This year 65 volunteers participated in Arizona Mountaineering Club's 21st Annual Clean-up of the Grand Canyon. The group was slightly smaller than previous years so we concentrated our efforts on three areas: Bright Angel, Yavapai and Mather look-out points. The technical teams collected bags and bags of garbage. Interesting items included a purse, a dozen hats, an iphone, a camera, various paper & plastic items along with approximately 20 pounds of coins. (my personal opinion is that there was a significant reduction in garbage this year) Hooray for the smarter tourists!

Rain showers halted our cleaning efforts for a couple of hours allowing time for a leisure lunch break, coffee, and some visiting. We were treated to a spectacular double rainbow just before the sun came out again. Teams were able to clean for a little while longer before retreating to the campground for the 2nd Annual Chili Cook-off. We had 8 deliciously unique entries to sample. I handed over the 1st place title for the Chili Cook-off to Donnie, a member of the Superstition Search & Rescue team and graciously settled for Runner-up.

Volunteers were able to enjoy a little rock climbing in the canyon or continue the cleaning efforts on Sunday before heading home.

A big thank you to all the participants and the National Park folks that waived our entrance fees and provided us with campsites!