West - Day Twenty-Five - July 17, 2005

Since I didn't have to drive and worry about being tired, I focused on hiking. I ended up hiking three different trails (Riverside Walk, Weeping Rock and Hidden Canyon) for a total of 4.5 miles before the heat was dangerously high. The third hike, Hidden Canyon, was a very strenuous hike up from the valley floor to near the top of the cliffs with sheer drop-offs along the way and chain railings to cling to along the cliffs - exciting! By the time I headed down though, the temperature had to be over 100F. As a result, I spent the afternoon riding the shuttle bus, stopping at lookouts, visiting the museum and the visitor's center, and riding into Springdale to see what was there. While waiting for one shuttle bus, a person manning the information desk had a thermometer that we used to measure 114F in the sun!!