Great Leap Day Two: There...

Journal entry: 8:00pm Wednesday: I'm so tired. I slept 3 hours in the car this morning and now I'm going to sleep 6 hours in the car tonight in the parking lot at South Rim. I set my alarm for 4am so I can leave at first light. -- 1:30am Thur: Psalm 50:24 - Those who keep my way I will show the salvation of God. .. I flagged down a passing group of Japanese tourists starting down the trail to snap my picture leaning on my walking stick.
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Here are the mule-skinners preparing the mules for the trip down. You could readily tell the real mule-skinners (the ones who really owned mules) from the rest of them: they owned their own gear; their mules did not have the cookie-cutter look of the rest of the pack train.

From about a mile down Bright Angel Trail, here is the view looking back up at the South Rim: .

. And a view of the South Rim from my campsite in Indian Gardens: .. From the same site, here's the view looking toward the North Rim: .. And again from the same site, here's a doe and her two fawns resting 15 feet from the edge of my campsite. They watched with aplomb and mild interest as I set up my backpacker's tent. .. With my camp all set up, I headed out the trail to Plateau Point. This is the view looking back toward Indian Gardens, the area of green trees at center. .. The Plateau trail was graced by colorful and flowering cacti. .. .. .. Reaching the Point, I was astounded to encounter two California Condors about 20 feet from the trail, watching me with the same mild interest and aplomb as the deer. I suppose that if I had fallen over the cliff, it would have aroused their interest, and perhaps even their appetites. .. The park rangers say that cave evidence shows that California condors lived in the Grand canyon for thousands of years. Released into the wild, these condors quickly found the same caves where their ancestors had lived.

The first two condors I saw were tagged as number 48 (hatched in captivity) and number A (born in the wild) As the afternoon rolled on, number 19 flew in from above and joined them. .. ..

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Looking 800 feet straight down to the Colorado River, I watched groups of people floating down the river in rafts. .

. Journal Entry: 8:00pm - What grander bird could there be to grace the Grand Canyon. They showed no fear. -- I forgot my pill bottle. I've been limping along with the help of some Alkaseltzer and a borrowed Ibuprofen.

Next Post: "...and back again."