We (my wife and I) live in Flagstaff, AZ which means Grand Canyon’s South Rim is a little over an hour away and makes for a glorious day of hiking. We like to go to the canyon for training hikes to get in shape for longer hikes. 
One such day found us at the South Rim heading down Bright Angel Trail toward Indian Garden, which you can see in this image as the splash of green on the right side in the smaller canyon, then out to Plateau Point. We did it with full 25# packs. It is six miles down which means six miles back up…12 total.
Here’s another image of Indian Gardens but showing the switchback of trail heading down. My constant dilemma when doing activities such as this is…WHICH CAMERA DO I BRING?!? Weight is almost always the first concern. I believe strongly in the “Less is More” philosophy so I only own three camera bodies, two of which are identical. I have a mirrorless Lumix Gx8 times two with four lenses and a Canon S120 point and shoot that shoots RAW images.
These images, however, were taken before I switched my setup to something lighter and easier to travel with. These images were taken with a Canon 40D and 35-70mm lens. Far heavier than I am willing to travel with these days. This is the view from Plateau Point, a 1.5 mile jaunt from Indian Gardens, to the river below. If you look closely you can see a river raft parked at the large beach on the left.
Here’s the thing about this blog: I focus on taking images when most travelers would be shooting, during the day. In a perfect world I would be here at sunrise and/or sunset, but in a traveler’s life, that is not realistic. Time is short and many things and places are crammed into a short period of time so it is my intent to show that, even though conditions are not ideal, it is still beneficial to bring your camera and snap some pictures.
The canyon had some wildflowers in May when we hiked. Wildflowers are always worth a stop and a shot. Here I played with a wide open F/stop to blur the canyon in the background.
The Prickly Pear cactus were in bloom as well as the cactus below. The splashes of color on the hike were wonderful to see.
So take a camera, even on long hikes. Be aware of weight so you bring the correct one and don’t regret hauling it around. And then don’t forget to take it out and shoot with it!!!
Happy shooting!
We didn’t take the time hike back to Navajo Falls on this trip or beyond Mooney Falls to Beaver Falls. We stayed close to camp, mostly due to me recovering from my consecutive falls (no pun intended) and spend our first full day exploring Havasu Falls, which you see here. At this time of year it was always in the shade which dulls the color of the water just a bit. I actually shot this image on our way to the trail that leads out of the bottom of the falls. I happened to glance back to get one last view of it and spotted this great curving piece of wood which leads your eye right up to the pool.
Here is another nice example of putting something in the foreground to lead you into the picture. These were all hand held images with my point and shoot that stayed securely in my pocket until needed.
I worked my way across the pool and onto the opposite shore. As I approached that side I got a few of the falls not everyone sees. The mossy green rocks behind it caught my attention. I shot this one as a horizontal as well with the focus being more on the rocks. Water fall images don’t have to be vertical!
Here’s my wife, Ellen, standing in the pool I walked across. There was a little beach entrance you can barely see in the way upper right corner. 
Here’s a fun picture of a leaf floating by. I loved the way the water was making the light dance across the colors of the leaf. It was moving in the current and because of the water my auto focus wasn’t working as quickly as normal. We must have picked this leaf up and replaced it in the current at least seven times!
That night, while hanging out at camp, I set up my point and shoot on the little Joby Gorillapod and aimed it at the sky. I set the ISO on 3200, f/2.8 with a 30 second exposure and here is what I got. I was pretty please!
Heading to the spring to gather water for the day. The early morning light casting long shadows on the trail and giving a nice halo around the hair.
On our way to the spring we ran across this tree with a crazy root system. Check it out! It seems to all be in the air with the trunk plummeting down into the ground. Cottonwoods are insane trees.
This is the rushing water we were camping by. Hearing the little rapid all night made for some nice nights of sleep. It’s also an example of where logs end up in flash floods. The dirt on the far bank is another camp.
The next day we headed to Mooney Falls. Given my shaky state of affairs and how sketchy the climb down to the bottom is, we didn’t make it all the way but it was beautiful nonetheless.
This is Ellen emerging from one of the tunnels just before we had to start holding chains and descending down wet and slippery rock. I do love silhouettes.
And there she is, Mooney, in all her glory. I really like this picture because of the frozen travertine waterfall in the foreground. These rock falls are all around both Havasu and Mooney Falls.