Grand Canyon Adventure...Days 4 and 5...

...We started pretty early...hitting the trail about 7:30 AM...with some horsing around...holding up the rocks...

...we met a mule train...so we took to the inside again to let them pass...

...they were coming down into the canyon this time...they must have left really early...to be this far down this early...

...so pretty...it was a hazy morning...but that was a good thing as I think it kept things a little bit warmer overnight...

...it's chilly...and it doesn't take long until we start to see some snow...

...but it's pretty melty and really a muddy mess...not that the boys mind at all...but it's a little bit slippery too...

...as we continue to climb...and I do mean CLIMB...it's just like walking up stairs for miles...

...we see more snow...time to put the crampons back on...

...another thing we walked right past on the way down...these awesome petroglyphs...

...I was really hoping to see some petroglyphs...so I was really happy...we couldn't climb up to them...but you can make out lots of deer...

...the the final turn and we're back at the rim...
...as we were leaving the canyon...we stopped at the Kaibab National Forest...

...actually...we had been driving through this forest most of the way up to the canyon...it's huge...

...it's mostly a pine forest...not a lot of hardwoods...and spaced out quite a bit...so not a lot like the Pisgah National Forest where we grew up...but still nice and peaceful and beautiful...

...when we got back to the hotel...we realized that our boots were a MESS...and we had not brought any other shoes...and we had BIG plans for the afternoon...so we had to clean our boots...and Scout had the great idea of saving the dirt that we scraped off our boots as a souvenir...you're not really supposed to take dirt or rocks out of the canyon...but this dirt would have just worn off on the sidewalks and such if we had left it on our boots...so I put it in a baggie and saved it...

...and then washed the boots semi clean...

...we're kinda airport junkies around our family...we have so many pilots...so we drove out to the airport and had a little look around...

...and the Scoutmaster's son works for the tour company...we saw some of their planes flying over the canyon...

...so he gave the boys a guided tour of the inner workings of an airport garage...they let the boys climb into the planes and sit in the pilots seats...

...it was so interesting watching them park the big planes...

...it was a really tight fit...they had to set the propeller a certain way and guide it into the hanger with one man holding the propeller so that it wouldn't hit the side of the hanger...amazing...

...and they opened them up and told the boys about the motors...and propellers and such...it was great fun...

...we saw the Heliport that launches the helicopters that we saw over the canyon as well...

...and they gave us complimentary tickets to the IMAX theatre!...

...we got to see the Grand Canyon Movie...on the BIG screen...

...you're not supposed to take photos...so I just secretly snapped a shot of the big screen during the previews...the movie was awesome...

...after the movie and pizza at a local pizza place...we headed back to our hotel...to sleep in real beds...YAY!...

...bright and early the next morning we were on the road back to Phoenix...

...the scenery was awesome again...

...driving back through the desert...

...and the snowy trees...

...with the desert hills...

...and mountains in the distance...

...We are safely home and we had an uneventful flight with lots of airport food and lots of airport walking...that part of traveling with teenaged boys is fun too!...

...anywhoo...we're happy to be home...and we'd do it all again in a heartbeat!...