Grand Canyon 2011

Where do I start to explain this amazing trip we embarked on! For about 2 years. . we've had this goal. The first time I went to the Grand Canyon, my amazing friend I met at school, Elise, told me it was tough hiking. I didn't believe her cauz I told her Montana has to have the hardest hiking ever. Well. . Elise you were right. The Grand Canyon is pretty hard care. We had planned to hike it two years ago and didn't do it because we were not properly prepared. The second year one particular protective brother (who I will not mention by name) stopped us, but at that point and time it was probably smartest to hold off. You must be prepared for a hike like this.
Anyway, we started this adventure on Thursday afternoon at about 3 pm. . . by 6 or 7. . I hadn't planned to drink a mountain dew (knowing what they do to me), but Beatle had stepped on mine and poked a whole in it and we couldn't let it go to waste.

We drove all night. . . or I should say David drove most of the night. I got the wheel for a couple of hours. My car is not comfortable to sleep in. Not sure how much sleep I got that night. . but by the start of the morning, coffee tasted very lovely. We drove through Zion around sunset time. Absolutely gorgeous!!

Friday was pretty chill. . We set up camp and prepared for our hike on Saturday. I will have all of you know. . I was subjected to more hip-hop music than ever before and the only way to handle it was just to sing along with it. LOL. Remind me that Arizona is hot when you don't have AC in your car next time :P

Everytime we go to the Grand Canyon. . we have our own little special spot. It is not an official campground. . but beautiful! The stars were out. . and this is one of the few times I've camped outside and actually felt warm!!

My amazing friend Elise showed up on Friday night, signifying the beginning of the real party! Elise is like a sista to me! Elise brought her friend Kina with her who quickly became pretty stinkin good friends with all of us. You two are super hard core and desert hikers to the core!

My alarm went off way too early on Saturday morning! 4:00 by the time somebody's faint sound of a cell phone alarm woke Ruth up. We were all a little bit excited and rushed because the bus to our trail head was scheduled to leave at 5:15 am. . and you want to beat the heat as much as possible. I was all ready to go, so decided I would help cook breakfast! High-protein eggs were on the menu. I was stirring the dozen eggs when I had my first blonde moment of the day and spilled them all. Rather than attempting to make oatmeal, we decided to just eat burritos with the nastiest cheese you've ever had and hotdogs. It didn't really matter how it tasted. I knew I needed the calories and the protein. I have no idea how many calories you burn on a hike like this, but I've heard shocking numbers!!

We all climbed in the car and made our way to the Grand Canyon pumped by some of Elise's awesome music (no idea what it was). The adrenaline was starting to set in. After parking our car, we quickly made our way to the bus stop. All of us decided that a restroom stop was necessary because there probably would be not a one on the trailhead. We stumbled around in the dark until we found one with only one stall. I was freaking out that we'd never make it to the bus on time. We slid on that bus by 2 minutes. As soon as we sat down we started talking about the excitement of the hike. I don't exactly remember what we said but the man sitting next to us starting laughing. Like he felt bad about laughing at us, but I told him it was alright. He needs someone to laugh at and if that's us, all is well.

To prepare for a trip like this, you have to bring the right kinds of foods (electrolyte drinks, 3 lb slab of meat, kettle chips, and gallons of trailmix). The trail starts off gently dropping down into the canyon and then follows a ridge for a while. The sun was gently rising over the mountains. . glowing against the red dirt. I stopped every opportunity to take a couple of pictures. . . After a few short hours of hiking, we found ourselves at Skeleton point. This is the "point of no return." Rangers do not recommend going any further for a day hike. After this point, the trail really started dropping in elevation fast. I was amazed how much water I was already drinking (1/2 gallon) by the time I reached the bottom.

