel Lodge and ate our lunch there.   In this photo we are sitting in front of the lodge and have just finished our ice cream cones.  (Espresso with chocolate chunks for me!)  Now we are off to catch the shuttle and resume our hike~

It's a great big place-- this canyon. Just standing here looking out on this vast expanse of space you can't help but think about all that had to happen in order for this place to be here.  This canyon puts time and our short lives~ into perspective.  It demands contemplation -- it cannot be seen in a day, a week, or even a lifetime. 

The Geology Museum

as seen from the rim trail

~~

At the end of the day~

we completed about 8 miles of the 13 mile distance,

stopping to take lots of photos and just

gaze upon the amazing scenery.

~

 next trip we will plan to start where we left off and 

complete the hike covering the distance that we missed

on this trip

~~

for those of you who are not inclined to hike~

you can see many of these amazing scenes

without ever putting on a pair of hiking boots.

You can simply drive along 

the Desert View road

stopping at the various viewpoints

 along the way.

I'm sharing with you some of the great buildings to be found along the South rim of the canyon.  This is the Grand Canyon Railroad station, dating back to the early part of the century. You can find info about riding the train to the canyon here.  

There are just never enough days to

do all the things you want to do!!

Riding the train is on our list

for next trip!

My favorite building (besides the Watch Tower!).  This is the Hopi House -- another of Mary Coulter's famous architectural designs.

Designed to replicate ancient Hopi Indian dwellings -- this is thought to be one of her greatest achievements. 

The Hopi House has been featuring native American artwork, jewelry, and Indian designs of all kinds for over 100 years.  Today, the Hopi House is a beautiful Native American gift shop featuring beautiful Indian jewelry pieces as well as other Native American art.  Watch your step when you enter -- the doors are short!

The geology museum sits right on the edge of the canyon and houses some amazing geological displays as well as a bookstore. The entire back wall of the museum features a floor to ceiling window for viewing of the canyon below.

The heat of the day quickly drops to COLD temperatures when the sun sets behind  the canyon.  At the end of our very long day -- and still we are walking around, I was freezing!! Because I can't stand to be cold -- I hiked to the car and grabbed the only warmth I could find -- this travel blanket.  And because I have NO shame--I wore it the rest of the evening!

Our National Parks are one of our greatest treasures.

If you have never visited a National Park -- by all means do so.

They are here for our pleasure~~ for our lifetime 

and for that of our children~

~~~~~~~

Some updates -

we have just returned from travels again -- this time we went to the beach and spent 10 glorious days at our condo.

Sunrise as seen from my balcony 

Now that we are home, I am crazy busy catching up with all the things that don't get done when you are away!  We drove to the beach and in tow were all of the latest additions to the Pink Scarf Project. I spent hours taking photos of your beautiful contributions while at the beach -- and I can't wait to share the gorgeous photos with you soon!  While I was there ~ I finished my own contribution to the Pink Scarf Project and I'm very excited to be sharing that with you also.

Up next -- more of our hiking photos from out west -- I'm taking you to beautiful, amazing, breathtaking Sedona. That post will be coming up soon! (I promise not to be gone so long this time!) I've tried to visit every single person who left a comment on my last post -- and I'm trying to catch up with all my blogging friends now!

xoxo,

Vicki

ps--

I'm excited to once again participate in Karen's fabulous

 "Where Blogger's Create party".

If you would like to share your creative space

(no matter how big or small!)

visit Karen for all the info. 
It's an amazing party -- 
and a wonderful opportunity to make new friends.

~

Plan to visit me here when I 

open up the doors to the

Sacred Yarn room~
(but first I have to clean it up!!)

The party starts July 12!!