Bright, Bright Angel, pt. 2

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.

Dopes do this.

Squirrels learn to do this.

The moral is, and I can't stress this enough:  DO NOT FEED THE SQUIRRELS!

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:

Wait...we have to climb that?

Not really a volcano

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.

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:

That rain is falling on the north side of the Colorado River

Then the heavens opened up in earnest.  Looking back into the Canyon we saw this:

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:

There it is!  The South Rim!

Yep.  They cut right through.

Don't fall off a cliff...yep that happens too.

Add that one to the tour brochure

No - wait.  Add this one.

And this one - might as well say "Be prepared...OR DIE!"

There and back again.

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!

Squirrels and knives - a tutorial

Should you consider a trip into the Grand Canyon, there is a certain amount of planning and preparation required.  I think Tenacious-MG and I would both recommend the experience though - we had a WONDERFUL time!.  One thing I was truly glad I practiced, however, was knife-fighting.  Yes, you read that right.  A quick course such as this will serve you well:

I would also recommend carrying some sort of substantial sheath knife, or at the very least a large folding knife.  Something like these will do:

This post is really about the brutal reality Team Lightning and Team Thunder faced at the bottom of the Canyon. I know what you are thinking.  What could possibly be so dangerous?  It is a National Park for crying out loud!  Roving packs of marauders?  C.H.U.D.?  Hippies trying to steal your granola?  Phantom Ranch staff who wake you up at 4 am even when you aren't due at breakfast until 6:30am?  Extremely aggressive trout?

Kaibab rattlers?  Scream-inducing (you know who you are!), but rare.

OOO - close, but no.

Actually, most people who are injured by wildlife in the Grand Canyon are injured by squirrels (TRUE - ask a ranger!).  Squirrels such as this one, the Kaibab Squirrel, seen here in an anti-squirrel propaganda poster:

  Oh, I know, you think I am over-reacting.  But only a person who has never stared down a Kaibab squirrel would think that.  I mean look at this one:

He's not THREE FEET from John's tent!  Ready to pounce on any stray bit of trail mix.  Turn your back on one of these cheeky devils and your snacks will be gone in the blink of an eye!  How did this happen?  Too many reckless tourists handing little treats to these masters of cute con-artistry to coax them into mugging for the camera.  Which brings us back around to knife-fighting.

You see as it turns out, squirrels are completely inept at wielding knives.  In fact, their lack of opposable thumbs has left them them among the weakest in the animal kingdom in knife-related combat.  They are so terrified at the sight of a knife, they flee in terror.

The lesson here is preparation and vigilance...and not feeding the squirrels.  If you come to the Canyon comfortable with handling a knife and remain on your guard throughout your trip, you will have as wonderful a time as we did.  Keep your knife at the ready.  Often, it requires only a flash of steel to scatter the Canyon's "Plunderers of Snacks".

I hope that this post doesn't dissuade anyone from a trip into the Grand Canyon.  The likelihood that you will ever have to engage in combat with a squirrel is slim if you adequately prepare and follow the simple rules I have laid out here.  Your reward will be a greater appreciation of our national park system and the truly amazing natural beauty that they preserve.