Grand Canyon Trip 2011

This past week I traveled to Arizona with Jennifer's dad (Ollie) and brother (Brent) to hike the Grand Canyon.  I had hiked to the bottom of the canyon for the first time back in 1999 with my dad.  I knew the canyon was beautiful, but  I was reminded of how amazing the views truly were during our hike to the bottom!

We had a great crew of guys for this trip.  I went with two out of Ollie's three brothers (Gary & David), Kirby (Jennifer's cousin), Ollie, and Brent.

The views were simply amazing!  We hiked to the bottom and back in one day.  It took us about 9 hours including breaks and we covered somewhere around 16 miles total.

Brent made the trip extra fun for everyone as he was constantly finding something unique to do like playing in a waterfall he discovered or doing push-ups on top of a high rock.

When we got to the bottom of the South Kaibab Trail (which only took about two and a half hours), we crossed this bridge (below) that stretches over the Colorado River.  We took the Bright Angel Trail on the way back up.

I took the following picture for my dad.  When we went to the Grand Canyon as kids, my dad took a picture like this that I still remember...

Below is a brief video summary of our hike to the bottom of the canyon...

Another highlight of the trip was visiting one of our favorite places to eat... In N Out Burger.  We also enjoyed playing in the water at one of Brent's uncle's house.  It was so fun to see the palm trees and enjoy the sunshine!  It was a great trip and I'm so thankful that I was invited to go along.  However, I really missed Jennifer and our kids, so it was great to get back to the Midwest!