Day 38 - the GC

I walked 70000 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 35 miles today.
Made it to the South Kaibab trailhead by 6:00 this evening. That is the starting down point for the Grand Canyon. Then I took a free shuttle back to Grand Canyon Village to figure out camping or hotel. The silly GC Visitor Center closes at 5pm - how dumb, so no help there. Finally found Mather campground which is just $6/nite for a tent - cool!
I met two guys, each doing their own bicycle tour around the country - one has been going 11 months, the other 13. Makes my 6 weeks seem paltry.
Today's hike wasn't too excitin, but I did see my first antelope and a bunch of elk. Sprinted (well hobbled) into Tusayan and got a chicken sandwich at McD's. Met a couple cool NPS employees at the park entrance and they said, 'Hey, anyone ever tell you that you look like...'
I said, 'Yep, all the time.'
Met a guy from Michigan, a Bulgarian couple living in Chicao, and a couple from Ontario. I'm getting better at starting conversations with strangers, obviously. :-)
Tomorrow hopefully sees me getting a permit to hike the canyon or else I wait here a day.