As most of you know already, I hiked the Grand Canyon from
North to South rim on Saturday October 21st with my mom. My brother Aaron was
supposed to go with us, but with his recent offer to play with a California
based percussion group he wasn’t able to make it. I want to spend this post
talking about my experience during this hike, as it was an experience I’m
likely to never forget and to give an insight about what it was like.
Preparation:
I wasn’t able to train in advance as much as I would have
like to before taking on such a big hike. But between my internship, work,
school and getting ready for my photography show, by the time Sunday rolled
around for our training sessions I was pooped. We got up around 4am every
Sunday and battled different mountains around the valley but my mom’s favorite
was Piestewa Peak. Every time after battling the cruel switchbacks my step dad
liked to remind me, “just do that 4 times and you’ve hiked the Grand Canyon.”
Great.
Day before:
We left the valley around 9 with the car packed and our
fears high. I didn’t get much sleep that week leading up to it due to getting
our photo show ready to install for when I got back. I tried sleeping on the
way there but I got sucked into a good book and ended up finishing it 3 hours into
the drive. When I was finally able to shut my eyes I was quickly woken up by
mom shrieking, “Ashley! Do you want to stop here?!” I opened my eyes and was
greeted by great boulders hanging on to the edge of their small supports.
“YES!” I screamed back, which led my step dad Randy pulling over dramatically
to the right. I ripped open my new box of film and loaded the first roll into
my Yashica with my little point and shoot in my other hand. We spent about 10
minutes shooting cliché tourist pictures of us holding up the big boulders as
if they were seconds away from falling and crushing us. My mom had to urge me
back into the car, afraid we wouldn’t make it to our hotel before it got dark.
Our hotel was about an hour away from the north Kaibab trailhead,
which is where we would be starting our hike the next day. We made the hour
trek to the trailhead with the sole purpose of staking it out in advance to see
what we were in for. My mom ended up talking with a few of the hikers who were
climbing their way out. One guy was dramatically stretching his hamstrings and
bragged about how that was his sixth time hiking the Grand Canyon and he was
just waiting for his other group members to finish. We left a few minutes
later. We made it to our hotel and by this time I was extremely tired and
hangry (hungry and angry). There was only ONE restaurant within a 20 mile
radius, which to a city girl such as myself, was just straight blasphemy. I had
plans of stuffing my face with pasta and bread but their only options of entrees
were meat, meat and more meat. I went with the cheeseburger that rated at a 3
out of 10 at best. We ate at the “hotel room”, which impersonated more like a
closet with a toilet than a hotel room.
My mom had me prepare my clothes and pack for the next day.
I went with nike pro spandex, hiking pants, a pair of toe socks (prevents
blisters), wool socks, sports bra, v-neck shirt, jacket and a wind breaker. My
mom showed me the food we were taking and I instantly had a panic attack. It
could be because I’m used to having 3 solid meals a day but I had a hard time
believing that gummy bears, crackers, granola bars and beef jerky would get us
through a grueling 24 mile hike. My mom had to calm me down and explain that we
had to pack light and compact and that the food would be sufficient.
I showered. Took a Benadryl and
passed out.
Day of death:
We woke up around 3am, even
though I was already half awake. I didn’t get much sleep with the anticipation
of a 13 year old facing their first day of high school, hanging over my head. I
got dressed in all my layers, had a quick snack to calm down my butterflies,
and headed out the cabin doors. I was an hour drive from the cabin to the
trail head and I had every intention of sleeping on the way there. With a flash
of a deer running across the road and a quick swerve of the car made it
apparent it wasn’t going to happen.
We arrived at the North trailhead
and opened up our doors to a greeting of cold winds. I quickly laced up my
boots and added more layers. We walked down to the trailhead, which wasn’t too
far from the parking lot and were side to side other people getting ready to
head down the mountain. Randy took a few pictures and then we
disappeared down the trail. Within half a mile I was sweating through my
three layers and was no longer clinging on my sleeves with cold. The sun
started to come up and with it we could finally see the faces of the people we were
trailing behind in the dark. We stopped at a quick rest stop and peeled off
almost all our layers, but left on one jacket each.
3 miles down
The first 5 miles were the best
trail views I have ever seen. Just the idea of walking on the very side of a
mountain with the sun beaming off the red rock is a moment you don’t want your
camera to miss. The first 5 miles also took the longest because of this very
reason. I warned my mom ahead of time that I was bringing two cameras and a lot
of film and would be stopping frequently. I did just that. I was so captivated
by everything around me that I barely went a few steps without stopping to take
a picture. My mom had to remind me to slow down on the picture taking or I
wouldn’t have any rolls left for the rest of the trip.
Look at that view!
