The Grand Canyon

[SteveO]

Kinda sounds similar to what we saw last weekend. The area seemed a lot greener after the rain came and went.

GoFalls seems like an appropriate name for you. Always an adventure!!

We need more pictures. The ones that you attached were still very early in your hike. Did you get any looking up at the south rim? Very daunting reality when you see that from Phantom Ranch.

Where did you end up passing the group at? Did you finish during daylight? I see that you got by on about 2500 calories. Maybe a bit more. I found that nutrition had to be forced down. It was tough to eat those bars all day. I did not feel hungry but realized the calories were necessary.

That marshy area going down the north side at the point that the trail levels must have been pretty soggy. Sort of limits some of the trail options. Of course you don't realize that until you find the water. :smx4:

 

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[SteveO]

Hey Bio,

Keep that helmet cam going for us. It is very stylish. :banana:

Say "hi" to my goat friends while you are there.

Are you going down Bright Angel Trail? If so, go early enough that you don't have to move out of the mule train's path.

Do you have them fancy hiking poles like gofalls? They will come in handy!

 

[gofalls]

We ended up getting dropped off and had another party pick us up on the other rim, no car swapping was needed. We camped on the North and started at 6am and finished around 4pm. At 5am it was 28 degrees in my tent and at 11am it was 92 degrees at Phantom Ranch.

The rain got so bad that almost every step up the South Rim switchbacks was a puddle with 2 inches of coffee mud and mule poo.

Cliff Bar has some new flavors. They are pretty good and I can eat them all day. Apricot and Blueberry I eat them like candy.

Photo is looking up the South rim. You can see the top way way up there. I think it was about 6 miles to go at this point.

 

[365]

I have been on a rafting tour in the Grand Canyon in 2001 with my Dad. That was an awesome experience.. still have the pictures of these colorful canyon walls in my head.

Great pictures, Steve! I would love to do such a tour one day

 

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[biophase]

View attachment 1223

Hey Bio,

Keep that helmet cam going for us. It is very stylish. :banana:

Say "hi" to my goat friends while you are there.

Are you going down Bright Angel Trail? If so, go early enough that you don't have to move out of the mule train's path.

Do you have them fancy hiking poles like gofalls? They will come in handy!

Getting those poles this weekend. Going to hike Camelback a few times when its over 100 next week just to get into shape.

I'm pumped now after seeing your photos Derek. Can't wait to go.

Here are 2 pics of SteveO from last weekend.

 

[SteveO]

Yeah, that helmet cam...

That canyon trip was a blast. Thanks for taking us along!

Not the Grand Canyon, but a fun one nonetheless.

 

[gofalls]

Salome Jug is a good one - If you guys like that stuff I know of a "secret place" we call the Toilet Bowl that is like Salome Jug but there is much more jumping invloved. Let me know and we can plan it.

 

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[biophase]

So I guess I am hiking north rim to south rim next week. We are parking at the South rim, taking a shuttle to the North rim. Then camping at Cottonwood Camp for 1 night, then camping at Indian Garden the next night and then hiking out. Seems like a leisurely 3 days.

Question: Is there cell phone reception at the bottom anywhere?

 

[gofalls]

Question: Is there cell phone reception at the bottom anywhere?

There is a payphone at Phantom Ranch and I was receiving calls about half way up the South Rim with ATT.

 

[biophase]

I just got back from my 3 day Grand Canyon trip. We parked at the south rim by Bright Angel lodge and took a shuttle to the north rim. We stayed in the lodge for the night and ate at the restaurant which was pretty good. I snapped the first photo of the amazing view from the restaurant window.

We hiked down the north rim (3rd photo) to Cottonwood and camped there the 1st night. We took a side venture to Ribbon falls which is really pretty.

The second day we hiked to Phantom Ranch which really is anything. I guess I expected something better. We hiked to the Colorado river (5th photo) and took a 2 hour nap at the little beach. (2nd photo) Then we hiked to Indian Garden. The switchbacks to Indian Garden was the toughest part of the trip. It was a really long 3 miles.

The third day we hiked Indian Garden to the south rim which wasn't that bad at all, mainly because it was drizzling and cloudy.

The good news is that the weather was great. It was 60 at the top of the south rim and 95 at Cottonwood when we arrived at noon. The next day the clouds came in and it was probably 70 degrees and overcast when we got to Phantom at 10am. At the Colorado river we were able to nap for 2 hours without feeling hot or cold.

