It's a long way down....

Day 170 - Grand Canyon, AZ - SUNNY starting in the 80's ending in the 60's:

We headed out for our long trip to the top at 7am. We knew it would be warm and so we wanted to beat as much heat as we could. On the way out we took the Bright Angel Trail. This trail is longer (9.5 miles) but is a little..VERY little but little nonetheless easier than the South Kaibab Trail. We anticipated as they told us we should that it would take about double the time to get out as it did to get in...so that meant around six or so hours for us to make it to the top.

It wasn't long before we were both VERY warm and taking off as many layers as we could. We kept a good pace though and made it to the halfway point (Indian Garden Campground) in about two hours. The trail was uphill naturally but not too bad. We knew this meant that we were in for it on the second half of the trip.

I can't even describe how difficult the second half of this hike was...I don't think I've ever worked that hard in my whole life. We stopped about every half hour for a rest. Both of us were drenched in sweat and exhausted. As we were hiking though we did run into two people from Bangor. They were amazed that we had started at the bottom that morning! We trudged on and finally after FIVE LONG HOURS we made it to the top. I have never been so happy to see the car!!

Before we did any unpacking we weighed our bags to see how much we carried out. Ben weighed in at 35lbs while I weighed in at 25lbs as you can see in the picture but I had started out with an additional 4lbs of water. We were both proud of ourselves and of each other for accomplishing our goal of hiking in and hiking out. After a quick stop at the Marketplace to return the trekking pole (WHICH WE WERE VERY GLAD WE RENTED) and so Ben could get a coffee and an ice cream before hitting the road for Kayenta!

We arrived in Kayenta around 5:30pm and got cleaned up! We ordered pizza for dinner and sat on the bed replenishing our bodies. A little later we ordered a DELICIOUS lava cake from the restaurant. It was SOOO good. Unfortunately I think that I ate just as many calories as I burned!! Oh well...

Day 169 - Grand Canyon, AZ - SUNNY Upper 80's:

We got up early to have breakfast and head out on the Rainbow Falls trail. It had been made clear that this was a LONG HOT HIKE so we wanted to be sure to get out early. We were fortunate that the majority of our way to the falls we found ourselves in the shade. It was a nice hike that followed Bright Angel Creek toward the North Rim. We arrived at the falls around 11:30am and sat down to have lunch. We were both quite hungry at that point. Once we were done lunch we wandered around the falls...I could tell Ben had something on his mind and it wasn't long before he said that he wanted to in the water. I told him to HAVE AT IT!! As you can see in the pictures he went for it and his face tells you just how cold the water was! He had a good time though and smelled a bit better when he came out of the water :). Once he was done and dried off as well as he could we started our way back to the campground. They weren't lying when they said the hike was hot. Almost the entire way back was in the BLAZING sunshine. I felt like we were crossing the Sahara! Anytime we found shade we stopped for a break.

When we got back to camp we both were again exhausted and so we took much needed naps. It's amazing how much energy the sun can take from you. Once we were awake we walked over to Bright Angel Creek to stick our feet in for some relief. This water was just as cold as the Colorado but I didn't care because it felt so good to stick my feet in even if it was just for a second or two at a time!

We didn't do much for the rest of the afternoon other than read and have dinner. We waited for the canteen to open at 8pm so that we could get a lemonade and a sticker. At about 7:40pm we headed over to wait outside...I was wearing my Red Sox shirt and when we got there it sparked a conversation with two couples. Turns out they were from SOUTH PORTLAND. Yes, South Portland, Maine! We chatted with them for quite some time. They were SO KIND. When the canteen finally opened they were generous enough to buy Ben a beer and a lemonade for me. We were so grateful. We chatted for quite some time, they had made their way down today with a guide and were heading out on Wednesday eventually making their way to Scottsdale. We hope they had a GREAT time on the rest of their trip.

We finished our drinks and headed back to camp for an early night...it would certainly be an early morning!

