EISPIRATEN

this is my regular running trail out here at the Grand Canyon, south rim. Its 6 miles round-trip and i go out there about 4 days a week. So, i guess these are pics of a "trip" i take all the time, ha. but today is the first time i was willing to walk parts of it and carry a camera.
Anyway...i normally just wear a stopwatch n carry 1 24oz bottle of juice/water. But, aside from running my regular trail, i wanted to check out a new one i hadnt been on yet. so, i brought my small pack, and camera and 3 24oz bottles of water/gatorade. Today i went out at about 1pm. so the lighting was a lil harsh, its prettier at about 5-630pm. to get the first 3 miles takes me 26minutes cause of the terrain, its all a slight incline and uneven 'n rocky, but lotsa fun! today since i walked alot n stopped ta take pics, it took me 41minutes to go 3 miles. anyways, i know most of you dont run but oh-well. i guess walking w/a big pack would be 45mins????

i didnt wanna carry my pack the whole way, so i stashed it ina dead fallen tree cause i knew id come back that way....with the new trail added in, i did 12miles in 3hrs. (thats NOT! my run-time!! lol, thats like 80% walking n pic taking.) not lotsa elevation change...if i hadta guess maybe 500ft. But the whole trail is on the top of the canyon, all at 7000ft elev.
This trail is great cause its not by the rim, so theres NO tourists! in the 3 months ive been running it, ive only seen another person out there 3 times. im normally all alone, except for deer, elk, squirrels and butterflys, which is awesome!

i took like 65 photos so ima post a few, then add link to all of em...

http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm23 ... ningtrail/


the trailhead, where it leaves in front of bright angel lodge





the cool uneven parts are good for building stabilizer muscles, and keeps you from thinking too much, or at al! ha. i like running these kinda trails that take your full attention and footwork. they make you forget youre tired or upset or anything, you just kinda move with the ground and totally live in the moment. i wish more were like this.







bumpy AND uphill! these are the funnest parts!



the new trail, and old dirtroad, no ones been on it in a loooooong time from the looks of it...im about 6 miles from anything here....out intha woods behind Tusyuan (south of the grand canyon)


Where I stashed my pack for a lil bit so i could run some. thats a good stash place! its a lil off the trail and the open end faces away from it. you cant see it at all from the trail 8)



flowers that match my shoes! cool!





ok, whyd it get all dark n creepy??









Thunder...time to turn around n head back...im MILES from where i told people i was gonna be..




hey, there were seriouse bout a train, HA!





back to my lil single-track



BABY DEERS!!











And then, when i got back to pavement I got a nice suprise...there were Vipers everywhere! Sweet way to come back to pavement (most of the cars out here are rusty or minivans, so it was nice for my eyes to see something shaped nice that sounds good) yeah, theyre domestic, but when yer starved for good cars ya cant be picky!

These are great! I lived in Phoenix for a few years after college, and I absolutely love Arizona. These pics take me back. Working at the park is probably hard work, but being able to hike/run there a few times a week - that's a seriously great benefit. Love the deers! Look for tracks next time. That soft powdery dirt is perfect, and I'm sure there are kitties around.

Maybe I'm slow, but a good hiking pace is 3mph for me. Uphill/heavy pack is slower. So 3 miles would take me an hour.

I do look for tracks, only deer n elk so far. havent even seen a coyote yet! only hear em at night. we do have mtn lions here but I havent seen any sign yet, sorry. if i do youll be the first ta know!
as for hiking-time...ya, i was just guessing. i think youre right though, regular pace is 3mph i think. i was really close to the deer too! didnt use zoom, they just wernt afraid at all. and were soooo cute! i was only 4-5 ft from em at one point, then mom moved em away

That looks like a really nice trail -- would love to have something that nice in my "backyard". Thanks for sharing the pics!

ya, its fun. its a great trail. Working here is tolerable cause of the location! its really nice!
I hope i made it clear that the 12 mi. in 3 hr was NOT a run time! rofl...unless I lose a limb...anyway, yeah-- thats my walking 'n taking tons o pics time for 12miles. and, of all the pix, i realized today i didnt take any of where my trail GOES! too, The Abyss. a big 3000ft drop-off down to a canyon n creek...Soooo, ill take it one more time tomorrow n get some Abyss pix ta post for ya guys ...i guess i didnt think of it cause i see it all the time, i dunno...

Really nice pics, Torrey. What a cool place to live!

ya, its pretty cool, theres always deer n elk out in my yard, and Mcnuggets (chipmunks) everywhere! its really cool,and yer in the woods n on trails the second you go out the door. the nearest real town is Flagstaff,its small and doesnt have any buildings over 3 or 4 stories high! and not even a Macy's! but its really pretty here, the canyons neat too