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It's one week until we leave for my first hike into the Grand Canyon.  I was inspired to do this from an article in Time Magazine (July 31, 2000) by Garrison Keillor describing his experience on the Bright Angel Trail.  Keillor describes the experience in a fashion that made me want to try this.  Though I've never been considered athletic, I feel in good enough shape to give this a shot.  The article contrasts the many European hikers Keillor encountered (who were in excellent shape) with Americans sitting on the rocks gasping for breath.  I have observed this dichotomy myself with the many tourists I serve in my employment within the Las Vegas tourism industry.  Let's face it.  Americans are fat!

I decided to prepare for my hike by reading lots of personal encounters and guide books, continuing and even expanding, my daily 3-mile walks and by aggressively climbing the 33 stairs outside my office many times each workday.  Losing 15 pounds during this six week period should also be a plus!  I needed to find a willing and able hiking partner who could skip work for a couple days as soon as the 100 degree weather was over.  My good friend and neighbor, John, fit the bill.  John exercises in his home gym daily and we have walked many miles together in the past. One week before the planned trek, we are both in much better shape than we were 6 years ago when we first met.  I'm 55 and John is about 10 years my junior.

Our plans are ambitious.  On Monday, October 2nd, we will drive to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon first.  My coworkers disagree with how  we should advise tourists on this part of the G.C.. that is on the Halupai Reservation.  The obvious advantage the West Rim has for the Las Vegas tourist is the driving distance.  It's a doable day trip.  Some of road is not paved and there are no facilities to compete with those in the national park.  One coworker claims the vistas are comparable to the South Rim, another says the place is a dump.  I need to check this out for myself.  From the West Rim, we will return to U.S. 93 and proceed to the South Rim via Kingman and Williams.  We will stay in the Holiday Inn Express in Tusayan, just outside the park entrance.  This will allow us to get a good night's rest and an early start.

We have chosen the Bright Angel Trail for our hike.  It's supposed to be well groomed and not as steep as the South Kaibab Trail.  It was too late in the year to get reservations within the canyon at Phantom Ranch or the Bright Angel Campground.  Perhaps we can scout for next year on Monday while we are there.  We will also need to verify that water is available at the halfway point in October.  I've been told that it will be since there's no danger of freezing temperatures yet.  The books say the water is cut off in September.  We'll see.

All the guidebooks advise against trying a round-trip all the way to the river within a day.  We take this seriously, but maybe we will be surprised at how well we feel when we reach the half way point.  It's generally agreed that up takes twice as long as down.  I think we will need lots of rest time, so we will plan a 3 to 1 ratio leaning on the safe side.  I need to meet with John and figure out the equipment and supplies we will need.  Maybe we can even do an uphill trial at Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas before dark one day this week.

Some numbers:  Our minimum goal is a 6 mile round trip with about a 2000 ft. elevation change.  A likely  option is to reach Plateau Point, which is 12.2 miles and 3100 feet.  The maximum we can consider without an overnight permit is a 15.6 mile round trip all the way to the Colorado and back.  This is a 4400 ft. climb back to the van.  Of course, we can always decide to turn around anywhere along the way.  The more rest we can get and the earliest start time will help define what we can do while keeping the 3 to 1, uphill to downhill ratio in mind.
 
 

Well, it's Tuesday at sundown.  I just walked 3 more miles.  That makes 6 today.  I didn't get to see John yet.  I did some shopping for the hike.  Lots of film, fresh batteries for the camera and a few energy bars.  These are filling, but too chewy to enjoy often.  The labels say they have all the good stuff to see you through a splurge of energy.  Looks good, tastes yuck.  The wrapper has more appeal, but fewer nutrients. But I'll use them because they are compact and not very heavy.   Next Tuesday at sundown, we should be at the upper trailhead and very tired.  Can't wait.

John just stopped over and he is as excited and prepared as I am.  This is good!  We may do many trips together.  We Think alike.  Tomorrow, we will study equipment and complete the itinerary and incidentals.  I really feel good about this.

We both question whether walking sticks are useful.  Several people have told us they are a big asset.  We feel they are more baggage and "not us".  I opt for minimum weight.  Weather reports for our date, still a week away, are for morning 40s and afternoon 70s.  I want to wear jean shorts and T-shirt, but may have to yield to long jeans and a dreaded jacket.  I always prefer to travel light.  I can be cold for an hour or so if it equates to less weight later in the heat of the day.
 
 

My anticipation is building as our date gets near.  I bought a soft, "Gilligan" hat today.  I'm not big on hats, but the sun will be on us for many hours.  This light weight model is easily stored when not needed and is even moldable to look a tad stylish.  A coworker donated a tiny, light raincoat advised by another coworker.  Seems that if we get wet, we will be carrying many more pounds uphill as well as being yucky.  I'm resisting lots of "take this" suggestions since I don't want to have to buy a pack mule or Allied Van Lines truck for this hike.  If I like this activity as much as I think, I can study equipment later.
 
