Grand Canyon Rim to Rim ~ They Did It!!

Today started really early for Les and Lance.  They spent last night at the Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim.  I received at text at 5:43 a.m. saying, "Heading out!"  Another text came in that said, "12:17 at Phantom Ranch."  The trail from the North Rim to Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon is approximately 14 miles.  Of course cell reception is almost non-existent and trying to follow them on Life360 didn't do much, but as they got closer to the top at the South Rim, I got occasional updates.

In case you're wondering, that distance is slightly more than a marathon! I'm so proud of them!  And very thankful that they finished without injury.  I don't have any pictures from their hike yet, but Les did send this one:

"6000 feet of climbing and I have to go up these to get to my room."

(Somewhat) Wordless Wednesday

 

Les and Lance will be hiking the Grand Canyon three weeks from today.  I have been training with Les and he is doing amazing!  Yesterday was his longest training hike - 20 miles!  The trail was 10 miles one way and we had parked a car at each trailhead.  I did the first 10 miles with him, then after he refilled his Camelbak, he turned around for 10 more and I headed home.

Because Les had meetings that started at 11:00, we were up a little before 3:30 and on the trail by 4:30.  It was completely dark for more than an hour, but our lights did a fantastic job.  We were at the highest point of the trail when we started seeing the sunrise.

It was a beautiful morning, about 60 degrees when we started out

Grand Just Doesn't Seem Like Enough

The word "grand" just doesn't seem to be enough to describe the Grand Canyon, until you look a little closer at the definition of the word:

1.

  magnificent and imposing in appearance, size, or style.

2.

  denoting the largest or most important item of its kind.

 

It really is the Grand Canyon, magnificent and imposing and the largest item of its kind!

 

I don't know why it's taken me so long to blog about the Grand Canyon.  It's such an amazing place.  It's so hard to describe and the magnitude just can't be captured in pictures.  With over 1.2 million acres, it's impossible to see it all.

 

We drove from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  Traffic wasn't bad and the park didn't seem to be too crowded.  We knew we wanted to hike the South Kaibab Trail, so we found the shuttle bus that would take us to the correct trailhead. 

The only time we wore our masks was when we were at the Visitor Center and in the shuttle bus.  We did see some people wearing masks while hiking, but it was not a requirement.  There was always plenty of space to pass people and we felt safe without them.

 

My purple hiking poles really came in handy!  I felt so much safer when I needed to take a big step.

It is just under a mile to the first point of interest - the Ooh-Aah Point.  We had many ooh-aah moments before that!  Just past the 1.5 mile mark is Cedar Ridge, described as "Good turn-a-round for first time canyon hikes, casual hikers, and late starters. Restrooms."  A group of mules was on its way up.   After hanging out there for a while we decided that was far enough for the day since we were both late starters and casual hikers.

Yes, I color coordinated my hiking gear!  My Camelbak (also purple) had plenty of water and lots of pockets for snacks and places to store my gloves once I warmed up.

We really took our time.  Les would get a bit ahead of me, stop to take pictures until I caught up, then we'd keep going.

It's so amazing and stopping to just look is also a great way to catch your breath.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day.  Not a cloud in the sky.

Our total hike was 3.6 miles with over 1,400 feet of elevation gain (and loss.)  It took us just under two hours of moving time, but about three and a half hours of total elapsed time.  That's a lot of photo stops!

The Grand Canyon is definitely a bucket list item!  If you plan way in advance, you can actually hike to the bottom, spend the night at Phantom Ranch, then hike out the next day.  We did that about 25 years ago with Les' parents and his brother and sister-in-law.  It was an incredible trip.

 

 

Even if you only get a few hours, it's worth it to explore this majestic place!