We crossed a lot of bridges
Just look at that
We stopped at the 5.5-mile rest
house that had a bathroom, benches and a waterspout to refill our water
bladders. I remember asking my mom, “how far have we gone?” thinking that it
had to have been at least 7 miles. My mouthed dropped when she told me 5.5,
which followed with a, “you have to be kidding me.”
We continued on our way, still
frequently stopping every now and then to take pictures, pack away exposed
film, and then reload a new roll. We stopped in some camp grounds around mile 7
to again stop by the restroom and refill our water bladders. One thing to
remember on hikes is to always refill your water when it’s presented to you,
even if your bladder isn’t that empty. Being low on water on demanding hikes as
such is just something you don’t want to come across.
Again, we continued on our way.
Around mile 9 or so our trail ended up next to a creek filled with little
rocks to big boulders that towered next to the tall mountains. At this point
the frequency of hikers started to drizzle out unlike the first few miles where
you were seeing them in floods. It was calming walking along the pebbled creek without having to stop for a hiker to pass by. We kept a good pace for about 2
miles before we had to pull over to rest. We asked hikers that passed by us how
much longer until we got to Phantom Ranch and they would say things like “it’s not too far
ahead, maybe a few miles.” Which obviously didn't help our motivation much.
My feet hurt :(
We rested, ate, stretch out our
feet for about 10 minutes and then went on our way again. We set a pace, with
me at the front, and kept that pace unless we stopped for more pictures. My feet were hurting, my legs ached and I had the vision of resting
at Phantom Ranch in my mind. I kept our pace for the last mile or so until we
reached the ranch. We walked through cabins, cabins, and more cabins until we
reached the so-called “rest stop”, which included a bathroom and a waterspout.
When you hear the words Phantom Ranch it’s easy to picture a fantastical ranch
with history and a large stream resting right up against it. But in reality, it
mimicked a Circle K gas station you would stop at on your way home from
California.
I plopped down on the dirt in
one of the corners of a cabin near by the restrooms. Took off my boots and
socks immediately. I looked over my
toes and thankfully didn’t have any blisters or raw spots. The worst pain was
on the tops of my feet. The muscles that run through my feet screamed at me in
agony. We rested for about 20 minutes and then made the decision to hike a
little bit further down to see if we could find a creek to soak our feet in.
We walked down maybe a quarter
of a mile and stumbled upon a small creek next to a tent campground. We took
off our boots again and plummeted our sore feet into the freezing cold water. My feet became to feel better as I moved
and stretched my feet among the rocks. As we were resting an older man from the
campgrounds walked up to us and asked, “you guys making your feet numb?” In
which we replied with something about our feet being sore. With a laugh he said
“well I’m going to make my whole body numb!” He took off his shoes, took a
couple steps in and sat right in the middle of the creek and let the water
rush over his face and body. I can’t imagine how cold that must have been.
Underwater camera fun!
After our feet felt better, we
reapplied Vaseline to our toes to prevent blisters, slipped on new toes socks
and then pulled a new pair of wool socks over the top. Laced up our boots and headed out
of Phantom Ranch.
When we trailed out of the ranch
we started to see a whole new environment unravel before us. We went from red
rock mountains, granite rocks, to now flat plains of desert trails and cactus.
This stretch of the hike wasn’t as captivating compared to the North run we had just witnessed. It was the same old stuff I’m use to seeing hiking trails in the
Valley. This part was also a huge blur as I mustered up most of my energy to
start the trek out of the canyon. It was getting hot as we were reaching
the late afternoon and there were long moments of hiking in the sun, rather
than the shade like the first half of the hike.
Around 4 we made it to the
suspension bridge that crosses the great Colorado River. This was the part I
was looking forward to the most because when researching this hike prior I saw people
crossing this bridge and it made me somewhat excited for the hike we were about
to face.
It was defintly an experience
walking across that bridge. First of all, it’s really narrow. I had to scoot
completely to the side to let other hikers pass by. Second, you can see through
the thing. Just look down and you’ll see the Colorado River rushing under your
feet. Oh yeah, it also moves and shifts with hikers walking across it and wind
passing through it. I stopped in the middle to take pictures of my feet
suspended over the river but started to get nauseous. I don’t have a fear of
heights but being able to see everything below your feet is something else.
We crossed over the bridge
unharmed and kept trekking up Bright Angel Trail. Remember what I said about
the environment shifting from one to another? We went from rock and desert
before crossing the bridge and now we were hiking through sand. Yep, sand. Same
texture and look to it as the beach sand in California. It’s just as hard to
walk through too. After we hiked through a half a mile of sand, I started to
feel light headed and dizzy. We had stop and sit down to rest. My mom said I
wasn’t drinking enough water and I needed to get something salty in my system.
About a liter of water and a few crackers later, we started up again.
