Hiking the Rim

Day two of hiking in the Canyon meant a rim hike. We decided after a more strenuous hike the day before that we would stay on the rim. Still with temps in the 90's it's not necessarily an easy day. We took the shuttle to the furthest point, Hermit's Rest, and then hiked part of the way back.

A little light reading for sale at the Hermits Rest Gift Shop. I am kind of curious about this. I think when I get home I will order it from Amazon.

This is a location called the abyss. It is the steepest drop and a ridiculous depth to the canyon floor. 

One of the sheer cliffs at the abyss.

If you look in the very center of the picture in the hole, there is a lizard poking its head out. 

Who knew that the plague actually still exists? This is why you don't feed the squirrels people.

This is the stone building of Hermits Rest designed by Mary Colter. 

Inside the Hermits Rest. Huge fireplace area.

This is the Colorado River. 

Peyton and Eli at Hermits Rest.

I had to add this photo to prove that we did indeed make the boys stay hydrated. The next picture is going to be important.

At the end of the rim hike we had to catch a shuttle back to the Visitors Center. By this time it was about 1:00 PM and the shuttles were all very crowded, so we had to stand. This picture doesn't even do the situation justice. If you've ever ridden the Disney shuttles and there are a million people on them, you know the feeling. About five minutes into the trip I hear people yelling, "Someone's passed out!"

I turned around to see that Eli was in the floor. The bus driver is asking what's going on and if everything is okay. People are panicking. Doug gets down in the floor with Eli and gets his head and starts talking to him. He puts Eli's camelback hose into his mouth and tells him to drink. Eli is only out for a short time, then he comes right around.

Eli's first words after regaining consciousness were "Did I bust any teeth out?" It was really pretty lucky that the bus was so crowded, because when he passed out, he didn't have room to fall. He just kind of slid down to the floor. Not like a few years ago when he fell straight back and hit his head. (That's another vacation story)

With the temperature at 95 degrees and after a long hike, and at the altitude (the heat added to the altitude makes the effects that of being at about 10,000 feet above sea level) Eli just blacked out. He (and I) are more sensitive to these things than Peyton or Doug. I blacked out in line at Disney one year. It's kind of out thing.

We are all good though. No harm, no foul and we live to hike another day.