Day 168 - Grand Canyon, AZ - SUNNY starting in the 70's ending in the 80's:

Our day started BRIGHT AND EARLY at 6am. Our goal was to make the 7am hikers express bus knowing that we would be more likely to get on the 8am bus. Well we were right and we arrived at the backcountry office at 7:45am. Before we hopped on Ben weighed his bag and it was about 45lbs. I didn't weigh mine because at the time I didn't want to know but we figured it was likely around 30lbs.

We got on the bus and headed to the South Kaibab Trailhead. This trail is 7.2miles long with an elevation change of 4800ft. In other words you go downhill the entire way. It is CRAZY steep and really takes a tole on your legs and knees. While you are going down the temperature is going up.

As we walked down there were three guys we kept going back and forth with who turned out to be from Massachusetts and one of them even went to Bowdoin...small world. As we made our way down we were amazed at how things that seemed so small from the top were ENORMOUS. Every time it seemed like we were getting closer to the bottom we would turn another corner and be SOOOO far away. While hiking we did get to see mules making their way down the canyon. It's pretty neat to see them making their way down!!

After 3.5 hours we finally made our way to the HUGE Colorado River. From the top it looks like it's only about an inch wide however by the time we were there we found that it was 330ft wide! Fortunately there are two suspension bridges that cross the river. We crossed the 440ft wide black bridge. It's pretty nuts to walk across. Once we were across we found a picnic table under a tree where we stopped for lunch. While there the mules we had seen earlier on the trip finally made their way past us!!

After lunch we headed to the Bright Angel Campground. We found a site that had some shade and set up camp. When you get there the first thing you have to do it put all your food, scented items, and plastic bags into the ammo boxes they provide. The squirrels and deer at the bottom are very aggressive and if you don't put your food in the boxes they will eat through your pack to get to it!! We did that and then quickly changed into our flip-flops so that we could explore the area. Unknown to me until we were at the park was the fact that there is a ranch at the bottom called Phantom Ranch. Here they have cottages and bunkhouses for people who get reservations and want to stay. They also have a canteen and dining room. I was shocked! After looking around we decided to head back to camp and rest a bit.

We laid down in the tent doing our best to stay cool...It was SO HOT at the bottom. By the time we reached the bottom the temperature had changed approximately 50 degrees from when we woke up!! I took a catnap but Ben needed a bit more rest and slept for quite a while. Once he was up we made our way to the river to stick our toes in and see if any rafters were at the Bright Angel Beach. There weren't any rafters but we did get up close with the river. The Colorado River is HUGE, FAST, and FREEZING. I don't know how people were rafting without wetsuits. We were lucky enough to see the river in its most natural color of reddish brown due to the runoff from the canyon. In the summer its actually a tropical green color because of the river being damned according to the rangers.

From the river we made our way back toward Phantom Ranch for the afternoon ranger talk. Today's topic was "The Colorado River". The ranger told about many of the firsts in the river including the first men to swim the Grand Canyon. Here's a bit about them from Amazon, "April 10, 1955: the water temperature was 51F, and a fierce wind buffeted two men as they entered the Colorado River at Lees Ferry. Bill Beers and John Daggett had set out to swim the river through the Grand Canyon. At a time when fewer than 200 people had run the river in boats, this was daredevil try and illegal. Their equipment was primitive: Army-surplus rubber boxes to carry gear, thin rubber shirts, woollen long johns and swim fins; they also took a movie camera to record the adventure. Twenty-six days and 280 miles later, bruised and battered, they left the river at Pierce Ferry." After the ranger finished the story she was quick to tell us the moral of the story...NEVER SWIM THE COLORADO RIVER. We also learned about Georgia White who was the first woman to raft the Grand Canyon and changed the way commercial rafting was done and is still done today. She was quite remarkable and innovative for her time!

After the ranger talk we made our way back to camp for dinner and BED. We were exhausted even though we took naps. We planned to do a twelve mile hike the next day and knew we needed to be up early in order to beat the heat!