Week 6 11/30-12/6

This was a big week for us. We ran 192 miles! We left Red Cliff Conservation area in St. George, Utah and headed southeast towards Arizona and the biggest canyon of them all. We ran over mountain and dessert trails en route to the Grand Canyon. When we first arrived at the canyon we were all just speechless. It is such an amazing sight to behold. It is so vast and beautiful. We decided to take a group run into the canyon on the South Kaibab Trail which goes down to the Colorado River. It was 7,260 feet of elevation at the trailhead (where the trail begins) and drops to 2,420 feet at the river. We had to step aside more than once for the mules who were carrying supplies and riders down to the floor of the canyon. We also had to be extra cautious not to get too close to the edge in case we were to stumble. It's a long way down! We ran down the canyon on switchbacks. A switchback is trail that winds back and forth with many sharp turns. Going down was the easy part. Coming up was quite a workout! We had to watch out for icy patches near the top of the trail. The views made it all worth it. Along the way we stopped to chat with people who had come from all over the world which was awesome.

After we left the Grand Canyon, we headed east to the town of Cameron, Arizona. It is a town of about 1,000 residents. Most of the residents are Native Americans who come from the Navajo Nation. Navajo Nation is the largest community of indigenous people (original people in a place) in the United States. We called ahead to the Cameron town offices and were invited to pitch our tents outside of the Dzil Libei Elementary School. We were greeted by groups of children from their running club. Most of the children could speak both English and Navajo. A group of students treated us to a traditional Navajo song.