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My plan
was to walk across the Grand Canyon. One night on the north side in the
campground, one night at Cottonwood Campground, one night at Bright Angel
Campground, one night at Indian Gardens Campground, and a final night at
the South Rim at Bright Angel Lodge. I have been walking and exercising
for the last six months preparing for this trip. All of the information I
had obtained recommend a lot of both. Also, I read everything I could find about the Grand
Canyon on the Internet. I felt that at last I was ready. 
I'm a 45 years old grandma.
Before leaving on this trip I went to the doctor for a checkup. I was
concerned about the drop and rise in elevation, and how or if it could
affect my heart (its not real good). He told me to go ahead, changed
my meds and told me to have fun. By the way, I never like to talk about my
health. My family forgot along time ago about my heart and my friends
never know. My grandkids love to play with me because I'm the most active
out of all their grandmas. I'm just adding this because at the time it was
important.
I left home in mid June and drove down to
Flagstaff, Arizona and spent the night. Before I went to bed I sorted out
my stuff and moved a few things from my suitcase to my pack. I was pretty
excited that night and had a real hard time sleeping. The next morning I
woke up after the sun came up, and hurried to load the car. Since I didn’t
have to meet the shuttle until one I wanted to explore the south side as
much as possible. I took highway 180 from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon.
The road was quiet with very little traffic.
The closer I came to the Grand Canyon the more scared and excited I became
since my goal was to walk across the Grand Canyon by myself. Once I almost
turned around because I started thinking about the what ifs. But instead I
pulled off to the side of the road, and said a short prayer asking for any and all assistance I may need.
Afterwards I felt a calm feeling and I knew that I was in for an exciting
trip!
I drove around the south side until I found a
parking spot near the Bright Angel Lodge. Then I went to see the view of
the rim from
the Bright Angel Lodge. My first view of the Grand Canyon was really overwhelming.
The canyon is huge! The river looked so far away and the north side was
even farther. I could see Plateau Point, Indian Gardens and Phantom Ranch
way down below. Some one pointed out Cottonwood Campground in the distance.
As we watched we could see a mule train between Indian Gardens and just
below us. It looked like tiny ants moving along the trail!
There was 5 Condors flying around just off
of the
rim. They drew quite a crowd of watchers. There was
also several squirrels running around begging for food. And they weren't
being disappointed. This was the only place that I found that there was squirrel were
a problem. I
asked a couple kids to please not feed them. I also explained to them
that they were not helping the squirrels.
Since it was getting close to shuttle time I went
back to the car and brought my pack back up. It felt really heavy, so
I carried it back to the car and removed about five pounds of stuff
from it, which was a really good idea. Some of the things I would miss
later (my toothbrush and sandals), but at least it was lighter. The shuttle finally came and we loaded
up for the 5 hour ride to the north side. There were six men were in one group from Jersey. They camped near me in all
of the campgrounds except
Indian Gardens. There were also 2 guys returning to the north side
for their cars, and I
asked every question I could think of.
When we got to the north side the sun was almost
down. I barely had time to
set up my little tent and walk up to the store. My
tent was on the rim and the view was almost wasted in the dark. Right
before dark the wind started
blowing and it got cold. My tent was short and down in a hole so the wind
blew over it, but there were several other tents in the campground that
were blown away and tipped over. It was little chilly that night but it
wasn't really bad. I slept in my clothes and in my flannel sleeping bag. I kept
waking up, but it was because I was excited and a little scared. This
adventure was a huge event for me!
I got up
Tuesday morning at 4:30. It seemed to take only a few minutes to pack my
tent and supplies. Today I would use my camel back to carry water in.
There's water on the North Kaibab Trail, but only if the pipeline is
working. I was almost skipping as I headed for the trailhead. There's a walking trail that is a half-mile long or else I
could have followed the road a mile to the trailhead. As I reached the
trailhead the sun was up far enough I could put away my flashlight. For
the first couple miles or so it was still too dark to take pictures. The
walk down the trail into the canyon seems to go really fast. I kept getting glimpses of the canyon through the trees
an d bushes.
Dropping down through the red wall was beautiful.
All around me everything was either a deep red or a dark green color. I
could see the trail way down below where it weaved back and forth like a
lazy snake.
The trail behind me was steep, and I was
happy I wasn't coming back up it. I had already forgotten looking
down the Bright Angel trail from the rim.
I met a family who was also moving down
the trail at a fast pace. They were planning on spending a couple night at
Phantom Ranch. It was fun to listen to them as they viewed the canyon also for the first
time. They turned off
the main trail and dropped down to Roaring Springs while I skipped it and
went on down the trail to Bruce's house. I met my first and only Ranger on
the trail here. We talked for a few minutes before he went up the trail
and I went down.
Just before Bruce’s house I kicked a large rock
in the trail. The park service put these huge rocks or logs across the
trail to help the trail from eroding. When I was to look off the trail or
even up at the sky sometimes I would kick these. This would cause extreme pain in the area of
my toes! Over the next several days I would kick may of these barriers and
I would also reward my feet with a rest in the nearby creeks.
