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The temperature reached as low as 45 degrees inside the tent that
morning. A bit uncomfortable, but not dangerously low. Next time
I should bring a ski mask or something...my face tends to get
cold, especially my nose.
I woke up early and walked over to the same area on the eastern
edge of the plateau to watch the sun rise. Everyone else was still
asleep as I took pictures of the 6:26am sunrise. Nothing too spectacular,
but it was nice to see. I pretty much never see the sun rise.
I'm usually lucky if I get up 2 hours after sunrise.
Sunrise from near Cabin Spring camp 3
Sunrise from near Cabin Spring camp 3
Sunrise from near Cabin Spring camp 3
Jay and Weihaw breaking camp. Notice the burned trees (not our
fault!).
After breaking camp, we started our hike back down the West Rim Trail to the Grotto Picnic Area.
Ben decided that he would stay in a hotel that night and rest
while the rest of us stuck with our original plan of hiking the
East Rim. As soon as we got back to the car we started unloading
stuff, knowing we'd only need enough for one night. Plus, we decided
we'd take only one stove and one tent for three people. After
lightening our packs we made a quick stop at the visitor center,
where the rangers informed us there was a 20-30 percent chance
of rain.
Then we went to Weeping Rock and started our hike up the East Rim Trail.
The sun set as we started to cook our dinner and ate under light
of flashlight. We covered our packs with ponchos in case it rained,
but thankfully it didn't. After dinner, I took a brief look at
the beautiful stars before returning to the tent to avoid the
mosquitoes. It was incredible, amazing, just a little scary, to
think that we were probably the only ones up on the plateau that
night. It was also just a little unnerving to me that our tent
was on a slight downward slope, and I was the one closest to the
cliff!
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