The Grandest of Canyons

We walked quickly from the car to the South Rim to see it for the first time. We saw it through the trees and were trembling with anticipation. Suddenly the trees parted, and we saw the Canyon. It is massive and overwhelming and encompassing. We were amazed. I, like Harry Fosdick “would rather live in a world where my life is surrounded by mystery than live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it.” Over the next few days, I would continually be more amazed and mystified by the hugeness and beauty of the Grand Canyon.

We had to leave it, unfortunately to find somewhere to stay the night. We found 10X, a forest a few miles away with places for tents. Pretty soon after we arrived at 10X, we left to go back to the Grand Canyon to watch the sunset at Mather Point. It was breathtaking. We headed back to 10X, and because the sun had set, we were forced to set up the tent (for the first time in the wilderness) and make dinner on the propane stove (for the first time) in the dark. It was no small accomplishment that we were successful on both counts. That night we were freezing, so we hardly slept at all!

Bryan and I woke up early in the morning—is it really waking up if you don’t sleep?—to rush to Hopi Point to watch the sunrise. It was worth the lack of sleep. It was indescribably beautiful. We, next, waited outside the backcountry permit office in the hopes that we would earn a permit for that night. Once it opened, a park ranger named Mike called us forward. He said “permits! I have permits!” We excitedly said “Perfect! What camps are open for tonight?” He took a sip from a huge jar of coffee and looked at us dejectedly and announced that they were permits for tomorrow. He told our crestfallen faces not to worry yet because there might be a few. He announced “Well! There is one at Indian Garden.” Our eyes opened wide excitedly. There was on the Bright Angel Trail; the one we wanted to hike. We bought the pass, packed our bags, and set out on the trail.

We started excitedly and hurriedly. We took breaks every once in while, but mostly made it down the canyon without trouble. I saw this one part of the canyon that was jutting out and climbed onto it and took an awesome—if also slightly dangerous—picture. Most of the way down, despite the amazing views, was pretty uneventful. Bryan and I made it to the Indian Garden campground and we both announced that we weren’t tired or sore at all.

We found out, unfortunately, that South Kaibab Trail did not have water on the way up. Oh no! We didn’t have enough water bottles to keep us the entire way—there were water spigots on Bright Angel Trail. So, I went on a mission and walked tent-to-tent in our campground asking if anyone had disposable bottles they were not using. It was an exciting venture; I collected 1.5 L worth of bottles, but that (added to our 2L) was still not enough. I asked the park ranger about the Lost and Found. There was one 1L bottle that was from Seattle. We resolved to return it once we arrived there. We had several ideas from carrying our bowls filled with water to using our dinner soup can. Eventually, we decided to fill up our gallon sized plastic bag with water the next day.

Bryan and I, then, decided to walk down to the Colorado River. It was about a 3.5 mile walk, but we were both so excited we skipped down the mountain—a fact which we would later regret. We saw two iguanas either fighting or ferociously mating in the middle of the trail, but it was unclear which of the two. The view from the bottom of the Colorado was beautiful and the river was unruly and intense. The way back up (our first uphill experience) was difficult, but not incredibly so. We were so tired from lack of sleep and nearly 12 miles of hiking in the hot sun that we ate and went to sleep by 8:30.

We woke up with incredible and overwhelming soreness, so it was with great effort that we packed up and started our hike on West Tonto. Within an hour, we were both pretty sure we were not going to make it. Somehow though, we made it across the four-mile trail, which connected with South Kaibab through some of the most stunning views of the Grand Canyon.

When we got to the base of the South Kaibab, we were faced with the reality of 4.5 more miles—this time uphill. We were unbelievably exhausted. We were so sore that we walked kind of oddly the whole way. Also, I had an upset stomach, which made the hike much less pleasant. This trail, like all the others, continued to amaze and bewilder me. At one point, I drank a Gatorade and was filled with a surge of energy for about a mile. Evidently, I had been low on electrolytes.

One couple that passed us on their way down, then a five minutes later, on their way up. At this point, we had half a mile left—we were nearly there. The girl said to us, “Now, we feel your pain!” She obviously thought our pain was not because of our past mileage or the extremely heavy camping gear on our backs, but simply because we were going uphill. We were both a bit disgruntled, but her boyfriend gave us an embarrassed look at her comment, which appeased us. Once we reached the top, the feelings of accomplishment of hiking 20 miles nearly surpassed the feelings of exhaustion, but not quite. It was an amazing and tiring journey, which I will surely never forget.