Grand Canyon Prep

Ok, so to be honest - the reason it has taken me so long to do my next post is due to the fact that it requires combing through ~900 photos. That's not a typo. The Grand Canyon crew took a combined ~900 pictures of our adventure into and out of the canyon. Working though all of the pictures is both daunting and fun - there are so many incredibly fun moments captured and scenery shots of indescribable beauty. But again, it's a daunting task, so I've decided to break up this adventure into a series of more manageable posts - and here's the first one! Prepping at the Jones house in Prescott, AZ.

Andrew and I arrived late Thursday night followed by Mom, Dad, Courts and Grandma on Friday around lunchtime. Ryan and his friend Patrick (whom he met on his motorcycle trip) were already in Prescott, as was Caroline who came down from Flagstaff.

 

Forget the practical aspects of prepping, soaking in the hot tub is by far the best way to get ready for a long, painful hike ;) 

btw, getting a hot tub was the best thing the Joneses ever did. It is so wonderful to sit out there, overlooking Thumb Butte and the mountains in the distance.

Three generations. Mom and Grandma had an adventure of their own while we hiked and of course had a blast (no surprise there!).

Karen made a spread of rich, delicious food to fuel us up for the hike. We all loved the excuse to scarf down tons of tasty dishes and desert.

At this point we were all so excited to the trails the next day. It almost felt like a holiday with a fun festive feel about the place.

I think most of these faces are familiar, but just in case: Andrew, me, Caroline, Courts, Dad, Patrick, Jim, Karen, Ryan, Mom, Grandma and Uncle Steve.

We surprised everyone with some hippie, dippie gear from Berkeley - matching tie dye bandanas :)

The front entry became our gear zone. Our packs ranged from impressively tiny little backpacks (i.e. Patrick's itty bitty pack) to huge multi-day packs (i.e. the smallest person carrying the biggest pack, Caroline!).

Not ones to pass up a free evening, while the rest of us went to bed early, the boys actually hit Whiskey Row in town. Boys will be boys.....