There has been a HUGE delay in creating this post. However, as it is coming up on a year since we completed this journey, I've waxed nostalgic. So here we are, the final installment of the Grand Canyon hike. Certainly not our last hike though, and I hope not the last time we'll visit the Canyon. I've always had the backpacking bug, I think MG has learned to appreciate the possibilities of it, and soon our boys will be big enough to keep us hiking.
OK...back to the story and the truth about Kaibab squirrels. You don't really need to knife fight them, as I said before they are terrible at that - you'll win easily. You see, the problem really is not that the Kaibab
squirrel is all that cunning, it's that people are really stupid. Over
the years, the hordes of tourists have handed the squirrels tasty snacks
and they continue to this day to fawn over the cute little things. Only now, the
squirrels have no fear of people. They come right up to your pack and
will gladly rummage through any open pouch and steal your food.
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| Dopes do this. |
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| Squirrels learn to do this. |
The moral is, and I can't stress this enough: DO NOT FEED THE SQUIRRELS!
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| This is my favorite picture from the whole hike, taken from somewhere above Indian Garden...I think. |
On with the trek and the return to the South Rim. After leaving Indian Garden and a good rest,
we started out for the second half of the journey. And it was hot. And
you think the long trek through acacia, agave, yucca and assorted other
canyon flora will go on forever. And then, you see this:
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| Wait...we have to climb that? |
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| Not really a volcano |
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| Hello little banded lizard |
You look up and see rank upon rank of sheer cliff faces to
ascend. Oddly though, I was ready to hike them and without the heat, I
would have been even readier-er-er. The early July Arizona sun was brutal, but I included that not-really-a-volcano picture for a reason. You see, July is part of monsoon season in the southwest and those puffy white clouds mean one thing this time of year - rain.
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| It's a little hard to tell, but this was a lovely bit of shade with a comfortable, natural rock bench |
The clouds built as we climbed through the red layer and after a few stops for breathers and liquids, we were treated to an awesome sight. (As is the case with most GC photography I've seen and virtually all of it we took, the photos don't do the phenomenon justice.) At any rate, the clouds finished building and spilled over with torrents of rain. The storms that were, quite literally, miles away, looked like this:
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| That rain is falling on the north side of the Colorado River |
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Then the heavens opened up in earnest. Looking back into the Canyon we saw this:
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| My guess is that the heavy rain here is about 6 miles away as the California Condor flies |
And so we finished out our hike along the Bright Angel Trail - in the pleasant shade of summer storm clouds, an occasional cooling shower soaking us, and a growing sense of pride mixed with a bit of sadness. We had hiked out at a rate we hoped to make - 1 m.p.h. Not blazing fast, true but steady and non-exhausting. We had accomplished (almost) what we set out to do and had most certainly finished a great adventure. Soon, the bustle of our "normal" lives would draw us back in and the majestic wonder of the Grand Canyon would be relegated to the colorful, flat, rectangular pictures pulled off an SD card, but we done it - hiked 30+ miles through truly rugged and absolutely majestic wilderness.
Here are a few shots from near the Bright Angel trailhead:
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| There it is! The South Rim! |
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| Yep. They cut right through. |
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| Don't fall off a cliff...yep that happens too. |
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| Add that one to the tour brochure |
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| No - wait. Add this one. |
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| And this one - might as well say "Be prepared...OR DIE!" |
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| There and back again. |
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By the way, let me add a little pro tip here and say that when you get within 3 miles to the South Rim on the Bright Angel, expect tourists. HORDES of tourists. Not hikers, but flip-flop-wearing, thoroughly unprepared tourists. Jut grin and bear it - the rest of the hike will have been worth it. These folks don't observe any of the common courtesies of hiking like moving aside for faster hikers or hikers coming up, or stopping and letting anyone pass period. And they all feed the squirrels...curse you squirrel-feeders!
Oh, and a little bit of advice: The more you prepare, the more fun you will have. Train. Pack well - there are plenty of excellent guides for this. Only carry what you will need. Simulate the fully-loaded back-pack experience as often as you can while training. Train at altitude if possible. Most of all, just use your common sense and I guarantee you will have an awe-inspiring experience.
Thanks for the unforgettable hike John!
