The moon's luminenscence upon snow turned our path into a glowing white carpet. After the first hour of descent the sun began its day with lighting up the very edge of the top rim, where we had just been. Our elevation dropped, and the sunlight upon the canyon wall followed us down. It caught up in no time. We are athletic, but the sun moves pretty fast.
I think I can say that every other time I've gone for a hike it has been uphill first. Perhaps a bit of downhill to get to the uphill, but its almost always up then down. It was an adjustment to be going down for so long with taking absolutely no steps up. For 3 hours gravity helped us move along the trail. We would sometimes allow it more control, placing each footstep strategically in an assisted run. Other times it worked more against us, reminding us of our weight through our knees.
At the river we shared coffee and hot chocolate at Phantom Ranch, relaxed and wandered around. By the time we decided to start going up again, it felt like summer. Warm sun rays around every corner, the sound of rapids just around the bend and a soft, sandy beach.
Moving from summer into fall, the temperature dropped with the sun. The crampons got more use and we pushed to complete the 5 hour ascent back to the rim. The increased numbers of ill-prepared and hesitant tourists meant that we were only moments from the visitor center on the rim. A sunset to remember for a long time.
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