Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Grand Canyon 2015

The main reason I went home was to hike the Grand Canyon. Can you believe that I grew up less than four hours away and had only been to the Grand Canyon once and had never hiked it?! Crazy, right? So I set out with Dad and Lindsey to fix this. 
We left Friday morning so we would have some time to do a little sight seeing along the way. There were several great lookout points. It was pretty cold though, but the views were worth it. 
The next morning we set out on the trail around 6:30am. It was seven miles down to the bottom and another ten to hike out. Add in the little detour we took at the bottom and you are looking at 18 miles round trip in one day. 
It was the most beautiful hike ever. The wild flowers were in bloom, the sage brush was green and the rock was red.  
I was doing really well until the last 1.5 miles....I about died. haha. My legs were burning from the past 9 miles walking up a cliff. However, finishing made it worth every step. One day I want to camp overnight in the bottom of the canyon. Enough words, lets get to the pictures! *Warning* some are phone pictures so the quality isn't the best. :) 
















Waiting for the bus to take us to the trail! 

All ready to start hiking!










I had a temporary orange spray tan courtesy of the orange dirt

We made it! 11 1/2 hours later!

I managed to capture 20 different states and one from Ontario. Not pictured: Florida, Alaska, Connecticut, British Columbia and probably a bunch more.  

Thanks Dad for taking me! Dad has hiked the Grand Canyon close to eight times. He even told me that he was once crazy enough to got rim to rim to rim in 24 hours! That is over 40 miles. I can't wait to do it again. 

Home Sweet Home

I love going home to St. Johns! No matter how long it has been since I have actually lived there it will always feel like home. Lindsey was in between semesters at BYU-I so I tagged along for the week. We hung out, watched chick flicks, played games, went canoeing in Patterson's Pond, saw old friends and ran at the high school track. All of which bring back so many great memories from high school.
I often feel extremely blessed to have grown up where I did with the friends I did. That little town has had so much to do with who I am. It shaped me. This trip I saw several friends that I haven't seen in over five years! It was so fun to catch up. It doesn't matter how long we have been apart, we all pick back up where we left off.
Lindsey also gave me a few lessons on how to use my camera. The lilacs were in full bloom so they became the perfect picture taking practice specimen.