Well!
Sometimes we make good decisions, and even act on them.
I received notification 10 days ago that our, (SIL Harry's and my) Grand Canyon back country camping trip had been approved. Rather than them sending it to us, I opted to get into the RV with Elsie and travel to the Grand Canyon to pick up the permit in person.
And while there do a Day Hike to test myself at that altitude
and the steepness of the incline.
So I loaded up the backpack with 35 pounds and down I went.
I'm glad that I did. After a three mile each way, five hour hike with a difference of over 2000 feet in altitude, it's back to the gym for me, and with a more intense focus. Quads and lungs, lungs and quads require more attention that's for sure! Tender Quads? Yup!
But let me tell you, the vistas were amazing. Actually the entire time was somewhere between awesome and amazing.
There are numerous blogs and web sites dedicated to hiking the Canyon. How to do it, what not to do, when and where, and every and anything else that you might want to know. And I've read them all. They don't exaggerate when they talk about the necessity of water and electrolyte balance.
I started down the So. Kaibab Trailhead in a steady snowfall. The weatherman said that we got four inches. I was wearing crampons, (snap on cleats) for the first 1000 feet of altitude drop. The snow covered pictures aptly show the weather. The multi layered clothing approach worked really well. Layers kept coming off and going back on as the day progressed.
The almost new Scarpa hiking boots fit perfectly, especially for the downhill work. In fact
they worked so well that, until Elsie asked me, the concern of quality and fit never crossed my mind. A common thread throughout all of the blogs and warnings was the need to have properly fitted, (for downhill work) boots. Horror stories abound about poorly fitted boots and totally blistered toes and feet and all of the problems associated with these issues. The young lady at Mountain Equipment Co-op in Burlington had done her fitting job well.
The clouds were what was most amazing.
They never really left. They just kept
moving out and in.
Wind was never a significant discomfort factor, but I must say that from time to time the gusts of wind were surely noticed and necessitated a layers change. One moment sunshine was streaming through in a narrow band. Moments later there would be vast expanses of brilliant sunlight lighting up a distant butte. All day long the clouds would roll in and out.
The trail largely followed the edges of a couple of box canyons. Always dropping, although on the way up, way to vertical. Going up I'm sure there were times when I'd take breaks after
100 meters.
Especially on the way up, lots of water and many rests!
In wilderness situations most of the people you meet are, among other things, interesting and supportive. At Cedar Ridge the mother of a family of five asked if she could borrow a couple of AA batteries for a few pictures. I insisted that she keep two of my extra AA's. We began talking and found out that they live 2.5 hours north of us in Ontario.
They had taken the three elementary aged children out of school for the month and were experiencing a variety of challenges in the Southwest. Cool! Their daughter Jessica is the young lady in this picture.
On the return I found myself with Daniel and Tony, two engineers taking a weekend break from sessions they were attending in Las Vegas. Daniel had another total level of fitness than did Tony and I. He literally scampered up the very vertical incline. He offered to take my 10 pound camera and include us in some shots from above and looking down at us.
This worked out well in two ways. You can see me as one of two little specks on the trail.
and more importantly, it taught me about weight distribution. Because one of
my motives for the hike was for it to be amajor photo op.
I was carrying my Canon EOS 30 with attached battery
and 1:2.8 24 - 70 mm lens. And because I was constantly shooting, carried it around my neck and frequently cradled it in my left arm.
This process made for great photography and hurting hiking!
Anyway, once I had passed it off to Daniel, my need for rest stops diminished greatly.
Daniel and Tony were two really nice guys, turned out Daniel is from Montreal and Tony from Columbus.
While I hiked, Elsie stayed in the nice warm RV, with the furnace running, and amused herself with Crosswords, a good book and hot chocolate. She says that she was also quite worried on my behalf, so that was one less thing that I had to be concerned about.
Yes, I said book, singular, so you know that she must have been quite
worried if she only read one book in a five hour time span.
Granted , I missed the Grey Cup. The recounting of an exciting game that I received from Ted verified what he always says about Grey Cup games, "the best football on TV he says". I won't argue, but I wouldn't have traded the experience of a wintery hike along the South Kaibab Trail for, well not quite "anything", but pretty close to it!
This is a part of the preperation for a third in a series of kedges. (Algonquin and cycling with Manisha and Steve being the first two) The actual kedge will be the six day trip that will commence on February 22nd. The Day Trip was one of a series of events and experiences that are the leadups to the real thing. For those of you who don't remember from earlier writings,
I' ll describe a kedge in an upcoming blogspot.
This last image is of Daniel at the Trailhead following his successful ascent.
He and Tony had
started much earlier and actually gone all of the way to Phantom Ranch.
Oh, and I decided that a Garmin for trails was a necessity of great import.
So another, no Sheri, it's not a toy, rather another 'tool' to be put to great use as
I learn to master it. And now I can geocache as well.
That'll be a story for another day.
Love y'all.