By the time I got to Bruce’s house I was limping. I took my first long rest and ate lunch after changing my
socks. I also took a couple Motrin’s to help with the pain. At Bruce's house I could hear a strange whirring sound. After a few minutes
of searching I traced the sound to the rock wall. It seemed to be singing!
I got to Cottonwood Campground at 10:15. It's
hard to get a camping spot here because there is only 11 tent
sites, and only two
group sites. I was very lucky to get one. It was already
pretty hot so I picked out a site with some shade, and then went down to
check out the
creek. I spend the rest of the day either in or around the creek. I had
met several people
here and enjoyed talking to them as we lounged in the creek. There were
people camped here from Connecticut, England, New York, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey and many other places. That night it was hot.
Some one said it had been 120 at Phantom.
For supper I finally got to try out
my sterna can cooker. After a meal of freeze dried spaghetti (which was awful).
I was already looking forward to dinner tomorrow night! I wandered back
down to the creek to visit with my new friends. They pointed out to me
where the lodge on the north side is located up above cottonwood
campground.
There was some Boy Scouts camped here who were in the
process of earning quite a few badges. They were doing a south rim to
north rim to south rim trip.
When I got up the next morning it was still hot,
but there was a cool breeze. AT 5 or so I was on the trail again, and
about 10, I was at Phantom Ranch. The last half-mile was tough in the box.
When I got to the Bright Angel campground it was 120.
Today I decided to rest my back a
bit by only filling my water bottles up since I would be walking along the
creek.
About a mile below Cottonwood
Campground is the trail to Ribbon Falls. Ribbon falls was great! The sun was
just coming up, so I could see. I dropped my pack
on a ledge toward the bottom and went to play in the water. I ate a muffin
and drank my coffee. This is one place that I really could have spent more
time at. The water cascading down from the top and onto the cone was
beautiful. And the water was so cold! All of the squirrel must have slept
in since I didn’t see one. After I left I went down to the
creek. The water wasn’t very deep in one spot, so I just jumped in and
waded across. I went a mile or so down the trail before I stopped and
changed my socks.
The box was beautiful. I sure felt
small with huge mountains of rock towering about me. This is one place I
wouldn't want to be in in either a flash flood or earthquake. I kept stopping to look around in a circle to try and see it all. I
stopped once and used my filter to fill up my bottles up with the cold water from the creek
and got going again. I met 3 kids who had run out
of water, so I took another break and used my water filter again.
I met 3 girls about a between the
metal bridges. They had just met a rattlesnake in the trail. It had struck at
one of the girls and had missed her. I never seen the snake, but warned people
about it.
Phantom Ranch is like a tiny city. First I stop
was at the cantina for lemonade (but they were out), and then on down the trail to the
Bright Angel Campground.
I picked a site in the shade behind the water tap, and near the restrooms.
I mixed up a power drink and sat in the creek in the shade to drink it.
The water felt great on my poor injured feet. After I got my tent setup
and my food stored in the boxes I wandered down to the Colorado River (it was 120
in the sun) to checkout the Kaibab Bridge and the Indian Ruins. The black
Kaibab Bridge
was hot! I was wishing I had an egg to try to see if it would fry on it. I
didn't walk over it because the heat was really intense! After that I
walked back to the Bright Angel Creek and talked to some river rafters
in the shade. I climbed in the creek again while I visited with them.
While I was there a mule train came
by. The people riding looked like they were ready to get off and climb in
the creek with us. After a bit I decided I needed a nap so
I went back to my tent and took a nap in the
shade. Everyone else was either resting or soaking in the creek. The heat was really intense.
After awhile I took my book and went down and
to sit
in the creek. I wish I had taken a picture of all the others doing the
same thing. Before long it was time to head to the cantina for dinner.
This was one meal I had looked forward to for days!
The steak dinner was better than I had hoped for,
and I ate every bite! Afterwards they brought us these huge slices of
chocolate cake. I really recommend this meal, but be sure to make a
reservation before entering the canyon. I felt bad for the people that
showed up for dinner and assumed the would be able to eat too. I had
reserved a stew dinner when I made my room reservations, and had called
about a dozen times before I could upgrade to the steak dinner. I’m glad I was
kept calling.
Afterwards I wandered back down to river for some pictures of the silver
bridge and the Colorado River. Then I went back up for the ranger talk, but it was
about bats, and after that she was going to talk about sore toes. But I
was tired and I knew the next day was going to be long.
The first day I
walked down hill, the second was more over a level area, and the next two
would be all uphill. Before I forgot I went back up to the Cantina and
bought a Phantom Ranch T-shirt. I also canceled my breakfast for the next
morning. Mine was for the 5:00 setting, but I wanted to leave early so I
could take advantage of the shade as much as possible.
After I got back to the campground it was still
110 in the shade. I spent some more time in the creek and then went back
to camp and heated up my knife, and well after that my toes felt better.
