Sweating the South Rim

Today was a fairly simple schedule. We left our hotel in Flagstaff and headed North to Grand Canyon National Park. After reading up on the current wildfires, we decided to go ahead and take our chances. The wildfire in Williams, just North of us from the previous day were reported to be under control. Although the risks rating was still high, they still allowed us into the park. We walked around the South rim trail, stopping at several lookouts for photo opportunities. We were amazed to find how close some of the animals came to the trail. We found a small group of three elk relaxing in the shade as tourists strolled by. The squirrels wer also entertaining, as one was sunbathing on the edge of a cliff overhang.
Afterwards we made our way down to our hiking trail. We chose to hike the "Bright Angel" trail since it was only a few miles long. It wasn't until after were started down the six mile round trail that we overheard other hikers say that it was a mile and a half just to the first stop. They also said that it took about and hour and a half to walk a mile and a half due to the rough incline and narrow trail. It would also take close to twice as long to trek back to the top. We decided since we already walked the entire South rim instead of taking the shuttle, that we would just hike to the half way point. I think we made the right choice since we ran out of water just after we turned back; and that even the more "fit" hikers were frequently stopping to rest in the shade. Once we left the park in the afternoon we stopped back in Williams, Az to have lunch at "Rod's Steakhouse." The steakhouse was built in 1946, and seen many route 66 travellers over the years. We then made our way into Kingman, Arizona for the night.

Song of the day: "Folsom Prison" by Johnny Cash