Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

I'm linking up this week with the F irst Friday Photo bloghop from Many Worlds From Many Minds. If you like to post photos, join in and help Eden Mabee grow this start-up hop. Part 1 of this series was up on the South Rim . Part 2 took us down the Bright Angel trail and out the Tonto West Trail to Horn Creek . Below the Rim, Days 2 & 3: Tonto West to Monument and Granite Rapids One thing about cowboy camping (no tent) is that you wake up when it starts to get light. Our first morning I was up and prowling for photos by 6. The South Rim is somewhere up there. Horn Creek Eventually we got on the trail, with about 8 miles of the Tonto West to cover and temperatures rising. This part doesn't need a lot of narration! Love the geometric daggers of the agave. Last year's blossom. The plant dies after blooming. Indian Paintbrush is a reliable flower just about anywhere, and one of my favorites. Some species of prickly pear. Despite the distance we've come down, the river is

Last week we took a walk along the South Rim. This week, we're hoisting our packs and heading down. Since I'm not currently able to hike and make more exciting photos, I'll probably take it nice and slow through this trip report and share lots of photos over the next few weeks. Below the Rim, Day 1: BA and Tonto West to Horn Creek With cool temperatures and a reasonable mileage, we made no effort at a crack-of-dawn start, planning to meet at the Backcountry Office Parking (where it's okay to leave a car for days) at 8 a.m. Eventually, we actually met about 8:15 at the trailhead itself. Close enough.   Traction devices at the ready, we started down the trail. There were already quite a few smart dayhikers out, making sure they got down and back up before it got too warm. Even with frosty overnight temperatures, the Canyon was warming up. Within a couple of hundred yards we had to stop and put on our microspikes to deal with the icy trail. Many dayhikers were doing withou

Today we are back in the Alpine Lakes wilderness on a very special overnight pack trip I did in late September. Why special? Well, this was not only a return to a place I dayhiked 30 years ago and vowed to revisit on another fall day, but it was my first solo backpacking trip in nearly as long--since I married in 1994. More significantly, it was my first solo backpack since losing my husband. It was kind of a test, because solo hiking is something I need to be able to do, given how hard it is to find trail partners who are a good match. I've been doing some car-camping alone (in transit to places, for the most part), so I was pretty sure I'd be fine, and I was. Rachel, Rampart, and Lila Lakes The hike was a single night, about 5 1/2 miles in (and 2300' up) past Rachel Lake to Rampart Lakes. The big attraction is the fall color--mostly in the form of mountain blueberries and a couple of other bushes that turn pretty brilliant colors. The drive from Seattle is pretty short (a

I'm back with the final set of photos from the Grand Canyon... thanks for your indulgence! (If you really like to drool over amazing rocks, the first three episodes are Into the Canyon , The Search for Chevaya Falls , and Rainbow Falls ). Our final day was the hike back out of the Canyon on the Bright Angel Trail, probably the most heavily traveled route in the whole canyon, and also probably the most engineered. There's a reason it's almost three miles farther than the South Kaibab, down which we came to start the trip. I was pleasantly surprised by both the easy grade and the morning shade over most of the route. Fearing a hot and exposed climb, I made another early start. Each of us left on our own schedules, so I hiked alone again. Heading to the Silver Bridge--the Bright Angel bridge--in the early light. This bridge also carried the pipe that moves water to the South Rim.  The same bridge from below, one year earlier. Taken on my raft trip April 2021 Once across the