Grand Canyon Hike Day 3

Day 3 of our hike had us started out at Indian Gardens Campground. When camping in the canyon the rangers are very adamant that you don't feed the wildlife. You have to store all of your food, trash (pack it in, pack it out), and anything else that smells such as soap or deodorant in a metal box. In fact they say that the animals know that food is stored in plastic bags, and when they smell plastic they think there is food inside and will chew through any container (pack or tent) to get the the plastic/food. Michelle filmed a squirrel that wanted to find the food we had in our camp (look at the bottom of the post).

Here is our camp at Indian Gardens. Notice the pack hanger that is critter proofed so the animals can't climb into your pack.
A view from our camp.

As we were leaving or camp a helicopter flew in and landed next to the ranger station. I was able to get this cool picture. Michelle found out later that they were just dropping off supplies, and not rescuing anyone.

Michelle and I after about a mile into the trail.

The hike from Indian Gardens to the rim is about 4.6 miles, and climbs about 3000 feet. The day was hot and sunny and it took its toll on us. We went nice and slow, but because of this about 2 and half miles from the top we were close to running out of water. We decided that we should separate for a little bit. I would go to the top and get more water while Michelle continued to the mile and a half rest house. I made it to the top and reorganized my pack to carry water back to Michelle, but then locked my key in the trunk. I called and talked to Michelle and found out that a ranger, Ranger Della, had stopped and given her some water and Gatorade, and was walking with her. Because Michelle was in good hands I stayed at the car and had a locksmith come get my keys out of the trunk. Eventually I got my keys and then met Michelle when she was about a quarter of a mile from the top.

View of the Canyon

Here we are at the top!!!

Good Job Michelle!!!

I had a great time hiking the Grand Canyon. I also want to say how proud I am of Michelle. When my friend had to cancel on me about a week before the trip because he hurt his knee, Michelle jumped in so I wouldn't have to cancel the whole trip. With only a week of preparation and no Backpacking experience she hiked one of the toughest places on earth. This will be an experience I will remember for the rest of my life and I am fortunate to have been able to do it with my best friend!

Grand Canyon Day 2

Before I talk about Day 2 a quick note about the panoramic pictures I posted on the Day 1 post. I have updated them so when you click on them you will get a larger view. Or you can go here: Ooh Aah Point. O'Neil Butte. Tipoff Point.

Below are two maps showing our route for each of the days we hiked. Day one is in blue. Day two is red, and day three is green.

The day started at the Bright Angel Campground at the bottom of the canyon. Here I am getting my pack ready for the day.

As we were leaving the campground, we saw 4 deer running up the trail. I was amazed how close we were able to get to them.

We cross the Colorado River on the Silver Bridge, and then walk along the river for about 2 miles.

Looking back at the bridges.

View looking back at the river.

Here is some of the wildlife we saw along the trail.

After hiking along the river we reached Pipe creek and took a short break at the river rest house.

The hike then makes it way up along Pipe Creek until you reach Devil's Corkscrew. Devils Corkscrew is a series of switchbacks as you climb out of the inner gorge. About halfway up devils corkscrew Michelle ran out of water and was struggling quite a bit. We decided to take a long rest and then push our way the long mile and a half until Indian Gardens. We arrived at our campsite around 6:00 pm.

Michelle at the end of the day!

Grand Canyon Hike Day 1

Michelle and I have made it back safe and sore from our hike into and then out of the Grand Canyon. I decided to break down the blogging of the trip into each of the three days so you (the readers) will have more pictures and a reason to check out our blog more. (We also have some other posts we need to catch up on, but we can only do so much!)

The night before we stayed at the EconoLodge in Williams with points I had earned from my work travel. Unfortunately the bed was very uncomfortable, the next morning the shower was pretty weak. Because of the bad bed we decided to "sleep" in a little bit and didn't get the amount of rest we needed or as early a start as we wanted.

Here is a couple picture of the contents of our packs. Mine ended up being about 40 lbs and Michelle's was about 30 lbs. About 10 of those pounds was water.

We arrived at the trail head around 10:30 am. It was around 40 degrees at the rim. Here we are excited to get started.

About a mile into the hike you come to the Ooh Aah point. This is when you pass a wall of rock and get the whole canyon out in front of you for the first time. The South Kaibab trail is a ridge trail, and it offers beautiful vistas along its whole length. The picture below is a composite of 11 pictures I took and then stitched together. I do have to say as impressed with how this picture (and the other like it below) it still pales to actually being there.

If you zoom in you can see the trail we will hike below O'Neil Butte in the center. (Click on photo to zoom in.)

Michelle and I with the canyon behind. (Good caption huh!)

Here is another composite photo further down the trail. Now we are level with O'Neil Butte.

Here I am at Skeleton Point. At this point we have just passed O'Neil Butte and are about to descend about a hundred switchbacks

This is at Tipoff Point. It is after all the switchbacks and the picture below is looking back from where we have come from.

Here is a composite shot at Tipoff Point

It was at this point in the Hike that Michelle ran out of water. I still had some in my camel pack so we shared, but the last two miles down all the switchbacks into the inner gorge were extra hard on Michelle. At this point I said a little prayer asking for help for Michelle. About 3/4 of a mile out of the campsite a nice man gave Michelle some water and offered his 18 year old son to carry her pack. We were both very grateful for the help and the answer to our prayer. With this help we made it to Bright Angel Campground and quickly setup camp before it got too dark.

Grand Canyon here we come!

Just a quick update so that no one thinks we are dead :) We actually have a few things that we want to blog about, we just need to actually DO it.

Jeff had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday and has the all clear from the doctor to hike this weekend and to start playing soccer. I think he floated out of the doctors office :) The doc thinks that the gap between the two bones was too large for a bony growth to close it, he is fairly sure that it is a fibrous joint. He says that is fine as long as it doesn't hurt. So far so good on that front! He told Jeff that he can have his knob filed down if it bothers him--it is pretty huge--so that may happen sometime in the future.

For those of you who may not have heard, Jeff and I are hiking the Grand Canyon this weekend. Jeff was going to go with a friend, but something came up and he couldn't go. Jeff asked tons of guys to try to find a replacement, but it was short notice so he couldn't find a replacement. In an effort to be a good wife I volunteered so that the trip wouldn't have to be canceled. I am pretty nervous since I have never backpacked in my life, plus I have the world's worst knees. However, I think it should be fun, and what a way to bring in my thirtieth year! I am taking lots of precautions to guard my knees against hurt, so barring a major accident I should be good. Jeff bought me an awesome (and expensive!) pack, so that's fancy :) (don't mind the piles of dirty laundry behind me!)It fits me much better than the cheaper ones, so I should be as comfy as one can be carrying their life on their back! I am really hoping that the trip goes well because I actually want to do a different hike into the Canyon--I am dying to see Havasu falls in person! Isn't it beautiful!


Anyway, Jeff is SUPER excited for the hike, and once I get over my nerves I think I will be too! We are leaving Saturday to stay the night in Williams, AZ and then we will drive the last hour Sunday morning. We are hiking down the South Kaibab trail, and camping by the Colorado in Bright Angel campground. We are taking two days to hike out (we are hiking out on the Bright Angel trail), staying the second night at Indian gardens campground. If you need to be on the text list for knowing that we made it out alive, then send me a text and I will be sure to let you know! (Or you can leave a comment with your number in it before noon tomorrow....or e-mail me by noon...or facebook me!) My sister Ashley has great confidence in us, she has already laid claim to some of my stuff :) So, I guess I should get off the computer and finish packing my cloths...not that I am taking much! We love you all!