Phantom Ranch

Over five million people visit the South Rim of the Grand Canyon each year,

but only one percent make it down to the bottom of the canyon.

That's where I'm taking you.

It's not the hike that takes your breath away.

Be sure to yield to the donkeys.

Then, watch your step after they have passed.

Time for a quick selfie along the trail.

There's the Colorado River below and you can almost
make out Phantom Ranch on the other side of the water.
That means we're almost there!

Over the river and through the woods ...
to Phanton Ranch we go.

Glad to see the dining hall!
 Meals are served "family style" where you pass the stew
around the table and get to meet the other hikers.

Afterward, we all hobble down the steps and have to laugh
that our legs don't seem to work anymore.

Where else in the world can you purchase a head-lamp along with your morning coffee? 

The only way to access this canyon is by helicopter, boat, mule or foot.

The camp host informed that we were staying in the same cabin actor Danny Glover had stayed in. Then he told how Oprah had tried to recruit him once to come work for her, but he declined the offer, saying he preferred his canyon view over any view Chicago could offer. 

We've hiked 4,600 feet down into the canyon on the South Kaibab trail. After we sleep for a couple of nights, we'll climb back out on the Bright Angel trail. They say it usually takes eight to ten hours to hike back out. Our group has made it down in five, and back out in seven, but I heard the ranch staff say they can make it back up in just over three hours!

I've been to a lot of beautiful places in the world,
but this one feels most sacred.

We feel deeply connected to the land after just a few days here.

That's what happens when there's no wi-fi.