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A couple of people enjoying a sandy beach along the Colorado River, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona.

Descending into the Grand Canyon is such a different experience then standing on the rim.  It is far more then escaping the crowds. It is feeling and seeing the river up close.  It is the change in perspective – looking up at the massive canyon walls instead of down into them.  Your perspective changes with every step into the Canyon – it is an amazing experience!

Sunset last night over the Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona.

By the way, in case you are in the area, I’m doing a nature photography workshop at the Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens this Saturday.  It will be a three hour workshop followed by a two hour photo walk afterwards where you can practice what you just learned.  The price includes admission into the gardens.  I have more then 40 signed up with room for a few more.

We just spent a wonderful couple of nights camped along Bright Angel Creek – the brown tent is ours although we put it away for the second night so that we could sleep under the stars.

Staying in good shape is a requirement of the occupation of outdoor photographer, and we try to either run, ski, bike or hit the gym daily.  Unfortunately Janine and I have both battled some kind of lung infection and haven’t been able to work out at all for a couple of months.  Despite looking forward to this hike for months, we almost pulled the plug fearing we couldn’t pull it off.  At the last minute, we decided to suck it up and do it, hoping our prior conditioning would be enough, and we are both so glad we did!

I’ll share more about the trail in the future, but it is challenging.  The top is over 7,200 feet and morning temps were near freezing.  At the bottom, almost 4,800 feet down, the afternoon temps reached 97!  Like most hikers, we spent a good portion of the afternoon sitting in the creek to cool off.

We hiked down on the South Kaibab Trail, but returned on the Bright Angel Trail.  At over nine miles, the hike out on the Bright Angel Trail is two miles longer then the hike in, but offers more shade and water – two very desirable qualities!  Like most hikers, we got up at 4:30 to pack for the hike out – this was key, especially coming from Alaska where we aren’t used to the heat.

The campground is just across the Colorado River and a short distance up stream on Bright Angel Creek.  It was so peaceful and relaxing listening to the creek, and watching that deer the frequented our camp.  The stars at night were the icing on the cake!