day 4: The Wonderful Nighthike

I believe it was the night of our fourth day. Our group decided that we all should go on a few hour hike down a trail.
The trail itself was not bad - there weren't any obtrusive rocks in the way of our hike. We actually hiked to the point where we could see the rim of the canyon and look down into the depth.
We actually watched the sunset over the canyon. The sighted people in the group described it as very colorful, since the sun illuminated the rocks in the canyon.
What I found interesting, however, was what people call "the breath of the canyon". As the wind slowly blows, the air goes down into the canyon and creates a sort of breathing sound, making it appear as though the canyon were breathing.
We sat at the rim for a few minutes quietly journaling and enjoying our time.

Our hike back to camp was all the more interesting, however. Perhaps the first amazing event was when Kelly saw the stars for the first time in her life.

Generally, the stars in the city are covered by pollution and other lights. In the grand canyon, the air is much cleaner and thus the stars are more visible. Kelly was one of our visually impaired students. Since stars in the city are not as clear, she was able to see them for the first time in the canyon.

Our mentors also decided that we, the blind students, should lead the sighted. This also was an interesting experience. I myself never would have thought that I could lead people back to camp by myself and take the leadership of letting them know what is ahead. Since there were only 5 blind students, we got into groups and the sighted people formed a train behind a blind person. I had 3 people in my train - Robbie, Steffie, and Megan. As I ran over small rocks or trees, I let them know, "tree ahead.".

Overall, it was a great hike and it allowed all of us to open up more and show our "true side". :)