Arriving to Flagstaff, AZ we were once again unlucky with our hiking weather. It was cold, grey and raining... But we got in the shuttle to the Grand Canyon and hoped it would be better once we arrived there. Unfortunately that was not the case at all, because when we got there it just started raining even more than before. Then it was time for a very powerful and painful shower of hail, and then some snow of course - our hiking morale had hit rock bottom! But we had arrived to the south rim of the Grand Canyon so we just had to accept the weather conditions and get going. To camp down in the canyon you had to buy a backcountry permit. We didn't have one, and they are not very easy to get a hold of. They actually recommend you book it a couple of months in advance. Just in case though we made our way to the backcountry office to see if we were lucky enough to get a permit anyways. And probably because of the bad weather we were lucky indeed to get a permit for a very exclusive and isolated campsite way down in the canyon. The hike down to the campsite was almost a 8 mile hike so we would have to get moving quickly if we didn't want to walk around in complete darkness, but we had to go to the general store to get some supplies for the hike - you are very isolated once you're in the canyon so your 'survival' depends on the supplies you pack with you.
Before we finally started the hike we had to find some shelter for a couple more rain/hail/snow showers, but when we reached the rim we had our first view of the gigantic mega hole we were about to get down in. It was amazing imagining how big the powers of water can be when it can carve a canyon big as this. The first minutes walking down, we were almost in shock and just couldn't take our eyes from the stunning views we were witnessing.
After an hour or so, the skies cleared up a bit and we were in perfect moods, very happy the way things had worked out and that we had decided to experience the canyon this way. With our high spirits the weird conversations followed and one worth mentioning is definitely the calculation of how many MK's could fit inside the canyon. Yes, very stupid, but interesting too. After roughly calculating our's and the canyon's volume the final result was that approximately 2500 billions of MK's would fit inside the Grand Canyon - amazing right! The conclusion to that calculation was that filling the canyon up to the edge with people would never be possible. Behind all this nonsense was in fact an interesting thought in both our minds; experiencing this gives you a feeling of being very insignificant in the story of the earth. We felt very small indeed.
Around 7 pm it began getting dark and we had no idea how far we were from our camp - or if we were even on the right trail. But then, in almost complete darkness, we finally arrived to the camp, which was actually a mere shelter under a pair of trees, but very cost though. Now the challenge of putting the tent up was ahead of us. First of all we were not able to see anything and second we had no idea how the tent should be put up, not exactly the best combination. But after some struggles we managed. Then there we were inside the tent in our sleeping bags enjoying our primitive dinner of beef jerky and a pretty dry roast beef sandwich with probably no people at all within many miles, besides another group there that was already sleeping.
The next morning we woke up early around 5.30 with our bodies aching because of the last day's hike and the many rocks giving us a very 'soft' ground to sleep on during the night. Furthermore we were freezing in the cold air of the dawn. The other group was already awake. We went out to be welcomed by 2 guys and one girl at our age and an older man probably in his 60's.. They were nice and we ate breakfast with them and were even offered some of their coffee. After packing down the tent it was time for the hike back. We had decided not to go directly back to the rim, but instead first go even further down into the canyon to reach the Colorado river - the same river as the one we took a swim in in Colorado. We began hiking, and the weather was beautiful! Once again began the discussions about our insignificant size.
We had two backpacks - one big backpack with the sleeping bags, the tent, spare clothes etc. and a smaller one with the food, so we swapped bags every once in a while. The hike was killing our legs, and when we had hiked halfway down to the river (about 2 miles further down) through some of the most beautiful terrain in the world, we decided to turn around and hike to a viewpoint over the river instead. We were in a hurry, and both very exhausted, but the amazement was still fueling our legs - we got to the viewpoint - incredible... Nobody should miss out on seeing the Grand Canyon! It's fantastic! After that the trip back up to the rim was now ahead of us. We began climbing up in a fast pace, but our legs got more and more useless. The pace kept dropping, and by the end we were completely emptied of energy and both needing a really good night's sleep!
Our bodies were dead because of the exhausting 35 km (22 miles) we had hiked in steep terrain in less than 24 hours. Instead they were filled with astonishment, and the feeling of accomplishment. We took the bus back to Flagstaff, and from there we left for Austin with the Greyhound bus.
Don't stay up too late waiting for the next post!
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