Sign up for REI Gearmail and save 15%!
The Coconino Sandstone cliff is now high above.
The path descends to the redwall.
Now approaching 4:30pm, I choose to make the 3-mile rest house my turn-around point on this hike. I had hoped to make it to Indian Gardens – the ranger station and campground at 4.5 miles – but I have never hiked uphill out of the Grand Canyon before, and I’d best be conservative.
Where the cliffs come to point is the route of the Bright Angel Trail. The top of that point is not the rim. The rim is blocked from view as can be gauged from the upper left corner.
The waning daylight commences its casting of shadows throughout the canyon. That play of light so admired from the overlooks above takes on a more immediate quality below the rim.
I begin the return ascent.
Don’t miss the hiker seen here
Another one of my favorites from this day
If you look closely here you can see Kolb Studio.
A young girl patiently waits for her parents to catch up.
The lower tunnel, revisited