Our science teacher at the school is determined that students at Grand Canyon High School will by gosh learn about Grand Canyon.  She dragged her Environmental Science class down to Indian Garden last night. In the dark.  In the snow.  On the ice.  And shanghaied me to hike down and give a lesson on geology.

Hike to Indian Garden on a lovely winter day?  Twist my arm.

Started out bright and early and there was untrammeled snow on the Bright Angel Trail. I was breaking trail in new snow.  On the Bright Angel.  On THE most traveled trail in the Canyon.  Wow.

Unbroken snow at lower tunnel.  OMG

Didn't see another person until just before Indian Garden.  I told them they should have hidden so I could break my record of no one until IG, but that just got me One Of Those Looks.

I have told several people that they were the first I've met on the trail all day, and they rush to assure me that "there are a lot of people behind me".  I guess they think that I am worried about being alone on the trail, when in fact I am reveling in the idea.

So met the class, gave my standard "four reasons the Grand Canyon is here and nowhere else on earth" and hiked down to the Great Unconformity with them.  Gave my GU talk, and hiked to the stop of the Devil's Corkscrew. Then we had to, alas, hike back out.  I have meetings all day on the rim tomorrow.  Twelve miles RT and 3,500 feet, not counting the walk to the rim and back from the apartment.

Then I passed some kids who mentioned something about "bringing out the competitive nature" in them, so I had to beat them out.  Came out from Indian Garden in under two hours.  Show off.  I justified it by telling myself that I needed a long interval workout because I'll be sitting on my butt for the next two days in meetings.  It had nothing to do with beating three kids a third my age out of the Ditch.

Right.