Arizona 2014 (Grand Canyon Day 3)

Next, we continued driving on the 4+ hours to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  The scenery on the drive was not bad, but we knew that we were about to be blown away by God's creation!  The temps had dropped to the low 40's by the time we got there.  I think my favorite part, besides the sunset, was the contrast of the snow and the rock of the canyon.  Just beautiful!  Naturally, I took hundreds of the same exact picture of the canyon, just from different angles.  I thought that each view was better than the next, but nothing compared to the moments when the clouds would part and the sun would peek through, bathing the stones in in light and making the most breathtaking colors.

Someone had built a tiny snowman on the edge of a cliff.

We followed a paved path for quite a way, but Allan kept walking out to the furthest edge of every cliff, nearly giving Brian a heart attack each time.

This picture is out of order, but one of my favorites that Krista took of Allan and me on the Bright Angel unpaved trail.

See what I mean by the colors?

I loved getting peeks of the canyon through the snow-covered trees.

Allan striking a pose!

Another one of Allan on the edge...

…and one of Brian hanging on to the tree for dear life :)

This was one of the funniest moments of the day.  Brian thought he would be cool and climb a tree (that was far away from the edge).  We got some nice pictures, but then he got stick.  He was literally stranded only 5 feet off the ground and could not figure out how to get down.  We were all laughing way too hard to help him.

The Bright Angel trail was a highlight of our time at the Grand Canyon.  It is an unpaved trail with no handrails or anything that leads way down into the canyon.  It was a little nerve-wracking to go on it since it was packed with slippery snow, but we couldn't pass it up.  We did decide not to go all the way to the bottom, though.  If I get a chance to go back, I will definitely go all the way!

In person, the sunset was just majestic!

The sun went down and the temps got lower, so we got in the car and drove to Flagstaff to eat dinner and stay the night.  We ate at a local brewery that was a big hit with all of us - especially the beer cheese fondue.