Grand Canyon Rim Trail and Grandview Trail

We made it to our final hiking and camping destination - Grand Canyon. We spent day one setting up camp and being tourists around the south rim trail.

I've been here once before, in 1984, but only remember seeing the view from the rim. It was nice to see more of the architecture and different viewpoints around the village.

And see a nice sunset. Air quality is very good right now.

Today we hiked the Grandview Trail to Horseshoe Mesa, a drop of about 2,500 feet in 2.5 miles. Similar to the Bear Mountain hike we did in Sedona, but backwards.

I'm playing amateur geologist on our hikes, pointing out the different strata and the very-old-ness of the terrain we are on (250 million to about 320 million on this hike - older than dinosaurs!). Down at the mesa were the remnants of an old copper and uranium mine. On the rocks you can see azurite and malachite.

Tomorrow we descend into the canyon for five days. See you on the other side!