Oh no, not just ANY canyon. Please.

After the overwhelming cuteness of the last couple of days, it was nice to get back on the road and resume the adventurous lifestyle more characteristic of a couple who was JUST married (rather than one with a small family in tow.) The next stop was, as I cleverly hinted in the post title, The Grand Canyon. We got there in the early evening, leaving us time to take some quick snapshots...
...and set up our tent again.
We were so impressed, we stuck around the rim until sunset.
(Nice, right?) The next day we rose and shone basically pretty early in order to attempt a hike into the canyon itself. It took us a little longer to get started than we had hoped, but we managed to crank out six miles, down and back, beneath the canyon rim. The trail, which was originally based on the paths deer took to travel from rim to river (probably), winds back and forth among the various geological strata visible on the canyon walls. There's a rest station with water at 1.5 miles and at 3 miles below the rim. The following pictures may all look pretty similar to you... but just imagine them as a sequenced account of our trek and maybe it will be sort of exciting.

The verrrry top of the trail! Note the feature at the left, casting a shadow.

A step further.
What has Lucas so worried?
Perhaps it is the threat of inclement weather, visible all the way across the canyon. (That particular thunderstorm didn't reach us, but we could see the lightning!)
That awesome-looking hump on the right is the same feature from the first pic I asked you to note... our view of it helped us get a feel for how much we had descended or ascended during the hike. See how we're almost level now?
The same feature! (on the right.) But what's that sign say?
Hm, good point, sign. Time to turn back, I guess, since we can hear the thunder not too far off and it's beginning to sprinkle.

Really? Do we really have to go ALLL the way back up?
This is a pic Michelle snapped so she would have an excuse to stop and rest. (Note the distinct lack of interesting background scenery which is clearly present in all her other photos :D )
20 minutes later... we're only this far up?? (You can see the 3-mile rest house, the bottom point of our hike, in the upper right where the trail seems to end.)
Mules pass us, kicking up some dirt.
Um... a LOT of dirt.
Phew!! Almost at the top... see the 3-mile rest house waaaaay down there? Really? Look closer, it's right there just above the little zigzag in the middle. (Really far away!!)
See? (I wouldn't lie.)

Finally as we closed in on the very last steps of our hike, ominous storm-cloud shadows covered our side of the canyon, though you can see the other side is clear and pleasant. Boy, after that long hike wouldn't it be nice to wash up in a REAL hotel, instead of camping out again?

Aw yeah... a place just like that... with a niiiice comfy bed instead of hard tent floor...

But how are we ever going to find a place like that all the way out here in the middle of the desert? And even if we did, wouldn't it be booked solid for like a year in advance? Oh wait, I forgot, yesterday when we got in we strolled up to the front desk of El Tovar and asked if they happened to have any rooms for two that just serendipitously opened up for a night... and they did!

Our dinner reservation is at 8:30. Don't be too jealous, adventure fans! See you in Albuquerque.