The bottom of the canyon came way fast than I'd expected. I think it does for everyone. Very easy to hike down, not so easy to hike out. Right before crossing the bridge to the long-awaited Colorado River, I met an inspirational man. About 50-60 years old sitting on a rock, we struck up small talk. He was coughing as he talked (like he had lung problems or asthma). I wondered to myself, "How on earth is this man ever going to make it back up." And he was taking the steepest route with NO WATER stops! We asked him where he was going. He said, "started at the South Rim, went to North Rim, now going back to the South Rim." I was shocked. He explained further that his goal was to hike a mile for however old he was. I wasn't even going to ask how old he was, but at least over 40 miles judging by the round trip he was taking. He also mentioned that he needed to hike some excess trails to get in extra miles. When I said goodbye, I told him to be safe and he said, "that's no fun."

They don't recommend swimming in the Colorado River, but we were able to find a sandbar that looked pretty safe and the water was shockingly cold. I would have expected it to much warmer. It felt so good!!! This was the inner core. Unbelievable, that we were actually here. The high in the core was 106 degrees definitely enough to prompt us to get out of their fast. Being there at 8 am in the morning though, it wasn't too bad. We filled up our water bottles, passed the emergency telephone, and headed up the trail.

Next stop Indian gardens. . They call this the death march-the 4 mile stretch with no water. This part of the trail was not as bad as I thought it would be compared to the rest of going up and there were multiple streams to go swimming in. Something happened to Beatle's shorts and they were giving her a rash on her legs so we taped them up.

Reaching Indian gardens felt like an accomplishment in and of itself. 4.5 miles up the trail, over 3,000 feet still to go though. This is the point at which they recommend not going any further down the trail. The thermometer read 92 degrees. There were tons of people at Indian Gardens--some in flip flops, some with small children panting their tongues out on the way down, some with no water. From this point on however, there are water stops every 1.5 miles. We cut open our giant slab of Genoa Salami. It tasted gross. In this kind of heat, eating is the last thing on your mind. Altogether we ate half of it and people gave us strange looks. One man even asked us what we were eating. I told him he could have some of it, but he didn't want it. Then there were the violent squirrels and crows that tore open our trail mix bags.

We found a lovely stream to soak in before heading up. High noon. The sun shown so bright. . I was starting to feel it. I could feel a slight headache coming on. Knowing the possibility of heat stroke, I forced myself to eat and drink. Electrolyte drinks were the answer. The next water stop was not too far up the trail. Every step got harder. . every step got hotter.

I have never hiked so slow in my entire life as I hiked that mile. . it took me a full hour. After the next water stop, the adrenaline kicked in again and I was able to continue on.

The top was not far away. . .

The last mile of the hike was the hardest ever, but so good at the same time. The trail played a trick on me. Looking straight up, the building at the top was so close, I swore I could have touched it. . . Looking to the right, I could see the trail winding at least an excess 1/2 mile or mile.

The top came sooner than I realized. . . I knew I had made it when I saw the sign. . The sign telling a person not to do this in one day. I felt as though I had accomplished something large. . .

We all gathered around to celebrate!!!




The drive home was fairly eventful. . The best part being when my brother made me sleep in the Walmart parking lot. . Here's my side of the story (btw, he may give you another).

It was about 12:00 pm Sunday night. David was getting tired driving, but yet he still refused to let me drive. We decided to try to find a hotel or a camping spot. After a long time looking, the predicament we had found ourselves in was just too funny and I was hyper so started laughing. After David threatened to kill me, I didn't say another word. Before I knew it, we were at the Walmart parking lot. Apparently, all five of us were supposed to sleep in the car. Ruth grabbed her sleeping bag and laid it out on the Walmart parking lot. . . Bethany followed. . I felt as though I should probably be with them, so I did the same. I was sure some trouble would happen from this, but there was none besides strangers laughing at us.

Ahh. . so that was the trip. Quite epic! Very thankful to God for keeping all of us safe and for showers (5 days without one will do that to you) :)

Here is a link to picts for those of you who don't have Facebook! :)

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2413679623332.2139658.1291540410&l=bf51d2389c&type=1