We have a family tradition of buying an ornament when we go visit somewhere. I picked up this beauty while I was in Grand Canyon this week.
But let me back up and give you some details on this very last minute trip.
Remember Shauna? I mentioned her in the last post...we carpool to cheer, but I had just met her the week before this trip, when we drove to SLC together to pick up our race packets, and then again the next morning when we drove to the buses which took us to our race starting line. Anyhow, that's her there in the picture below, sitting next to me. Well, Shauna, about a year ago, and started planning another hiking trip to the Grand Canyon. This would be her third year in a row doing a girls hiking trip to Grand Canyon like this. Last year they had a large group of women. This year, the group had to split and go at two different times and anyhow, long story short, she only had 4 women in her group and then one of the women backed out last minute because her husband had hip surgery, and since Shauna knew I just successfully ran a marathon, she asked if I would want to go with them. She asked me on a Thursday, during a football game our girls were cheering at, and they would be leaving for this trip the following Tuesday...in 5 days! I laughed when she told me, not thinking she was serious, or that that would even be possible, but when I realized she was in fact serious, and that they'd appreciate having another person along, in case someone got hurt then they'd always have 2 together, I stopped laughing and told her I'd talk to Scott and think about it.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized this would be amazing and sounds right up my alley of things I love to do. If I had known this was a thing, it for sure would have been on my bucket list. And you can't easily pass up an item on your bucket list when it's handed to you on a silver platter :). Scott said he could manage things at home, and so that was it. That's all it took and I agreed to go. Shauna gave me a list of items to pack for our 3 night, 4 day trip, and I quickly got things together. I borrowed a hiking day bag from a friend but everything else I had. I did not wear hiking boots, just some good, sturdy running shoes that have a thicker sole and good traction. We stopped at Jacob's Lake for dinner on the way to the North Rim on our first day. There's not much there, but there is a lodge and diner and they have about 15 flavors of their 'famous homemade cookies'.
We saw a herd of bison on our way to the Grand Canyon. Once in the canyon we also saw a big horned sheep, lots of deer, and lizards, and a couple of snakes.
That first night, Tuesday, we stayed at a cabin in the North Rim. They have a large lodge as well with food and souvenirs. This is where I bought my hiking ornament.
We didn't have cell service at the North Rim, which made us nervous when we couldn't find Tiffany for awhile, but after 30 minutes and after we enlisted a few people to help us search for her, we found her :).
We walked around and took pictures on a small scenic trail they have near the lodge and cabins. From left to right is Shauna, Tiffany, me and Catherine.
We had adjoining cabins...we hoped to get one cabin that slept four, because it's much cheaper that way, but apparently those are gone really fast. These are too, but this is what we had. Catherine and I slept in this cabin, one on the full bed and the other on the twin bed.
I woke up around 515am, so did Tiffany. The others got up around 530 and our goal was to leave by 6am. We ended up leaving a little late but we had packed up and driven to the start of the trail by 630am Wednesday morning.
The first 5 or so miles down North Kaibab, are all down the canyon. After awhile, I started to notice my knees and other parts of my legs from all the down climbing. I did not bring hiking poles, which would've helped some with this part. I did have hiking poles to use the next day, as one of the women from our group decided she'd take the shuttle back to the north rim(which fyi, costs about $90 and is a 4 hour drive).
A few years ago, we had taken my family to the Grand Canyon, just as a side trip from Bryce Canyon. We just did a short hike out to a lookout point. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Now, hiking down into that canyon, and being surrounded by the beauty, for hours, all day, and the following day, was also a beautiful experience. There are spots (a few miles in the middle) where you don't have any cover, and it can get pretty hot. But thankfully, our temps weren't as high as they normally get, and we did get some cloud coverage during the most exposed parts of the hike, which was such a blessing.
This is a Utah agave plant. There were tons. And lots of cactus.
There are outhouses along the way, about every few hours, and places to fill up your water...unless they're not working. You can check before hand to see if the water is working, but it's a good idea to bring enough water for the entire day, just in case.
The bridge to Ribbon Falls was destroyed, but Shauna and Tiffany had seen it before and loved it, and wanted us to be able to see it, so we navigated the area, and found another way to the Falls. This detour ended up adding an hour and a half or more to our day. But they were right. It was beautiful.
