M - Hike the Grand Canyon - Vol. 1

WOW...what an experience! Hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon ranks right up there as one of the coolest and most memorable things I've ever done.


Here is a picture of my stuff as I packed it all before we left for the trip. The total weight without water was 23 pounds. The pack alone was only 3 pounds and the food, as a total, was the second heaviest packed item except for the near 8 pounds of water!


We flew into Phoenix on a 0635 flight arriving on-time at 0700hrs. We later realized that, if one were inclined, he could fly into Phoenix on this early flight and be at the bottom of the canyon that same night. We flew in on a Sunday and went to church that morning in beautiful Sedona, AZ. It is truly an incredible place but unfortunately I also managed to acquire an INCREDIBLE headache that put a bit of a damper on things. But all was manageable and we had a great breakfast at a little cafe before church. Sedona is very much a city of 'spiritual enlightenment' and you could see it all over the place. If you need a psychic, meditation coach, or crystals to do whatever you do with crystals...this is the place. We were blessed to find the church we did. I'm glad they took the time to assemble a website. This is how we found out about them. There were about 25 people in attendance at the tiny church and twelve were visitors like us. Carson Patterson is the preacher there and it was a pleasure to meet him.

If you decide to visit the park, I'd highly recommend going early. The lines that form are VERY long and can leave you with a long hike before you even see the canyon itself.

When I first saw the edge of the canyon from the car, I couldn't believe it. I mean, I knew it was big..and deep...but good grief! It was gorgeous and a bit hard to comprehend. Once we got checked in to our room we unpacked and preliminarily started getting things ready for the next morning. Ted and I were keeping our eye on the clock though because we really wanted to see the sunset over the canyon. As soon as we could head that way we made the short hike to the common overlook areas by some lodges and restaurants. We also wanted to find the pick-up point for the 'hiker's express' early shuttle.

Here is a view from the top. As you can see, there are LOTS of places to FALL into the canyon. I'll cover that topic on a later post.


Getting the gear ready for an early departure the next morning.


The next morning we had an early breakfast, caught the second hiker's express that ran about 0630 or 0700 (which we almost missed because we were waiting in the wrong location), and hit the trailhead just after sunup. I have to share one quote from breakfast. There was a pasty white skinny fellow with a scraggly beard behind the breakfast buffet counter. He didn't seem too impressed with the breakfast the cooks had managed that morning. He commented on everything from the eggs to the bacon. But this he had to say about the gravy: "That gravy is whiter than I am after a long winter."

It was WINDY(!) and quite chilly at the top. I was talking to a British gentleman that felt the need to comment on the flag I attached to my backpack. He said I didn't really need to carry it and plant it at the bottom because it has already been discovered and claimed for America! Oh well, he was a chatty chap and seemed to be enjoying himself.



























Next up......the 6.9 mile (5,000 ft vertical drop) begins....................