A Most Inspiring Hole, Grand Canyon National Park
April 29th-May 4th
The drive from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon was across a flat plateau and relatively uneventful except for the views of snow-capped San Francisco Mountains behind us. There was no hint of what was to come. We entered the park fairly quickly. This was my first visit to the Grand Canyon and Fabien’s second. He came with his parents on a family trip when he was around 11 years old. The number of entrance booths hint to the popularity of the park- more than 5 million visitors annually, but even though it was a Friday afternoon, there weren’t too many tourists. We were amazed at how rustic the campground felt. There were elk feeding (on plants) in the campsite next to us when we arrived. Maybe we could enjoy nature among millions of other people. Then it was time to see what all of the fuss was about. We drove up to Grand Canyon Village and ventured out to the rim to see the amazing geologic wonder below. I felt like I was staring at a painting. The layers of color on the north rim blended in to the perfect blue sky below and continued for hundreds (more accurately thousands of feet) below. Even from behind a stone wall, I felt a sense of vertigo staring down into the vastness .I couldn’t bear to watch as a man propped his 5-year old daughter up on the wall to take an unobstructed picture of her. How many of the people who fall in to the hole each year are children with stupid parents?
Being on an extended trip, we have the luxury of not being on a fixed schedule. As the weather was deteriorating- it was cold and windy at the top of the south rim- the ranger recommended delaying our backcountry adventure into the canyon until the weather improved. We decided to spend two full days exploring the rim. The first day we did the Rim Trail on foot. We started at “Hermit’s Rest,” a beautiful historical stone building that houses a charming cafe and gift shop. A shuttle bus (like the ones you find in the parking lot at Disney World) runs the route continuously, limiting the vehicular traffic. We took our time on the rim, enjoying the ever-changing vistas and reading the information panels which told about the history, the geology and the wildlife. Some interesting and surprising things we learned- they mined uranium in the Grand Canyon in the 1950s; the California condor, an endangered species, was reintroduced in to the GC with impressive success; and the many layers of rock visible on the north rim represent half of the earth’s history. Staring at that for a few days will give you conflicting feelings of empowerment and insignificance. What we weren’t prepared for was the drastic drop in temperature; it was around 50F during the day and 24F at night. Still motivated by the awe-inspiring hole, we packed a picnic dinner and went watch the sunset. We were surrounded by other enthusiastic tourists speaking a myriad of foreign languages- some of them were in shorts and t-shirt. The expression of wonder and dazzle was frozen on our faces, so we took advantage of the evening ranger’s program in a nice heated auditorium. It was an interesting lecture on the climate and weather of the Grand Canyon. We learned about the monsoon which brings heavy thunderstorms in the summer. We also learned that this was an unusually cold May. No kidding! After the ranger program, it was time for bed. We were dressed for the slopes- in hat, scarf and gloves. Fabien looked like the wolf dressed as Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother all snuggled tight in his mummy bag.
We were inspired by the Ranger Program on Saturday, so we went again on Sunday night, once again to escape the cold. We had snow flurries Sunday afternoon while we were relaxing at the campground. I ended up relaxing in the car on the phone with my mom. The Sunday program was a lecture about mountain lions, and the ranger was excellent- inspired and inspiring. She reminded us that the most dangerous animal in the park is the human. How many times have we seen people breaking the rules in front of the sign posts? Fabien and I have made a huge effort on this trip to follow the principle of “leave no trace.” Some things are so easy, like packing out your trash and not feeding the animals, yet so many people continue to break the rules. The evening ended on a very strange note. One of the audience stood up and told us that Osama bin Laden had been killed. We walked back to the campground by the light of our headlamps with a strange sense of uneasiness and got back into our ski get-up for another night of sub-freezing temperatures.
We were up bright and early on Monday ready for our trek into the canyon. We quickly packed up camp and repacked our backpacks for two nights at the bottom. We parked our car at the backcountry office and caught a shuttle bus to the trailhead of the South Kaibab Trail. We had chosen to descend on the South Kaibab Trail and ascend on the Bright Angel Trail. It is the most popular overnight trek to do in the canyon and very scenic. From the trailhead to the Bright Angel Campground at the bottom, it is 7 miles with a 4780ft elevation drop. We took about 5 hours to descend with a nice long lunch break and lots of picture stops. The views were spectacular as we wound our way down, each turn giving us a new glimpse of a part of the canyon. My adrenaline started pumping as soon as we could see and hear the river. Unfortunately, my feet were suffering at the same time. The constant pounding on my heels and toes, exacerbated by the weight of my pack, left me with large blisters. I hobbled over the suspension bridge and to the campground. There were rafters camping out on the beach- they were in the middle of a two-week float of the Colorado River. The campground was buzzing with excited trekkers whose voices were drowned out by the stream rushing by. We explored the Phantom Ranch where those who come down on mules stay for the night and set up camp. Then I nursed my suffering feet, while Fabien went back to take some pictures by the river. We left the rain fly off the tent so we could stare up at the steep canyon walls and then the beautiful starry sky from our sleeping bags. The night was calm and restful.
We took advantage of the warmer temperatures- it was about 20 degrees warmer on the bottom than at the top and took our time over breakfast and packing up. My feet were feeling slightly better and I was comforted by the fact that we would be mostly ascending during the day. The first part of the trail followed the Colorado River. We stopped at a beach and sat and enjoyed the bright green river flowing by. Then we started the climb up to the Indian Gardens campground where we would spend the night. We only hiked about 4 miles and felt good when we arrived. The campground was in a forest of cottonwood trees. We spent the hot part of the afternoon reading and relaxing. Then we hiked out to Plateau Point to one of the most amazing views in the park. It’s a level walk from the campground through desert landscape. After scrambling over a couple of rocks at the end, you come to a sheer drop that peers down onto the Colorado below. When we arrived there was a Slovakian couple there waiting for us, at least waiting for someone to come and take their picture. On the way back to the campground, we saw some mule deer, or maybe they were elk, drinking from the springs. We turned in early once again, staring up at the clear night sky from our bags and happily tired from another day of adventure.
We had planned to start the hike up to the rim around 8 am, beat the heat of the day and arrive at the top for lunch. However, all of our neighbors were up and about by 5 am. We finally succumbed to the pressure, and got up at 6. We were on our way up by 7. I was feeling refreshed and “en forme” as the French would say. We hiked up the last 5 miles and the steepest part in a little over 3 hours. I almost expected a medal at the end, but we were rewarded with all of the day hikers awed that we had slept “down there.” We got back to the car, unloaded our gear, and changed t-shirts. It was our last day in the Grand Canyon and it felt strange to be on our way out. We took some pictures of the old Grand Canyon Railway Station and then drove down to Desert View, which offered yet another view of the canyon along with the Little Colorado Canyons and the Painted Desert. It was time to move on and continue on this great journey across North America.
Tags: Arizona FR, BIG TRIP 2011, In English 2005-2006
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