Rim to rim is a tough venture. I can't imagine doing rim to rim to rim. We each had 30lb backpacks during the entire way. Downhill and uphill were both killers. Flat ground was the only easy ground to hike on.

The Grand Canyon did not look like how any of us expected it to look. We picture a wide open flat area at the bottom with a river in the middle. Instead it was a narrow canyon which never opened up. I guess it makes sense when you think about it.

 

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[Russ H]

Great stuff, guys.

Thanks for sharing.

I guess the most amazing thing for me about the Grand Canyon was-- no picture I've ever seen comes close to conveying the sheer scale and sense of awe you get when there (but I do appreciate the pics-- don't get me wrong!).

I just remember looking at it, and thinking I'd have to really remember what I was experiencing-- 'cause there was no recording medium that could do it justice.

We took a helicopter ride (before 9/11). For some reason, after 9/11, operators were not allowed to do as many things (go below the rim, close to the walls, etc). Not exactly sure why.

But it was a gas--- and I'm glad I did it.

As for a rim to rim hike?

I'd have to be in much better shape.

Ironically, 10 years ago, when I was talking about knee replacements w/my doc, and he asked what was the worst thing I could do to my knees (so he'd have an idea of what I put my knees through), a Grand Canyon rim to rim hike was what I mentioned.

He didn't think it was such a hot idea, but he didn't rule it out, either (he's a sports med guy-- he 'gets it').

-Russ H.

 

[SteveO]

The Canyon is like a giant beast. You know the challenge that lies ahead but there are so many unknowns. The risk that something could go wrong is high. I have had friends (that damn running crowd) that have twisted ankles and had to hike out. One group had a female get seperated and hiked up south Kaibab instead of Bright Angel. The group was frantic for hours. No way to communicate and find out where she was. She had no idea where she was going until she got to the top. A ranger had to drive her to her group.

But, once you have done it... the beast is conquered!

 

[SteveO]

btw... My favorite hike was Mount Whitney. Not quite the same challenge, but still not easy to hike up to 14,500 feet in elevation. I have a story on this one that had some fun events.

When you stand at the bottom and look up, there is no way to imagine the trip ahead. Right out of a story book!

Perhaps this would be something that all us crazies could do for fun. Seems like most of my trips have some form of drama attached.

 

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[SteveO]

I agree with you Russ. The sheer magnitude cannot be captured with a camera.

 

[max momo]

That was great seeing a Grand Canyon post!

I hiked it for the first time this April, the first week. We hiked down the Tanner Trail and camped at Tanner Rapids on the Colorado River.

The park service does not maintain the Tanner trail. It was originally built by a prospector who improved a fairly gnarly Anazasi route.

We then hiked along the Escalante Route for three days (the park service calls it a route, not a trail, since you need to do some path-finding and a little bit of scrambling along the way).

Took our time coming up the Grandview Route over two days. I stayed the night inside Page mine.

We were gone five nights and six days.
We had to carry water on days 1, 5 and 6 so our packs weighed up to 47 pounds!

Due to years of backpacking, my knees are no longer in shape to jog that kind of terrain – but I can still slog it out.

Along the Escalante Route we saw only three other hikers in three days. I was amazed by the lack of people hiking down there (not counting a few raft groups on the river).

My friends and I speculated just what percentage of the American public could even do that hike. We guessed less than 20%.

Just two weeks ago I went back to Az, the Arizona trip (that part of the state btw the GC and UT border). Went to the N. rim for the first time –Kelly Point - by car. The weather was incredibly bad. But now I know the way I would like to hike down to the Canyon form the north rim.

Thanks for your pictures, hard to capture the essence – that is for sure!

 

[biophase]

Great stuff, guys.

As for a rim to rim hike?

I'd have to be in much better shape.

-Russ H.

I'm sure you could make it if you trained for a few months and carried a light pack. There were plenty of other people doing the rim to rim hike in a few days. I just read a story yesterday about an 84 year old guy who did the rim to rim in a day! Looking back, it's not a really hard hike if you plan correctly and take your time.

As with any challenging type of vacation, you wonder why you do it while you are there. I was tired, hot, sticky, hungry and just plodding along for miles. While I was hiking I was telling myself that I wouldn't be hiking or camping here again, but after a week I'm thinking that I wouldn't mind going back. After all, for me its a 4 hour drive. That's a day worths of LA traffic!

 

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[Russ H]

Good points, Bio.

