Summer Break

As Katie and Kristen's summer trip was coming to a close, mine was just beginning!  My trip began with a week-long recruiting trip to Colorado, where I watched great softball at three outstanding tournaments.

Here's a short photo journey of my trip after that point:

A beautiful mountain lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.  I ran into the venerable Sue Enquist on this hike, and I was shocked to learn that she didn't know who I was. ;)

My twin sister, Emily, is a park ranger at Grand Canyon National Park.  She is displaying a bit of nature's handiwork here.

Who knew that the desert has so much water?  This waterfall at the bottom of the Grand Canyon is part Phantom Creek, which flows to Bright Angel Creek, which goes directly to the Colorado River.

The only place to find the Grand Canyon Pink Rattlesnake?  The Grand Canyon!  A rare sight.  Even rarer was the fact that I saw TWO.   While this one slowly slithered across the trail in front of us, the one I had seen earlier actually rattled at me.  According to my sister, though, "it was just a baby and only being polite."

I hiked down the South Kaibab Trail, stayed at Phantom Ranch, and hiked up the Bright Angel Trail.  Many folks opt to ride down on mules.  This wrangler and his mule train are on their way to Phantom Ranch to deliver some supplies.

Because it gets so hot at the bottom of the Grand Canyon (it was a cool 104 when I was there), hikers must get an early start.  This is us looking happy and wide awake at 6am...three miles into a short (12 mile) day hike.

Although it is already mid-July and my summer vacation is over, I still can't help but agree with the words of Henry James: "summer afternoon - summer afternoon...the two most beautiful words in the English language."

Coach Davis