Grand Canyon Trip

Grand Canyon... There is a reason why this is one of the Wonders of the World. This was round 2 for me, repeating the rim to rim hike. It was a 3 day backpacking trip. The first time I came out saying it was an experience of a lifetime, and this time I say, Grand Canyon is life. Read on to see why...

Lets do this the formal way..

The crew, Rampi, Sandhiya and your's truly...,
The plan, Day 1: Hike down to base of North Rim, Day 2: Cross the Canyon, Day 3: Go up SouthRim
The roles: Me: The Sweeper, Sandhiya: The sandwiched, Rampi: The Navigator

Day 1: The North Kaibab Trail: .....The Beginning...

Here are the stats, in 6.8 miles we drop an elevation of 4000 feet (starting from 8400 feet to reach 4000 feet). The hike in itself was a teaser to what is in store. The hike begins by some very gentle slope. As we went down, we saw some folks inching their way to the top. Their question to us sounded like men running after a mirage in a desert. Soon Rampi and Sandhiya were about to find out why. As we descended and got used to our backpacks carrying 30 lbs, we hit our first water stop. After some nice (!!!) energy bars and getting the 30 lbs of our backs, we saw the bridge that the folks we ran into mentioned. Here were a set of guys who were doing a rim-to-rim-to-rim in 48 hours. No its not a typo. They were going to come down 6000 feet of elevation and go up 6000 feet of elevation in the span of 24 miles and repeat the same in a total span of 48 hours. Insanity is nothing but a perception, as some of my friends would consider what we were doing as insane.

In any case, we saw the first bridge and thought to ourselves, "we are actually going to get down that far..." There is a reason why I decided to go down the North Kaibab trail as opposed to leave it for Day 3. The gradual slope disappeared and became steep. The humble beginnings became serious stuff. The empty chatter became munching of trail mixes and sipping gatorade. The shoes started working, the hiking poles were put to use. We descended at an incredible pace, the poor guy we crossed was deep in concentration and working his way slowly upwards as we crossed the supai tunnel and the Grand Canyon slowly started to show herself. Like a beautiful woman, she never fully revealed herself. Every bend we took, we saw a little more of her grandeur, a different view. Her cameraman, Sun, made her glow in different colors, red, brown, black and colors I do not know the name. Sandhiya started rattling away geological facts, that went above my head in a second, what remained in every living cell of my body was the beauty of the Grand Canyon. The second time and still she had me startled.

And to wrap the first day, it got dark and at a distance we saw the pump house, which seemed so near but yet so far and we were the men in the desert going after the mirage. Lucky for us it was not a mirage, we got to our campground by 7:15PM. It had taken us almost 5 hours.

Day 2: Completing the North Kaibab Trail.. A walk in the park...

Spending a night truly in wilderness is the best way to be part of nature. To give you a feel for it, at 3 AM I was woken up because someone was hitting a flashlight into our tents. It was none other than the night rider, the Moon. The whole canyon was lit in the light of the moon. And it was only half moon that night. And it would be far from justice to talk about the stars that you can see. Its an astronomists' dream come true. I was never a person who appreciated the mountains in the dark, but the moon light seemed to bring out the better side of the mountains.

As the day dawned, we had a slow start leaving at 8:30 in the morning. It was supposed to be a flat walk, but we were losing an elevation of approximately 2000 feet in the span of 7.2 miles. The 14 miles marked the end of the North Kaibab trail.

The hike itself was my favorite, we walked along side the Bright Angel creek going from one canyon to the other. The sheer size of the Canyon made us look like the minutest of specks, to think the that the sea and the colorado river created this perfect harmonious, symmetrical, breath taking beauty. It makes me feel even the most haughtiest person would be transformed by this hike. During my previous hike, my friend just stopped at one of the points where 2 canyons met and she cried. It was the heightened emotion. The emotion I felt, that made me feel non-existent yet filled with ecstasy. Just breathing the air brought a sense of life to my body.

We reached our camground by 1:15, just as we had expected. The hike itself was fairly simple, the day was not too hot and we got cover from the canyon walls. The weight started to take its toll on our energy levels. But we were good as we reached our campground in just under 5 hours.

After pitching the tent and some nice food, we sat in the river to relax our sore feet and took a small hike to see the spectacular Colorado river during day light. The river that I would bow to, the river that has given us such a great gift, continues to gift 7 states by providing drinking water.

Day 3: Bright Angel Trail.. The Marriage...

You are who you are based on your experiences. The final day of the Grand Canyon hike, an ascend from the base of the South rim to the top, a 6000 feet elevation gain in 9.6 miles. The experiences that you undergo become a part of you that you are no longer the same anymore, the memories of Day 3 remain with me until death do us apart.

We started the day at 4 AM, filled up our pockets with energy bars. This was going to be the toughest hike as our bodies were already tired after 2 days of strenuous hiking and not to mention the weights on our back. All my lessons of pacing oneself will be put to a test. With a little nervousness about Sandhiya we walked and talked as we slowly walked by the side of the Colorado river. As we ascended, we heard the rushing water move and the occassional rumble of some animal. The moon light made the Colorado river look like the beautiful flowing hair, smooth, long and lustrous. There is something to be mentioned about the smell of the morning air. We slowly moved into the interior of other Canyons. As we moved away from the Colorado river we crossed a number of small tributaries. To think that man built this trail in the 1920s, there were no bridges to cross the tributaries. We were truly a part of nature as she intended it to be. As the day dawned, the kodak moment hit Sandhiya. The light of the moon and the light of Sun at the same time. It was her moment to just abruptly stop and stare. To be lost in the spectacularness of nature's lighting, to be immersed in the colors of the rocks and to forget oneself. I don't think I have ever seen her face glow with such excitement and calmness at the same time. Ofcourse she was not the emotional one to cry, but I could sense herself blending within the moment.

As we hiked towards Indian Garden, the Sun showed his full face, we crossed path with a snake. After a really long break at Indian Gardens, of almost 2 hours (don't ask me why it took us so long), we started moving upwards. Indian Gardens was the half point in terms of distance but we had only ascended 1/3 of the elevation.

Followed us was the Jacob's ladder, of gruelling switchbacks. I think the rest of climb can be simply characterized by non-stop climb with every step our legs worked hard but the eyes were rewarded with beautiful views that made every step worth its effort in gold.

We reached the top by 2 PM. We were very lucky, blessed with some amazing weather. It never got above 100F in all the three days.

As we bid good bye to Grand Canyon, I wonder is this nothing but a symbolism of life, staring at this beauty, taking a part of her for the second time with myself and like life she stood there filled with billions of years of mystery, joy to those who wanted, cruelty to those who failed to respect her conditions and ofcourse as the rangers say, you take no physical belongings from the Canyon as you leave...