2007 Grand Canyon Adventure :: Day 3

Today we began the hike. Although we had set the alarms for 5:15 to catch a 6am shuttle to the trail, I believe that each of us was up much earlier with the anticipation of starting. It was cool in the morning and we drove to the Backcountry Office, parked the car, and caught the 5:45am hiker shuttle bus to the South Kaibab trailhead where we started the hike by 6:15. It was an incredible hike and incredible day. A year ago I had started the hike by going to the trailhead with my father and uncle. It was a memory that I cherish and wished that they were with me this morning. Our first rest stop on the hike today was Ohh Ahh Point. In June, when I came out here with my father to get the permit, we hiked to to this point which is .8 miles down into the canyon. I admire my fathers determination and courage. Most people of his age would not consider such a hike. I know that he dreams of going further into the canyon and I hope that one day he does.

The hike into the canyon on the Kaibab is steep, with magnificent panoramic views almost the entire way. In the early morning we were in the shade and by mid morning we were in a warm but pleasant sunshine. Dave asked a man backpacking up how he was doing and he said that he had just spent 7 days in the backcountry. When Dave asked him how it was he said, "magical," as he continued on up the trail. Although describing the Grand Canyon with words is difficult, I believe that magical is a good word. It is a special place that represents different things to different people. To me, it represents a scale of time that helps me to put my own life into perspective. It is a landscape that is unfamiliar but somehow strangely very familiar. I sometimes wonder if we are genetically coded to remember the ancient landscapes where life on earth began. In the canyon, with every step you pass through time itself. Sometimes, in the sound of the canyon winds, you can almost remember a different world that existed long ago. It is perhaps a fleeting glimpse into the primordial pool of earth and water that formed the beginning elements of God's creations on this planet.

Today was a warm, cloudless, blue sky day. Each of us is carrying packs that weigh about 50lbs that includes all of our food, clothing and shelter to last for seven days in the backcountry of the canyon. Under the extra weight the heat becomes relentless, and the need to stay properly hydrated in the desert sun is essential. Because the dry desert air keeps you from visibly sweating, we have developed a routine of reminding each other to drink from our Camelbacks on a regular basis. I believe that we are quickly developing a team approach to the hike and that is what we need to accomplish this challenge together.

On the way down we met several National Park Rangers who were interested to hear about our hike and commented on Scott's resemblance to George Clooney. They also were amused that three of us had on orange UnderAmour shirts. The apparel selection was completely coincidental but humorous.

A year ago, my hike down the South Kaibab was in late October and I only encountered several people on my way into the canyon. Today, we encountered a number of people and were amazed by the diversity of the hikers. While we did not meet anyone attempting a rim to rim to rim hike, we did meet people hiking to different places. Most of them however were going from the South Rim to Phantom Ranch and back, which is in itself a spectacular hike. One woman hiking down was from Spain and spoke no English. We spoke for some time about the courage that it would take to do that.

We arrived at the Bright Angel Campground at around 2:30 p.m. and set up our camp. We hiked to Phantom Ranch which has a small cantina and is the only provider of beer and wine in the canyon. After a few beers we hiked back to our camp, made dinner and spent a great deal of time staring up at the stars. At the bottom of the canyon, the lack of any ambient light provides a magnificently brilliant sky. The stars are so visible that they look like clouds of sparkling lights. We were exhausted and too tired to do anything else but crawl into our tents and sleep. I have kept the outer fly off of the tent so that whenever I wake throughout the night I can look up at the sky.