Sunset at Arizona’s Rooftop

Due to a late start, I started the hike in the afternoon at 1:45 pm rather than in the morning.  It was cooler and there were a lot of people I met coming down while I was headed up.  The last mile and a half was where I started to slow down. I reached the saddle at around 3:45 pm.  The false summits were the most discouraging part of the hike but I pressed on. Reached the summit at around 5:45 PM.  Saw the Grand Canyon at a distance from the Summit.  Seemed only fitting to see Arizona’s most famous natural wonder from the rooftop of Arizona at sunset. Only two other hikers were there,  the ones whom I had met earlier at the saddle. We stayed there for 30 minutes then headed down at 6:15 pm. I let them go ahead and took my time descending from the summit to the saddle. Between the summit and the saddle I had to slow down in order to be careful with the foot placement. The sunset was beautiful although I had to remind myself to keep moving. I met one more hiker headed up to the summit after sunset. We briefly greeted each other and moved on. It was already dark when I reached the saddle but I had two headlamps so I took out one and turned it on. The hike down hill  was uneventful. I got back to the parking lot at 9:45 pm and there were still people out doing something with the lights – possibly some night photography.