Gray Dust, Red Dust

Yesterday David and I hiked to the level of Mt Washington, the highest point in NH. Only we hiked down to 6,200 feet, starting at 8,300. The North Kaibab trail makes its way into the Grand Canyon through switch backs and rock edged ledge trails, the variegated walls of the canyon showing the history of the earth’s crust as the trail descends. We climbed down through the white-stoned Kaibab formation into the Supai layer, colored with red limestone. As we descended through the layers of earth the dust on the trail changed from gray to rosy brown to red, mirroring the walls around us.

We met several people on the trail who were hiking rim to rim in a day – in as few as 6 hours in fact. We were more than satisfied with our 4 hour trek down into the canyon. The hiking is as easy as we’d hoped, with flat sandy footing, switchbacks to make the grade manageable and scenery galore.

Now we’re having our usual morning coffee on a deck. Today the deck is at the North Rim Lodge and we’re watching the sun light the walls of the canyon, layer by layer.