I put my poncho on and went inside of a little cave at the falls.
At one point, the trail breaks into two, and you can either go up to the south rim on the Bright Angel trail or the South Kaibab. We crossed this bridge and hiked up bright angel. It's two miles longer, but it's also less steep, which we preferred for these last quite a few miles. On the way back, the following morning, we took the South Kaibab trail.
The sun sets at 630pm in September in the Grand Canyon. We didn't get out of the canyon until 8pm, so we hiked for an hour and a half in the dark, which we were not planning to do. Luckily, a couple of us brought headlamps/flashlights, and the others were able to use the light on their phones.
We separated, 2 and 2, during the final 3 or so miles, one group going a little faster than the others. We finished about a half hour apart and met up at the top of south rim, before walking over to the Maswik hotel, which was probably less than half a mile away. We were starved when we got there and quickly grabbed some dinner from their cafeteria (which closes at 9, so we cut it close), before heading to our room and showering off. I had this vegetarian chili and a small salad. It was delicious. Hunger is a great ingredient!
That night, since Katherine was going back on the shuttle, we unloaded our bags and filled my large hiking bag with as much stuff as we didn't need, and Katherine took that back with her, and I used her smaller bag, mostly for food and water, bag balm, hat, extra socks and chapstick. My sleep was restless. We didn't get to bed until almost midnight, as we were preparing for the next day of hiking, and then my back and neck was sore from my heavy pack, my hip bones were bruised and hurting from not wearing my pack properly, and my feet and legs were aching and tired. Needless to say, the few hours sleep we got, were full of twisting and turning and trying to get comfortable on parts of your body that hurt all over. Day 2, we woke up a little after 4am, ate a quick breakfast (I had packed oats, raisins, cinnamon and coconut sugar in a ziploc bag, and cooked it up with the coffee pot water, and then added a packet of almond butter), walked to our shuttle at 445am, caught it by 5am and were hiking South Kaibab by 530am. Here's me and Tiffany.
It started out chilly, but within an hour or so, we took off the long sleeves and were plenty warm. I was grateful to have Katherine's poles on day 2, because now my legs were sore from the previous days hike and the poles helped.
Our bodies were definitely tired, but we had each other. We visited and told story, upon story, upon story. I know all about their families, how they got engaged, what their parents, and grandparents, siblings are like, I know their struggles and their triumphs, I know what kinds of foods they like to eat, how they spend their free time and so much more. I loved getting to know these women better as we hiked.
There are mules you can pay to ride into the canyon. And they also have a group of mules that goes down with packs, maybe to bring things to phantom ranch, which is about half way? I'm not really sure.
These steps are killer. They are not gradual, but it's like a pounding down on each step. I definitely utilized my poles on these never-ending climbs, both up and down.
Shauna had a friend that she knew would be hiking through on our Day 2; her name is Adrianne and they've hiked Grand Canyon together before. There schedules for GC didn't line up perfectly this time, but we did get to see them about half way through our hike back on day 2. Adrianne is also running the Boston marathon this year, so we may meet up in the morning.
This was the only dog we saw on the trail. And he's carrying his own little pack.
Just before the 5 mile climb back up to North Rim, there is a nice, shady place to stop with water, bathrooms, benches and tables. While they used the bathroom, I put my feet up and closed my eyes, tired from our 44ish miles of hiking.
This older woman, with a knee brace, was bringing her own donkey down the canyon. I was a little nervous for her and her donkey, who looked a little scared to be in there. I hope everything went well for them.
Those last several miles were steep, and tough, but we did it!! We did it! We finished around 430 pm, all dusty and tired, bodies exhausted. Tiffany went ahead of us during the last half mile as she needed to use a bathroom.
In total, we hiked almost 50 miles over those two days. We hiked for 13.5 hours the first day, and 11 hours the second day (remember first day we did the longer bright angel trail and we did ribbon falls detour).
We drove back to the lodge where we met Katherine and used a bathroom to change out of our sweaty clothes, into clean, dry clothes and sandals, before driving the hour back to Jacob's lake, where we ate dinner and stayed the night.
Overall, it was a lovely trip. It was hard. Especially day two when you're hiking so many miles on such tired legs, and your back is aching from the weight of your pack from the day before, but it felt good to do something challenging, and to be out in nature and with friends.
