Hike in the Grand Canyon

I’m restructuring my list so it’s filled with things I want to actually make immediate plans to do. I’ll re-add this when I’m serious about it.

I’m pooped, but will share more about this adventure when I recover!

I’m hiking the Grand Canyon tomorrow~

it doesn’t fit so nicely on a brochure to call it “The Super-Amazing, Indescribably Huge, Very Steep So Be Careful, Oh-My-God The Colors!, Stupendously Incredible Canyon”. This is a national park, after all. There are rules about things like this.

The BOYfriend decided at the last minute to come along, la-dee-dah.

The Canyon was amazing. Gazing over the rim at the Canyon simply puts you in a dream; but I’ve dreamed that before, so I went for the next step and hiked in. According to Ranger Scott, only 5% of park visitors step below the rim, and only 1% walk more than a mile down the trail.

So now I’m quite elite.

First I day-hiked in about one mile. It was a semi-heavily used trail, so the frequency of other hikers was a bit of a damper, and there were strong winds that kicked dust up into my eyes, but other than that it was truly amazing. So amazing – and rather intimidating! – to watch the ancient Canyon walls rise up around me as I descended.

The next hike was longer in distance and duration. We packed our stuff and walked out to Horseshoe Mesa for an overnighter. I love the intimacy with a place that overnighting allows. When we arrived at the mesa, rather than just frolicking about and exploring, my eyes were focused on finding the most ideal spot to make my home that evening. I didn’t really do much exploring at all; I just found a spot that felt good and bunkered down away from the wind and cold and watched the world slowly change from day to evening to night. The stars were some of the best I’ve seen, including a number of incredible shooters. In the morning I took a walk out to the end of the mesa and got an incredible view of the inner canyon before packing up my things and ascending to the car.

My BOYfriend keeps going back and forth on whether or not he’ll accompany me to the GC. I don’t care much if he goes or not, either way will be spectacular for me. So I pull out Monday morning headed for the big hole in Arizona; perhaps there’ll be someone in my passenger seat.

I didn’t realize how far in advance you need to request a permit to backpack overnight in GCNP. I can try my luck at getting a non-reserved permit, but there’s no guarantees. So as a back-up plan, Viejo printed out several maps for me with decent day-hike possibilities. And, to make this endeavor all the more delightfully economical, several of the campgrounds along the South Rim will be free as of 10/15. My date of arrival: 10/15. What lovely luck!

I’m leaving the US of A in a month and I’ll be gone for a while, so hiking in the Grand Canyon is on my list of things to do before I fly away. I’ve been to the Canyon a couple of times as a kid and at least once as an adult, but I’ve never dipped below the rim. Now’s the time to remedy that. I’m pretty sure my BOYfriend will accompany me, but he’s got something of a wussing out track record. With him or without him, GC here I come!

I’m still not sure if I’ll focus on the more popular South Rim or the more isolated North. I hear early October is the perfect time of year for the Canyon, so I’m worried that with either destination I’ll have some difficulty acquiring a back country permit.

I just got in touch with an acquaintance from a while back. When I knew him before he was working as a park ranger at Mt. St. Helens, but just today I found out he’s been restationed to the Grand Canyon. So hopefully I’ll be able to hike with him a bit, and he suggested that I definitely hike to Horseshoe Mesa.

My husband and I were actually in Las Vegas for our yearly escape from the kids. The “new” strip had just opened and hotel & plane combos were incredibly cheap. We are not the gambling, party, or go-to-show kinds of people, so after a day of eating at several buffets (we ARE the eating kind!), we decided to take the rental car and drive to the Grand Canyon. Since our whole mini-vacation was only to be 3 days, it was quite an event. Drove to Hoover Dam, took a tour, took a nap, continued on to The Grand Canyon. Had half a day left before sunset and time to drive back. It was just amazing. I had gone as a kid, but had forgotten what it’s like to be there in person. Photos do not do it justice. Really makes you believe there is a Higher Power. Even if you aren’t up to the “Full Montey”, you should go.

Its very much worth the preparation. It still gives me a sense of accomplishment.

I went 10 years ago (Wow! Has it been that long)

We went down in one day, which was kind of rough…camped at the bottom by the river (no tent needed, very hot in the summer), then hiking up in 2 days.

It was an amazing experience i’ll never forget, but be sure to research all of the camping options and you need to wake up early the day before your hike to reserve a campspot.

Good luck!