Mike in the Wild

I've hiked into the Grand Canyon several times since I moved to Arizona in 1988.  The last two times were into the canyon proper but actually outside the National Park, on Havasupai Trail which lies within the adjacent Havasupai Indian Reservation.  And the first time was down Hermit Trail which does lie in the Park.  Those three hikes were memorable for the fact that I also backpacked so that I could camp overnight, thus avoiding an exhausting climb out the same day I descended.  They were also quite notable because they happened more than thirty years ago.  Last month I finally descended again, albeit on a much shorter and far easier trek. From the South Rim in Grand Canyon National Park there are four public trails that lead hikers into the canyon.  They all eventually reach the Colorado River, a force that started carving the majestic landscape over sixty million years ago.  Two of the trails, Hermit and Bright Angel, follow pathways originally tread by Native Americans long be