Once again, in less than a month, Stephanie and I showed up to work with our backpacking packs, stuffed to the gills. Whereas Lassen was more of a dry-run—they were just convenient hands-free suitcases—this time we were really going backpacking.

The plan was simple, if not a little crazy. Here it is in list form:

1. Fly to Phoenix on Wednesday night after work
2. Pick up rental car and drive to Flagstaff
3. Spend the night at a hotel
4. Wake up early Thursday morning and finish driving to the Grand Canyon
5. Hike down the South Kaibab Trail to the Bright Angel Campground at the very bottom of the canyon
6. Camp for two nights
7. Hike out Saturday via the Bright Angel Trail (which I had hiked down part-way in 2005)
8. Drive all the way to Phoenix
9. Stay at a hotel outside of the airport
10. Fly back to San Francisco midday Sunday

And that’s just what we did. It’s probably going to take several posts to digest all the amazing sights and little stories we experienced along the way. But I do want to start things off with what I believe is surely one of the most aesthetically beautiful road signs ever (and at the same time the most horrifying—if you’re driving at night).

That’s an elk folks. With the meanest looking antlers this side of the Arctic Circle. And we were in a convertible. Visions of Tommy Boy danced in my head. These signs were everywhere.

Ok well, I can’t just leave things hanging like that. Here was our first glimpse of the canyon from the South Kaibab trailhead.

The South Kaibab is the same trail my dad hiked 2 years ago, overcoming his fear of heights and fulfilling one of his childhood dreams.