We arrived at the South Rim on Friday afternoon and enjoyed a leisurely lunch at El Tovar before we caught our shuttle to the North Rim. Joel aptly named our van the "Desert Tortoise Express". We had to endure a nearly 6 hour van ride to get to the starting point of our hike. Thankfully we were able to pass the hours with some very cool people.
These are our "before" hike pictures on Friday, looking very rested and chipper.
After an awesome dinner at the North Rim Lodge, we checked into our quaint little cabin and tried to rest up for our long day ahead.
We got to the trail head around 6:00 am. It was still dark and about 38 degrees out, but we just tried to enjoy the cool weather while it lasted. The bottom of the canyon would be over 100 degrees.
We were surprised by how busy the trail was! There seemed to be a steady stream of people filing down the North Kaibab trail. The first leg of our journey took us from the North Rim of the Canyon down to Phantom Ranch. I had wrongly assumed that going down would be a lot easier. Not so much. After pounding my legs on 14 miles of descent on loose rocks (I fell and skinned my knee at mile 2!) my legs were absolutely wrecked by the time we made it to Phantom Ranch. I took my shoes off, rinsed my legs and feet with some cold water, stretched out, and rested for a good hour. We had some lunch and drank a glass of the best lemonade in the world. Before long, it was time to mix up some electrolyte drinks, top off our Camelbacks, and head off on the next leg of the journey: 10 more miles and 5500' of elevation gain.
We finally made it to Phantom Ranch!
You can't see the Colorado River from either rim of the Canyon. That's because it is WAY deeper than you can see... the river is basically in a canyon inside a canyon.
We actually kept a pretty swift pace on the ascent. I'm not too sure-footed and I have trouble going downhill (note the skinned knee above). But when I'm climbing, I'm able to go into march mode, detach my mind, and just chug through the miles. It's still hard, but I don't have to think about it as much, which is a big help. We made it to Indian Gardens in a couple of hours and stopped to enjoy another snack and rest. I tried to avoid looking up at all costs, because I knew I still had one hell of a climb ahead of me.
The trek from Indian Gardens to the 3 mile rest house wasn't too bad, but those last three miles to the top were KILLER. Three miles doesn't seem like a big deal, right? Wrong. That was the longest 3 mile death march I've ever endured. The only awesome part was that we were passing people left and right. At this point, we wanted to get out of the canyon before dark, and were were pretty determined and focused. I'll admit though, when I stopped to rest at the 3 mile rest house, I entertained the thought of just living there forever and never moving again. It was tempting.
Who needs a bed? I will just sleep here forever, thank you.
But we persevered. We marched on, up one switchback after another. We seemed to climb higher and higher, yet it was almost impossible to perceive how much climbing we still had to do. Finally, I turned a corner and my eyes landed on the Kolb Studio at the trail head. Of all the amazing sights we enjoyed during the day, I think that one was the most beautiful one of all!
As I rounded that last corner, though, I had another surprise waiting for me! My darling friend Kristi was waiting at the top of the rim to present me with my very own finisher's medal! She had also picked out some awesome Rim to Rim shirts for Joel and me. I couldn't have asked for a better cheerleader!
When we were talking to Kristi and her parents that night at dinner, Joel and I were both saying that we would NEVER do that again. But, after a nice long sleep and a couple of decent meals, we've both decided that we'll definitely take on the rim to rim hike again someday. It's just too Great, Awesome, Enormous, Spectacular, Humbling, Dizzying, and Grand not to experience again!
3 comments:
That looks amazing! Well done, you. I love the feeling after you've accomplished something so strenuous. It sucks DURING, but is Heavenly AFTER.
My crazy mother has done something called Rim to Rim to Rim. Where you start on the north rim, spend the night in the hotel on the south rim and then end up back at your car on the north rim. Like I said, my mom is crazy. I applaud you on Rim to Rim. I still have not made the trek into the Grand Canyon. I bet hop to it right?
Amazing, Chandra. Simply amazing. The pictures and your words have left me in awe.
Congratulations! I'm so happy for you. It's so inspiring.
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