 

John and I have very different schedules, but  finally met with him last night.  He seems well prepared and ready.  My wife, Mary, got me a nice Coleman backpack today.  I loaded it with everything I will take down the trail.  Final weight is 15 pounds.  It seems a bit ironic that the pack weight  equates to what I lost preparing for this venture.  As we walk and consume, it will get lighter, but not by much.  Hopefully, I can cut the water load in half coming up.  Maybe we will be comfortable leaving the packs for the last mile down and reclaiming them on the ascent.
 
 

Our day has finally arrived. We get an early start leaving Las Vegas at 7:30 a.m.  We beat the traffic at the Hoover Dam, cross it and proceed south to the Dolan Springs turnoff.  This will take us to the unpaved road to the West Rim.  We pass through Dolan Springs, a remote desert town that is bigger than expected.  We proceed to "highway" Indian 1, the unpaved road.  Indian 1 is not good!  It's narrow with no shoulders and has the washboard effect.  I give it a chance and see that speeds over 20 mph are uncomfortable - 15 works.  It will take a while to see the rim and I consider turning back.  I decide to stay and after shaking up lots of dust, I come to a paved road and begin to see helicopters landing.  A building houses tour companies and a kitchen where food is being prepared.  We decide not to eat there, but $10 entitles us to see the rim from a single perspective. We pay and go there.  The photo shows that the west rim is beautiful enough once you are there.  But there's only the one view, three if you buy the lunch.  This and other pictures I've seen never have the colors of the South and North rims.  I will not recommend this for tourists unless they are adamant in seeing Grand Canyon in a day.

We leave from the rim taking the "other"  road to Peach Springs which is on original US 66.  The "other" road is not paved either.  It starts out rough, but improves after a couple miles.  Twenty some miles later, it gets good enough to drive at 50 mph.  US 66 is excellent and we drive to Seligman, another old Route 66 town.  We drive through surveying for lunch and decide on the Roadkill Cafe.  Despite the overworn name, we are immediately impressed by the cleanliness.  Even all the hood structure above the grill is grease-free.  The specialty is Black Angus and the grilled angus burgers are large and well cooked.  You can even cook them yourself if you are picky.  $5.95 with fries or potato salad.  We resist the Roadkill T-shirts.  Good place.  But we want the South Rim and we are soon there.  We check into our hotel in Tusayan and enter the park.  I buy the National Parks Pass with the Golden eagle sticker for $65.  I enter a lot of federal parks during the year and usually recover more than the cost of the pass.  We take some pictures and browse the shops.  We easily locate Plateau Point, one of our walking choices tomorrow and take a picture.  The zoom doesn't reflect the 3100' drop to the plateau.  We then chat with a ranger who verifies that water will still be running on the Bright Angel, even though it's October.

Back in the room, we begin to worry about the weight of the packs.  I even consider ditching it altogether and carrying my half gallon canteen and stuffing my pockets with film and power bars.  We compromise by removing half the liquid in the packs and a few other items deemed too heavy and of unlikely use.  We probably knocked 6 pounds off the 15 pounds original weight.  We choose Wendy's for dinner and try to lean on the healthier items.  We're asleep before 9 p.m.
 
 

We're up at 4:15 a.m., shower and open McDonalds at 5.  Good quick breakfast and we're back in the room to pack and check out.  Perfect weather in the upper 40s.  At 5:50 a.m., we park near Bright Angel Lodge and proceed to the trail head.  We pass some deer grazing on the lawn along the way.  I'm anxious to get moving and be within the canyon walls at sunrise.  John is right behind me. We find the trail meanders as expected, but rockier and with more obstacles.  We keep going for quite awhile, obviously beginning to wonder about this afternoon's return.  The sun rises and starts to throw light on the canyon walls and we begin enjoying nature's wonders as we keep heading down the winding trail. After a while, we become accustomed to scent of the mule excretions and begin to wonder why we haven't reached the mile and a half  station.  Finally, we find it, but do not stop since it's a bit chilly and we haven't touched our water yet.  We keep going along to the 3 mile stop and pause for awhile there.  We soon encounter the mules and yield as we were advised.  They are bigger than expected and maintain a slow, but steady pace while leaving a trail of droppings.

We begin to pass hikers with huge backpacks that look like coffins.  They have probably camped along the river and are starting up.  Most are too tired to say much, but politely nod to the amateur downhill champs they encounter.  We begin to realize that we are treading through a rocky trail that could lead to a sprained, possibly broken ankle.  We know evacuation would be required.  We are watching each step and beginning to slow down.  As we near Indian Gardens at mile 4.6, we see a young lady completely bent over from the weight of a huge backpack.  I nickname her Kokopelli.  Indian Gardens was just that at one time, but is now an oasis lined with prickly pear cacti.  We sit down for awhile and watch the small crowd of hikers that has formed.  We must also look at the time and the remaining options.  Should we go to the river?  Or settle with Plateau Point?  A sign advises not to try the river without an overnight stay.  We opt for Plateau Point recalling the 2 to 1 and  3 to 1 ratio.  Besides, Plateau Point is only a mile-and-a-half and flat.  We can do that in no time!  We are well rested and take the west trail to the point walking through a 3 inch stream.  We leave the shade and are in direct sun for the first time.  I think about my hat.  John wears his.  We're still doing well with water.

