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Wednesday, May 21, 2014

The Grand Canyon Part 2

Read Part 1, here.

Well, damn, I didn't realize anyone would really consider that last post a cliffhanger. But, sorry about that. I'll just say now, for the record... NO ONE DIES on this trip. Let's continue, shall we...

So, I left you guys at the point where I was standing at Indian Garden Campground alone and waiting to see how long The KoB took to find Jeff and Melissa on the other trail. I tried to think about how long he and I had been standing down the trail waiting for them, and wondering just how far they would be.

The problem was, they were probably trying to hurry up and catch up with us. They were probably frustrated that we had seemingly "took off" and were no where in sight. When in fact, they were just on the wrong fucking trail.
The blue line is the Bright Angel Trail. The Trail we
were supposed to be following.
The yellow line is the trail that Jeff and Melissa were on.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, but was actually probably only about 10 minutes, I heard the call of The KoB.
Blurry and taking a breather after finally catching up to
Jeff and Melissa.

 Jeff making his way back to Indian Garden.

We were reunited and back on the trail. This next section, ended up being one of my favorite parts of the trail. I had wrongly assumed that the descent was over. But we turned a corner and all the sudden we were surrounded by high rock cliffs and views DOWN into the canyon further. After hiking for so long in the dark, it was glorious to be bathed in the morning light bouncing off the canyon walls.


 Sadly, I just don't have pictures that do it justice. 

We were winding down and I kept thinking... oh god, this is going to suck in 10+ hours having to climb back up this way. 

My nutrition plan was to eat a little something on every hour. And so far, I had accomplished that. I was taking in about 100-200 calories and nursing the gatorade in my handheld. 


We pushed on and once we got to the actual bottom of the canyon, we were able to run a little and it felt good to get the legs moving a little. 


I could not get over just how beautiful our surroundings were. I would take my eyes off the trail for a minute and look up and it was like I'd hear angels singing in the background. It felt like I was running/hiking through a movie.

The KoB told us to just wait. We would be turning a corner soon and would be even more amazed with a view. I didn't know how he could be right... how anything could be more beautiful than looking up and seeing blue sky and rock canyon everywhere you look. But, of course... he was right.

4 comments:

chiara said...

Grand Canyon is probably my favorite, possibly tied with Zion. Though, really, the Redwoods could also be tied for first place.

Dolly said...

What an amazing trip. It's been a really long time since I've done any trail running. You are giving me motivation..

Amy said...

Chacha: I havent been to Redwoods or Zion. Honestly, I haven't been to many National Parks, but I can imagine that there could be lots of favorites! Our country has some really spectacular spots!!

Dolly: I'm glad to give some motivation! Although, truth be told... there was a lot more walking than running. But, I enjoyed the hiking parts!

Gracie said...

Glad you decided to leave us at a more reasonable spot this time, sheesh.