I haven't crossed it off my list of "wanna dos", but you need to know that for 25+ years (from the time I was 15 or so, until I was about 40), I took stairs 3 at a time going up and-- going down-- grabbed one or both of the handrails and vaulted from landing to landing (never touched a stair). It was fun!

A bit bizarre, but I only did it when there weren't a lot of folks around (which was a LOT in the 70s 80s and 90s-- people never took stairs when there's an elevator!)

Did the entire Washington Monument this way-- never touched a step on the way down-- just vaulted from landing to landing, using my hands to glide down the hand rails (897 steps!).

People would sometimes see me and say, "Doesn't that kill your knees?"

And I'd laugh and say, "No, it feels great!"

When I hit 40, all of a sudden my knees started hurting.

I went to a local sports med doc (worked on all the 49er football players), and, after a few tests, he sat me down and said, "What in the world did you do to your knees?!"

I told him.

He nodded, and told me I was going to need new knees, sooner or later. And that given today's technology (it was ~1999/2000), that I'd only be able to get 2 sets of knees (my bones wouldn't take more than that).

So he suggested I do everything possible to put off that first knee replacement-- b/c once I had it, the clock was ticking for the 2nd set.

So that's what I did.

Stopped running completely (that sucked).

Stopped doing the crazy stair vaulting.

Took stairs one at a time, both feet to one stair (like an 80 year old guy), to reduce the pain. Did this for almost 2 years, since doing any stairs were hugely painful.

Used my upper body when I could to reduce the stress on my knees.

Took drugs (but hated that-- only did it to be able to walk). Stopped taking them as soon as I could walk without them.

Put on lots of weight. I'd always used exercise to keep fit-- now I have to watch what I eat more (and this is a skill I have yet to get good at, but I continue to work at it).

Biggest pain killer: Started wearing shorts. Any pressure/touching of my knees puts me in intense pain, so wearing shorts was a PERFECT way to eliminate the pressure on my knees. Sure, I look dopey wearing shorts in winter (esp when I visited Michigan w/snow on the ground), but looking stupid pales in comparison to buying a little more time on my knees.

So I literally wear shorts 365 days a year. Living in Northern CA, I can get away w/this and not look too goofy!

You guys have actually seen me wearing long pants-- I do it about once or twice a year, for a special event. Both of the RK cocktail parties I wore long pants, for a few hours. Those were the only times I wore long pants, for those years.

This year, I wore long pants when I visited the Magic Castle in LA (dress code).

The rest of the time, I've worn shorts.

Kooky, eh?

So that's the reason I've put off the Grand Canyon hike (and lost my best friend for weight management-- biking and running). I can still walk (and do a little hiking, for 2-3 hours, say once a week). But on these knees, I risk messing them up too much if I push it more.

I'm due to get a follow up at my doc's in the next year to see how my knees are doing-- I have very little pain right now, and I'm on my feet (walking) constantly. I also do the stairs at the new B&B project about 10x a day (2 floors = 24' each way, up and down).

So I figure I'm doing better.

I know my weight gain is no good for my knees-- and that's the next thing I'll be working on. Reducing my gut means less impact w/every step.

I will do a Grand Canyon hike. Not sure if it'll be rim to rim, but we'll see how these knees do!

-Russ H.

 

[AroundTheWorld]

I'm sure you could make it if you trained for a few months....

Agree! I've recently decided that I need to get fit again. I used to be very athletic, but in the last 10 years I've let myself go... and it has really caught up with me in just the last couple of years.

So, I decided to do something about it. Got a few things in the works:

1) Training for a 1/2 marathon in late summer. Maybe after that, I'll keep training for a full marathon.

2) Biking the Trail of the Coeur d"Alenes in early fall. This is a 72+ bike trail that goes all the way across the Idaho panhandle. Doing it w/ the whole family, so we will take a couple of days and camp along the way.

3) Hiking a portion of the Continental Divide trail. We will start in the US (Glacier Park) and hike into the back country. Come out the other side in Canada! How is that for a border crossing? This will also be a family trip, so we will take about 5 days to get it done.

I'm so excited about all of these things.... it is so fun to have these "unusual" vacations. WAY better than sitting walking through the next tourist trap! It is so cool to have these experiences w/ the kids too. What great memories for them This is what living is all about.

 

[SteveO]

Dredging up these old posts are fun. My wife and I will be rafting down the river with Bio in a couple of months. The trip ends with a hike out of the canyon at Bright Angel. That is a lot of hike at the end of a rafting trip.

 

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