Erm... snow? Are you sure? Read where it days I am, and when! Arizona! End of May! This is not right!

To explain, we arrived at the Grand Canyon in weather that wouldn't look out of place in the Alps at this time of year. Snow covered everything and my shameful fashion faux pas of TWO pairs of socks and sandals were not helping. Now slightly concerned about sleeping at the bottom of this arctic canyon we (the "canyoneers") decided it'd be best to carry tents. More weight, less death.

One thing was for sure, the weather was bad so we weren't under pressure to start our canyon hike early to avoid the sun. There wasn't any! In fact we spent most of our morning picking up a backcountry pass, making sandwiches and finally enjoying some hotdogs cooked over the campfire before we even thought of setting off. The snow had melted by this point and we took the bus out to the South Kaibab trailhead.

The views on the way down were pretty spectacular, but you never really get the feeling you're hiking through a canyon because it is so incredibly wide. It's over 20 miles to hike from rim to rim and we even met some people who were doing just that in one day. Crazy. We made steady progress to the bottom in the relative cold and wind, and I thought it was going to rain at one point, looking at rain in the distance. Finally reaching the campsite after passing through a cool tunnel and bridge combo, we were all shattered. We ate, the girls then slept, I took photos and went to a ranger's talk about the origins of the canyon. Fascinating, honestly, but I could barely keep my eyes open!

So we had two tents in our campsite that night. Isaac shared Nicholas's two-man mini tent and I shared with Nicola and Linda in the tent that Holly had lent us. The girls somehow managed to awake and get up to catch the sunrise, though they had been sleeping since about 7:30 yesterday evening.

The hike back started fairly easily with a walk along the river. Once my muscles had warmed up it was a good easy pace as we turned uphill into the side canyon. I started early on the protein bars and the first third of the walk went fairly smoothly. Another party making their way up were amusing themselves and us with riddles that helped to pass the time. When we got to Indian Gardens after a number of switchbacks, we took a rest and more water. The weather had so far been great, though as we got higher we noticed the wind had gradually more of a chill to it.

At three mile point we stopped for more food and again to fill up on water. The great thing about the Bright Angel trail is that there is water on tap every couple of miles. Essential if you're doing this hike in the height of summer, and still very much needed at other times. Then we saw a big group of Tortoisers (Barbara had already gone ahead) and had a nice reunion after our separation of 24 hours! We'd stopped for too long again and our legs were stiff when we carried on. Marion joined us for her return journey but obviously got bored of waiting for our slower pace and disappeared!

Nicholas was struggling with the pace at this point but fair play to him, he kept plugging away at the yards as we got past each milestone. The others went ahead and we met up again at 1.5 mile point. A myriad of switchbacks stood between us and the top, so once we'd done our best to chase away or kill the squirrels in our final food stop, we went about the task of getting to the top. I swear we'd already got to the "top" about two times based on what I could see, but such is the nature of the Grand Canyon that it deceives you.

A few final pushes to the top and Nicholas looked like he was ready to collapse. As group leader I made sure everyone else was in front of me and set about talking him through the final mile! The amazing scenery helped for breaks, and we eventually made it. Go team! It took us about 7 hours to get to the top and we all managed it without injury or death. Result.

We arrived back at the campsite to no fanfare or heroes welcome, so instead we hit the shower which was the best thing I could hope for in the afternoon. I was going to check out more of the canyon that day but I had no energy. In the evening I was lucky enough to get a massage in exchange for a drink in Vegas (winner) and a campfire to make more smores. Life is good!