This weekend was the Perseid meteor shower, and we were discussing where to go see it. Mather Point? Hopi Point? Just lie in the back yard? Then I mentioned jokingly that Horseshoe Mesa would be nice, and we thought, why not?
I got a permit, and we walked down Thursday night after work. There was an after-school meeting, of course! so we didn't even get on the trail until 6:10.
I finally found a trailhead more obnoxious than the Bright Angel. The Grandview has toilet paper all over, people standing in the middle of the trail taking pictures of themselves, taking pictures of their dogs(!) on the trail. They cut switchbacks shamelessly. The trail is steep enough without taking a shortcut.

Got down in two hours, just before it got too dark to see the route. About 10 minutes from camp I heard a BUZZ and stopped to study a little rattler. He was most upset that I wouldn't move on, but I wanted to point him out to Brad before he (Brad) stepped on it or was startled right off the cliff.
No one else camping on the Mesa. The Milky Way was spectacular, and lots of huge meteors with tails until about 9 PM when we both fell asleep. Woke up at 3 AM because the experts said that would be the best for the shower, but all we got were lots of wee little shooting stars: nothing big. Out in 2 hours ten, but I spent at least ten minutes trying to erase graffiti from the desert varnish, which is really tough. Troop 407 was there, and their leader was either too lazy or too ignorant to keep them from leaving their scratches on the rocks.