Day 6 - Sunrise, Bright Angel Trail, Drive to Lake Powell

Up at 4:15am. Caught the shuttle at 4:45am out to Mather Point to see the 5:14am sunrise.












Wow. Stunning. Few things are worth getting up this early but this certainly was.

We then caught the bus to Bright Angel Trailhead. At 6:30 we started the hike down into the canyon. The trail is steep but the views are gorgeous. We passed under 2 tunnels. We were hoping to get down to the 1.5mile rest house. We needed to check out of the RV camp by noon so we decided to turn around and head back up after about an hour on the trail which was about 1.25 miles.




It was definitely a tough hike for me up the trail but I made it. We were back at the top by about 8:30.






I bought my hiking stick in Grand Teton on the ’08 trip. I now have 14 medallions on it. Down the front I have Hidden Falls Grand Teton NP, Yellowstone, Glacier NP/ Going-to-the-sun Road, Olympic NP, Olympic NP (2), Mt Saint Helens, Yaquina Head Lighthouse Newport OR, Crater Lake NP, Redwood National and State Parks, San Francisco, and Alcatraz. Going down the back Monte Sano SP, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon NP. I have gotten many comments on it from people on this trip. It really is a handsome stick and it was extremely helpful on today’s trail.

After the hike we stopped in the Bright Angel Lodge Canyon Coffee house for coffee and bagels (sunrise and a 2.5 mile hike on NO coffee!!!).

By then it was time to head back to the RV via the bus service to pack up. I took a quick shower and we pulled out at 10:30.

On our drive toward Page, AZ we stopped at Grand View Point, Lipan Point (sandwiches in the parking lot), and Desert View. Each of these offered spectacular views of the canyon. Just when you think you have oooh’ed and aaaah’ed all you can and seen everything there is another view from a different place or at a different time of day that offers something exciting.

In Page we stopped at the Safeway for a few groceries and a Starbucks!! Then checked in to the Lake Wahweap Campground in Glen Canyon NRA on Lake Powell. Lake Powell was created by the Hoover Dam (been there, done that). It is a hot bed of water sports. Boating, fishing, etc. It also offers the only access to Rainbow Bridge.

It had been a long day since sunrise so we all just chilled in the RV. We finally had internet access so all 3 laptops came out. I was able to update this blog.

Dinner was lasagna then an episode of 24. We were all exhausted from our early start, hike and 3 hours drive so we turned in fairly early.