Upside down Switzerland

Then we were off to the Grand Canyon. We weren't sure quite what to expect, since we knew that (1) the Grand Canyon is always crazy busy with tourists, (2) many of the hiking trails are closed in winter, and (3) even more trails would be closed because of the heavy snow that had fallen while we were getting wet in the Superstitions. We dove up from Flagstaff for a day hike, enjoyed the day hike, decided that the snow and people weren't a big problem, and decided to do an overnight hike. So the next day we descended to the bottom of the canyon, zig-zagging our entire way down to the river. The elevation difference from top to bottom is nearly 1 mile, so it kind of feels like your walking into an abyss.

Hiking there is a bit like hiking in Switzerland - it's as if the Grand Canyon was the mold used to create the Alps. You can walk up hill, or you can walk down hill. When you get to the bottom of the canyon, you can go get a beer at the "ranch". You can even sleep at the ranch if you're not cheap like us. There are people everywhere, but you learn to ignore them by soaking in the spectacular views. Sound like Switzerland? Neither of us had been there before, and I'm not sure if we'll be going back anytime soon, but we definitely enjoyed it.

We were feeling pretty good about ourselves on the hike back to the top of the canyon. We were much faster than we anticipated, and we managed to overtake quite a few people on the way. We were feeling good, anyway, until we were overtaken by a runner who had started at the top, ran to the river, and was then running back to the top. This was over 16 miles horizontally plus 1 mile down and 1 mile up. We were impressed. I almost felt inspired to start a rigorous training program.

After reaching the top we drove to Phoenix, slept through New Year's Eve celebrations, woke up early the next morning, and flew back to Fairbanks. We were greeted with nearly two weeks of -40 C (-40 F).

Views of the south rim:

The trail downward. Don't look at this next photo if you get vertigo.

The Colorado River:

Inari jumping into the abyss:


Some of our friends and acquaintances have perfected the art of jumping photos. We still haven't quite figured them out, but you have to admit the leaping into the Grand Canyon is rather dramatic.