Reflections of My Travel

After the worse flight of my life last night – three straight hours of banshee shrieking and tantrum kicking the back of my seat – we made it to Phoenix. We woke early this morning, thanks to a wrong number call at 05:00, and started our vacation. A nice hot breakfast at the hotel and some last minute shopping at REI and we were on our way to meet up with our friends Sylvis and Peach just south of the Grand Canyon. The drive wasn’t bad but we took our time and made stops for shopping and lunch before finally making it to the hotel where they were already waiting on us. We spent a few hours catching up, gathering and packing our hiking gear, and then went out for a nice steak dinner. Tomorrow is going to be a big, exciting day!

change of scenery from the beach at home

I was up and ready to go this morning. After years of wanting to hike the Grand Canyon, I was so excited to get started. We had an hour drive and we stopped along the way for a hearty Denny’s breakfast, our last real meal for the next two and a half days. When we finally arrived at the canyon, we toured the rim a bit and made one last shopping stop.

first look into the canyon

hubby, peach, and sylvis a the rim

hubby and i ready to begin our trek

At last, we caught the shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead and started our descent into the canyon around 13:00.

south kaibab trailhead

view from the start of the trail

I was still a bit anxious when we started. I knew I could do it but I just didn’t know what lay ahead of me and I was a bit nervous.  I had heard that the trail could get scary. I have a history of freaking out on extremely narrow, two-sided-fall trails. I was led to believe that this trail could be like that in places. It was not. It was, however, a very downhill trail. By that I mean that there was steepness the ENTIRE way. There were not stretches of level ground with steps between – there were steps or steep declines and switchbacks all the way down.

looking down at the first of many switchbacks

looking back up at that same set of switchbacks, nearly invisible in the cliff-face

a little trail and a lot of view

Also , I have never done any packing. I started the trek this morning carrying 25 extra pounds of supplies and equipment. I was unsure how my legs, back, and shoulders would adjust to this extra stress.

out of sequence but here's me showing off my awesome pack

By the end of it, my two big toes (not to mention my broken fourth toe) were killing me. But the views… the views were incredible.

panoramic views

me, hubby, canyon

hubby in nature

our first view of the river!

twisty turny trail

hubby taking it in

desert blooms - this is one of many photos taken by peach with my little d10 after his very nice SLR died

vista

getting into the red earth

lean on me

crazy swedes passing hubby as they RUN the trail (by peach)

the river, in all its silty glory

monoliths (by peach)

hubby and me (by peach)

red rock (by peach)

And the hike was wonderful. It has been so long since we really did any hiking that I had almost forgotten how enjoyable it really is. I LOVE hiking. Even toward the bottom, when my toes had started throbbing, I had a huge smile on my face and was enjoying every minute of it. Although, I will admit to being overjoyed at the sight of the black bridge, which I knew to be the end-marker of our descent and the gateway to our end-point.

first view of black bridge - the end is in sight

more river views

zoom-in on the above shot showing the silver bridge and some mule corrals

getting closer to black bridge and the end of this crazy descent

panorama (by peach)

Once we crossed the bridge, it was fairly level ground and only a ten or fifteen minute walk to the Bright Angel campground.

hubby at the mouth of the bridge tunnel - smiling because there's no more downhill!

view of silver bridge taken from black bridge

enter black bridge (by peach)

sylvis and hubby and me coming out of the tunnel (by peach)

peach, sylvis, me, hubby at black bridge

fleur de cactus

We found a campsite and settled in. 

peach busting out the tools to set up camp

hubby building shelter

sylvis and me guarding home and hearth

My toes were thrilled to get out of my boots and into some comfy flip-flops – what can I say, they are beach feet! 

drying and airing out the socks and boots

Peach cooked dinner (Mountain House lasagna for hubby and I – a surprisingly tasty meal), which we took with us to the ranger program up at Phantom Ranch where we learned all about the CCC and the improvements that they made to the canyon. When we returned to our campsite, we shared a dark chocolate cheesecake dessert (basically just chocolate pudding with toffee crumbles, no cheesecake flavor) before calling it a night.

Last night was amazing. Lying in our tent, we had a full view of more stars than I’ve ever seen and the sound of the river was reminiscent of the waves back home. Of course, I didn’t sleep much. While the bedrolls were very light to carry, they were no match for an air mattress when it comes to comfort. It was hardly better than lying on the bare ground. I also had a lot of throbbing in my big toes and the weight of the (super-light) sleeping bag on them was nearly unbearable. All small costs for such a great experience. This morning, hubby and I were up at first daybreak.

what's the story, morning glory?

He got up and went wandering around the campground and I soon joined him.

view from our tent

sun rising over the colorado

hubby on the bridge to phantom ranch

shadow us!

A couple hours later, Sylvis and Peach woke and we started the breakfast (oatmeal) and camp break-down processes. Close to noon, we started our ascent of Bright Angel trail.

view from the river trail

hubby before silver bridge

sylvis crossing silver bridge

crossing the colorado

The bottom, river portion of the trail was wonderfully level.

looking back over the silver bridge

It didn’t take long, however, before we reached some very mild inclines which were, unfortunately, followed by declines. Ugh! My legs and toes are DONE with the downhill motion. There was way more of it in the lower portion of this trail than I would have liked.

peach holding up a pebble

"oooh, a cave! let's see what's hungry!"

It was also much hotter than I would have liked today. I actually ran out of water (2 liter bladder) about a mile before reaching Indian Garden. Not to worry - hubby (and Peach and Sylvis) had plenty if I had needed it, I must just be more hydration-needy than others. And I was sure that I was evaporating in that heat.

soak up the sun

flutterby!

The trail was nice though in that it mostly ran along a creek that provided scenery and pleasant sound

sylvis beside a small cascade in the creek

there were several fords along the trail

crevices of greenery

Despite the heat and lack of shade and steep climb, it was a great hike.

lazy hikers

a peek of the trail we've already trodden

 While my legs and toes were much happier to be going uphill, it was still very tiring. Especially in the heat.

the devil's corkscrew

zoom on devil's corkscrew (by peach)

view (by peach)

been out of water a little bit but surely a flowering tree must mean we're close to indian garden, right?

another sign of garden

lush cascade area

waterfall

there are so many different textures in the canyon

But seeing this sign was such a welcome sight.  Not only is it the ONLY sign we’ve seen in two days, but it means that we have arrived at our destination du jour! 

from whence we've come and to where we're going

obligatory self-portrait

It was wonderful to reach the campground and get out my boots again!

indian garden campground/rest area

ribbit!

colorful rock around indian gardens

After setting up camp and resting and snacking a bit, we considered going another three miles to see Plateau Point. We walked just a little bit of it, to the first turn where there was a view,

wide open spaces

me and my hubby

before deciding to head back to camp.

you lookin' at me?!

a beautiful tree

doe, a deer, a female deer...

First, I was in flip-flops. Second, we were putting in enough miles without adding to it. Third, hubby has been to Plateau Point before and suggested that if we had just done a day-hike from the rim and were not going any further, it was absolutely a must but since we had already been to the river, it would be nothing new or spectacular. Sold! We returned to our campsite and ate dinner (Mountain House Teriyaki Chicken and Rice for hubby and I – I preferred last night’s lasagna but not because this was not good, I’m just more of an Italian girl than Asian) and dessert (Mountain House Chocolate Strawberry Crunch – same as last night: chocolate pudding with flavored chunks).

home sweet home, for the night

sylvis baking dessert

peach slaving over a hot stove

We plan on getting a much earlier start tomorrow so that we can get out of the canyon before it gets too hot.