John had already figured out that the apparently flat plateau probably really wasn't and he was right.  It was really rather wavy and rocky.  We got an unexpected surprise at the end of the point.  There is a rock bed that isn't seen from the top and you can climb down on it and see the river.  We have descended 3000 feet - 3/4 of the way to the river.  We are proud of this and ask a German hiker to take our picture.  Hikers are friendly and enjoy the kinship I have observed with others who pursue common challenges.  We stay for awhile and look at the muddy river knowing we might drink some of it in Las Vegas next week.  A passerby volunteers that it was clear and blue yesterday.  We are seeing a 50-50 mix of domestic and international hikers.  Garrison Keillor may be right on the mark about the fit European hikers and the flabby Americans.  After 3000 feet, I have a common bond with them.  But we must continue.  Leaving Plateau Point is "wavy", but never steep.  As we approach Indian Garden, I feel heat building within my sneakers.  I worry a bit about this since the hard part lies ahead.  We rest at Indian Gardens and watch the mules approach, lining up along the hitching posts.  Several teams arrive and get canyon information from the saddled guides.

My feet are cool, and we eat some energy bars and I drink Gatorade.  Something is not right as we leave the oasis!  I feel a tad queasy and ask to rest after a short distance.  We stay awhile and move on.  I try to downplay how I feel, but it soon becomes apparent that I have nausea.  Maybe it's a combination of mixing energy bars, Gatorade, apprehension and burning many calories.  I'll never know, but the chemistry wasn't right until I purged after many stops prior to the three mile house.  John encouraged me all the way through this ordeal proclaiming that we are hikers on a world class trail.  A 20 minute rest did wonders and we continued.  We had lots of time and three miles to go.  Three hard miles.
 
 

As a former smoker (15 years ago), I know my lungs do not perform well at high altitudes.  I had anticipated some problems.  We began climbing to the one-and-a-half mile house.  My legs were sore, but very functional.  But I was breathing hard and had to stop every sixteenth of a mile or so.  After a few minutes, I was breathing normally and could continue.  This was to be the pattern for the rest of the ascent.  John was very patient and increasingly willing to accommodate my needs.  We kept passing a couple from Ohio, then they would pass us.  The lady had knee problems and we leapfrogged each other often.  I found a discarded walking stick and gave it a try.  About half the hikers had one, some even used two like cross-country skiers.  It seemed to transfer the weight to my arms and slow me down, so I discarded it, too.  Isolated clouds had been forming and we encountered two 5 minute rains.  The rain felt good, but it was barely enough to dampen the ground.  From the mile-and-a-half point, completion seemed imminent and certain.  We followed the aforementioned pattern and though slow, it was working.

We were at one point sure we had done the 1.5 miles and turned a corner.  Instead of the finish line, we saw hikers way up a few steep switchbacks above us.  John lost the faith at this point.  I also realized that the walk/rest cycle will need lots more iterations to complete this task.  We saw Ohio way behind us and figured they would need an extra half hour.  I tried my best to continue breathing the thin air deeply, but I was sluggish and for the first time, John was also dragging.  I knew we would finish, but it hurt.  The sign about going to the river and back in one day was correct.  Don't try it I was thinking.

We walked to the car watching the deer grazing knowing that we were now more than good friends.  Our legs ached, but we had done something special together.  We were on the trail for 11 1/2 hours. At 5:30 p.m., we were done.   We celebrated by driving home to Vegas.  Of course, we stopped for an "Angus Burger" in Seligman.
 
 

Well, we both went to work today confident that our great memories will outlast the pain in our legs.  We may not do this again, but we will never regret this experience.  I chose a perfect hiking partner.  I don't think I will become a frequent hiker, but I would certainly enjoy something half this challenging again.
 
 

We can attribute our success to a few factors and even recommend to others.

*  Prepare!  Read as much as you can.  Get in shape.  Walk and climb as much as possible for a month in advance.

*  Get a checkup and physical.  Avoid medical surprises.

*  We were successful without incident due to careful planning.

*  We lessened our load, started early, and dealt with the unexpected because we had time.

*  Obey the park directives.  At one time, we thought them overstated.  They're not!!
 
 

These words are from an amateur, first-time, hiker.  Experienced hikers may find this introductory.  That's okay with me.  Have a good time, all you Kokopellis!
 
 

Official Guide to Hiking the Grand Canyon                    Scott Thybony              ISBN 0-938216-48-1
A Guide to Grand Canyon National Park and Vicinity  Sandra Scott                ISBN 0-938216-57-0
Bright Angel Trail - Hiking Guide and Map                                                           ISBN 0-915749-29-7

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