The Grand Canyon

I was able to hike the Grand Canyon with a great bunch of people. Sadly, Josh wasn't able to take that much time off work, so we will definitely be making another trip with him in the future. It was spectacular and challenging! Skyler and I rode together, and caught up with the caravan of hikers- Richard, Dirk, Evan, Matt, and Joseph. 

We arrived the day before and walked to the trail head. The view is amazing!

Skyler and I were standing mighty close to one another, it was a straight drop off and windy! But we did it! :) Aren't you proud, dad?! When Richard saw that rock he commented on how my dad would have hiked out to it...so we did! Actually there was another one that we're pretty sure dad would have adventured, but we weren't that daring.

I got a snapchat to let me know that Sam was in good hands. I'm so lucky to have a husband who is more than happy to care for Sam and let me go off and be adventurous while he is back home working long hours. I'm also grateful to Tasha for watching Sam during the day, so that I could go! 

We hit the sack pretty early since we had an early morning the next day. Out of the hotel by 4:30 to get to the bus which would take us to the trailhead. We started our hike at 5 AM sharp. It was still pitch black, so head lamps were helpful. It'd shine just enough light to see the rocks in our path and know when to turn on a switchback. Soon, we began to see the shadows of the edge and how far down it went...I mean it's a pretty big canyon. And some parts we were on ridges, so it was important to stay on the path. :) 

It amazes me how imperceptibly the sun rises and lights the world. It wasn't long before we no longer needed lamps and we could see the silhouette of the horizon. And then color came into the picture. And it was like a snowball effect of beauty...just kept getting prettier and prettier. I kept wanting to just look all around me, but had to keep an eye on trail so as not to fall, but the beauty just envelopes you. So we stopped a lot and just enjoyed the scenery. 

 It was a long hike down. I kept passing signs that said, "Down is optional. Up is mandatory." That was a very real fact. Skyler and I found it easier to jog portions on the way down. The whole thing was just amazing. I kept thinking to myself, "God is real. He loves us. And he created this!" 

At the bottom we crossed a bridge over the river and rested on the other side. We stayed at the bottom for about 2 hours. We slept, talked, ate, stretched, used the bathroom, and refilled our water supply. There is a commissary down there where you can mail a postcard and they pack it out with mules and then to the post office. I am definitely bringing a few dollars next time to send my love from the core of the Grand Canyon! 

Then we started back up. Let's see, we left the trail head at 5 and got to the bottom at 9. We started heading back up around 11. And Skyler and I got to the top at 3! So we made pretty good time. The others weren't very far behind us. There are less pictures on the way up; we had to make oxygen decisions. When I stopped it was just long enough to catch my breath and get a sip of water and then start again before I got too comfortable sitting on a rock. 

We started at South Kaibab trailhead and ended at Bright Angel Trailhead, which is a pretty popular place. There were SO MANY people on the trail the last mile. They hike down a ways and then turn around when they've had their fun. Here I am sweating, dirty, I'm sure pretty stinky, and worn out, and everyone around me is all cute and taking family pictures. One guy asked me how far I'd hiked. When I told him 18 miles he said, "Dang, and I thought the 3 miles I did was hard!" I felt pretty tough. :)

I slept good that night. The next morning we left early again to make it back for Skyler's class. We drove stick shift with sore calves, yeah! I am so glad I was able to go, it was so much fun, definitely something I want to do again! 

Just under 20 miles in all. 4,000 feet in elevation loss and elevation gain.