We crossed a few streams and
hiked through a few paths before we made it to the beginning of the
switchbacks. If you don’t know what a switch back is, just pictures a zigzag
design but going straight up a mountain. They are deadly. It’s pure incline
up without any forgiveness. These switchbacks weren’t too bad and it helped
that it was “golden hour”. The sun was beginning to set and it bounced off the
red rocks, which made everything glowed around us. My mom warned me that I
better finish off my rolls of film before it got too dark, and that we needed
to start booking it before it got dark.
What switchbacks look like
Ah, switchbacks!!
We crossed over this waterfall
about halfway up the switchbacks and had about 2 miles or so until we were in
Indian Gardens. At one point we stopped in the middle of the trail to catch our
breath and replenish our electrolytes. As we were resting an older man with a
distinctive Australian accent crossed our paths and asked us if we had any
extra electrolytes we could give him. My mom struck up a
conversation with him and he told us how he was doing an R3, which is rim, to rim then back to the rim to finish it off. He had started at the South Rim, hiked to the North Rim
and then was now completing his hike back to the South Rim. Crazy man. But then
again he wasn’t the only person we met that was also doing an R3. We met a
woman within the first few miles of the hike that was by herself, but then met
her again by Indian Gardens and told us she was also completing an R3. Which
naturally made us feel pathetic because they were doing twice the amount that
we were doing, yet were completing it before us. I got discouraged at first
knowing this, but had to think that these people train for this type of hike
and don’t stop every 5 seconds to take a picture.
The man went on his way and we
started up again. The environment changed as soon as we turned the corner. Huge
trees that stretched through the sky and hung over our heads surrounded us. We
had a stream flowing downhill on our right side and cool wind blowing against
us.
Switchbacks
Crossing a creek
Hiking up the switchbacks
Almost to Indian Gardens
It got dark fast. Not a gradual
dark where you can remember the sun peaking behind the mountain and then slowly
disappearing completely. It turned black as fast as I blink my eyes. We made it
to Indian Gardens just as the blackness of the night greeted us. I didn’t have
any water and felt the dryness in my mouth. I filled up my bladder and chugged
down about a liter worth of water. We rested for about 15 minutes before
collecting our thoughts and regaining our hope.
The last 5 miles were the
hardest 5 miles of my life.
Let me change that. The last 3
miles were the hardest 3 miles of my life.
Sign says, Warning DO NOT attempt to hike from Rim to Rim all in one day
It was pitch black with the
stars as our only glimmer of hope. But I’m glad for the darkness. While it was
frightening, it kept me blind from how much farther we still had left. My feet
hurt. My legs hurt. My right knee started to go out. My hips ached. I was
thirsty all the time. My stomach grumbled.
We reached the 1.5 rest house.
While we only had a mile and half left, the shadow of the mountain hung over
our heads, wrapping us up like a blanket. How in the world would we get from this
point, to all the way up there? It seemed completely impossible. The last 1.5
miles took us an hour. I could walk a 1.5 in 20 minutes easily if it weren’t
for my body slowly failing on me. My mind was sharp, determined to make it out.
But my body was literally telling me to stop. You can’t do this. You’re not
going to make it. Every step there was pain shooting up into the rest of my
body. My right knee popped every time I had to bend it to climb over a big
step. I clung to the side of the mountain, not wanting to take a misstep. I had
to get after my mom a few times for hiking too close to the side. Step, after
step, after step. We have to be close, we just have to be, at least that’s what
I kept telling myself. It’s funny how your mind plays tricks on you when are
clinging to an ounce of hope. One second I heard myself saying, “You can do it,
you’re almost there,” from “It’s impossible, there is no way.” Just keep going…
Switch back to the right, switch
to the left, switch to the right. Half a mile left. Quarter of a mile left. I
heard someone yell in the distance. “Is that Randy?” I heard it again! We ARE
close. I can feel it. Keep going, push through the pain, and don’t stop. I
could see the light of the poles at the entrance of the South trailhead just up
ahead. With the finish line just up ahead, my mom had to stop to take a breath.
We inhaled and exhaled. A few more steps. Almost there.
I can’t even try to express the
emotions that flooded over me when we took those last few steps out of the mountain.
Relieved. Grateful. Thrilled. Followed by me saying, “never, ever, again.”
Randy took a few snapshots of us
in front to the South Trailhead sign. We hobbled over to the restrooms where I
finally got to sit down on a bench rather than a rock like I was accustomed to
that day. The cold winds greeted me and I started to shiver. My mom came out of
the restroom and we slowly walked over to the car, which seemed like a mile
away. We threw our stuff in. I sat down. “We did it, “ I breathed.
We made it!
Can you tell we just hiked 24 miles?