After I got home I lost 6 toenails.
The next morning I again started out early.
For the rest of the trip I would have to use my camel back. Today I'll
follow a couple creeks but the water isn't safe to drink even filtered. Over
half the campground was up and moving around. It was around 95 degree. At the river I took pictures of some river rafters. At first my
body did not want to go up but by the time I left the river I was walking
at a good upward pace. I was told there was water at the river rest  house,
but there wasn't and probably had never been. I had plenty. The devil's
corkscrew was rough but even at this time of morning I could see where the
heat could be deadly in the afternoon. I took my time and enjoyed looking
around.
At the top of the corkscrew it goes into a canyon
with a small creek with some cottonwood trees for shade. I found a nice
spot off the trail and once again took my boots off and waded in the
creek. It was a good spot for some lunch and a power drink. I probably
spent at least half hour here. It wasn't too far from here to Indian
campground.
After I snacked and rested I ran into a couple
that were having problems. I spent some time with them and then I left and
went on up to Indian Garden Campground. The last little stretch was in the sun and
it was getting hot. I was looking forward to relaxing in the creek at
Indian Gardens. Near the corral, there was about a couple dozen people
resting in the shade. Some were from the top and also some were from the
bottom.
At the campground the Ranger met me as I came in
and he directed me to a good spot. I told him about the couple. I hung up
my pack on the pack pole (the poles are really tall here), then went down to the creek. By now it was 107 and
hot. The creek was great and in the shade, so I settle in for the
afternoon with my book. The ranger met everyone coming up and guided them
to different places in the creek, and warned everyone about waiting until
after 4 to leave. People coming down kept telling him about a woman on her
way up (between the rest houses) that was stranded on the trail. He couldn’t
go help her because he had too many people here that needed him.
The people at Indian Garden were nice and funny.
I enjoyed laughing and talking with some of them. I didn’t make it out
to Plateau Point at this time. I felt that it was more important to rest
and eat the majority of my foodstuff. Some of the people in this
campground had also been in Phantom and in Cottonwood, so it was almost
like talking to old friends. Also there was new people to meet.
Around
suppertime we all headed to our little sites and prepared ourselves for
the next day. I fixed a freeze dried dinner of mashed potatoes and chicken
breast which was really good. During the day I tried to eat most of my
food. While I set up my tent I was already thinking about next year. I
went to sleep planning my next trip.
I was already feeling sad about leaving the canyon and
dreading the trip up.
The next morning I got up early and
prepared to leave. Everyone else was also up and moving around. I felt as  though I was preparing to enter the
twilight zone or something. I was happy and sad at the same time. I
really enjoyed the peace and quiet in the canyon. And I knew that I was
going to miss this place.
I was almost to base of the mountain before the
sun started peeking over my shoulder. The higher I climbed the higher it
climbed. I knew by the 3-mile house that I would not win the race to the
top. The 3-mile house is pretty the way it sits on the edge. I spent some
time there resting and eating a quick snack. Also I changed into dry
socks.
The next part seemed to be pretty steep. And it
felt like I was never going to reach the 1 ½ mile house. The mules had
left huge holes in the ground where they had stepped over the logs. It was
hard for me to climb over these and I became tired. It was around 10 when
I got to the 1-½ mile rest house. By now I am hot and tired and there isn’t
any sign of a creek to wade in. I changed into my shorts and also changed
my socks again. It was still hot, but also it was cooler that it was at
Indian Gardens. In the rest house I soaked my hair and t-shirt and sat
down for a few minutes. There was quite a few kids standing around
talking and laughing. They had just come down from the top.
After awhile I felt well enough to go on. I
thought the hard part would be over but it wasn’t. There were only
a few places that were still in the shade. On the switchbacks I rested on the left turn
and raced up to the next left one. Okay considering how steep it was I
didn’t quite race, but I did go up! Up, Up, Up, then it leveled off some
and I could hear the people on the rim talking. I thought I may be getting
closer to rim, but then I just kept walking up.
Then there was people asking if it was far to the
bottom, or if it was hot, or something else. Anything they could think of
to get me to stop, and talk to them. By now I didn’t want to talk, all I
wanted was to check into my room and get a shower and take a nap. Well,
maybe lunch and cold drink!
Finally I had reached the top and I was grinning.
I stopped a woman at the trailhead to have her take my picture. This is the
worse picture possible of me and later I couldn’t believe I had asked to
have it taken!
I had reached the top around noon. It had taken 7
hours for me to climb out. Which really wasn't that considering my feet. My pack weighed 30
lbs when I had started and I’m
guessing that is was down to 25 lbs or so. The hike out was hard. It was
one of the hardest things I have ever done. And yes next year I'll do it
again.
Later after the my shower and a short rest in the
room I went back out on the rim and looked down and grinned like I had a
secret. I really felt a huge sense of accomplishment.
Someone had told me
the night before at Indian Gardens that they came to the Grand Canyon to
find themselves. I felt as if I had also found myself. |
