Here comes the sun!

After a year of being in areas of North America that were experiencing higher than normal levels of rainfall we have thoroughly enjoyed the time we have spent so far in the southwest US.  We have traded the moss from behind our ears for sand between our toes.  Last July after spending an entire day hiking in windy rain in Tombstone Territorial Park in Yukon...

Jean and the cook tent at Talus Lake in Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon.

This windy, rainy day became the standard of comparison for miserable hiking conditions

…I vowed that I’d never complain about heat again.  Well…I did try but that was before we spent time within the Grand Canyon.  All of our Grand Canyon photos are on Flickr.

Where we have been –  Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona

4/29 – 5/30 2011

Hiking in the Grand Canyon is unlike anywhere else we’ve been.  It’s a mountain in reverse with the hardest part, the ascent, coming at the end and with the potential of blistering temperatures at the “summit.”  The Park Service is adamant that one cannot hike from the rim of the canyon to the Colorado River and back to the rim in one day.  Unfortunately too many casual hikers are lured into the canyon by the cooler temperatures on the rim and easy downhill trails but they are totally unprepared for the increased heat in the canyon (20 degrees higher than the rim), the steepness of the uphill trails and the altitude (~7,000 for the south rim and ~8,000 for the north).  Trailheads are marked by prominent signs with dire warnings about the dangers of heat exhaustion, heat stroke, the number of heat related emergencies the Park Service responds to each year etc.  The “poster child” of what not to do is a 25 year old woman, a former Boston Marathoner, who died of dehydration in the canyon in 2004. 

We can understand the strong desire to hike within the canyon.  While there are great views from the rim available to anyone…

View from the South Rim

…and from the river for people on boats...

 
The Colorado River along Escalante Route

… the best experience by far comes from moving through the different levels from rim to river and we had several great opportunities to do this.  We went against Park Service advice and day hiked down the South Kaibab Trial crossing the Colorado River to take a break at Phantom Ranch before climbing out of the canyon on the Bright Angel Trail, a total of 18 miles with ~4800 ft of elevation loss and ~4400 ft of elevation gain.  We’re in decent shape, we went prepared with enough food and water and temperatures in the canyon were not extreme, only in the mid 90’s, so we found this quite doable.  

Jean hiking down the South Kaibab Trail

Our son Dan then came for a visit and joined us for a 4 day/3 night backpack trip in the southeast portion of the canyon.  We descended into the canyon via the Tanner Trail (nine miles with ~4600 ft of elevation loss), traveled downriver on the Escalante Route  and climbed out of the canyon on the Grandview Trail (12 miles with ~4800 ft of elevation gain).

Dan on the Tanner Trail

We were treated to stunning views…

Seen from the Tanner Trail

… and scenic campsites on the river.

 
Our campsite along the Colorado River

But it was a challenging route.  The printed route descriptions were dubbed “Worry Papers” by John because they tended to make me worry; “…a serious fall is a real possibility…” “…missteps should be avoided at all costs…” etc.  The Escalante Route is difficult in places and not for the faint of heart.  It contains long stretches of narrow trail covered in loose rock adjacent to steep drop offs, a descent through a talus filled gully and scaling some steep rock ledges.

 
Jean negotiating a talus filled gully on the Escalante Route

Fortunately route finding was no problem and we didn’t need to use “…well developed route-finding skills…” as it was well marked with cairns.  Views are outstanding and an unexpected treat came after skirting the edge of a narrow side canyon.  The route dropped into it and we then hiked down the often shady canyon toward the river.  We welcomed the respite from the sun and heat and after the overwhelming open expanse of the Grand Canyon this one felt intimate and comforting.

 
Dan and Jean in Seventy-Five Mile Canyon along the Escalante Route

The last day was the hardest physically.  When we initially applied for the permit the Park Service strongly encouraged us via a form letter (AKA the “You’re Going to Die!” letter) to take the shorter New Hance Trail out of the canyon instead of the Grandview Trail because “…trips such as the one…” we had “… planned  too often result in … injury …” and “…occasionally even death.” We were required to provide more information about our experience and acknowledge that we had been fairly warned in order to be issued a permit.  That gave me pause for thought but I needn’t have worried as we later learned that the Backcountry Rangers routinely send the “You’re Going to Die!” letter to everyone planning to hike more than 10 miles in one day.

But the New Hance Trail “Worry Paper” indicates it’s no picnic, as it “…may be the most difficult established trail on the South Rim...” and there is no water available.  Grandview may be twice as long but it is not as consistently steep, it includes a long easy traverse and there is water available in two shady spots on the way up.  We’ve also heard it is more scenic.  Sure it is really steep in places but that is true of every trail climbing out of the canyon. It was a long day, it took us 12 hours, but all things considered we did fine.  The least pleasant part of the whole trip came at the very end when we had to negotiate the crowds at the Grandview Point overlook and parking lot.  

The Colorado River seen from Grandview Point

After Dan went home we did something we’ve wanted to do for a while - hike the canyon “Rim to Rim”, starting on the North Rim descending on the North Kaibab Trail, crossing the river and ascending via the Bright Angel Trail; a total of 25 miles with ~5,800 ft of elevation loss and ~4,400 ft of gain.

The Bright Angel Trail

The logistics are a bit complicated as even though the distance between the North and South Rims “as the raven flies” is only 10 miles it is 215 miles to drive around.  We initially planned to take a shuttle to the North Rim and stay in the lodge overnight however the $350+ price tag changed our mind.  Instead we left our motorhome on the South Rim and drove to the North Rim the night before we planned to do the hike, parked on Forest Service land and slept in our car.

We arrived at the North Kaibab trail head at 5 AM and were shocked when van after van drove up and dropped off groups of trail runners.  We asked one of them if there was some special event scheduled but no, this apparently is now common for weekends in May once the North Rim reopens for the season.  They all quickly passed us and just a few hours later we began seeing the large number of trail runners who had started at the South Rim.

The North Kaibab and Bright Angel trails are referred to as “The Corridor” by Park Service and neither provides a backcountry experience.  It seems more like a city park with drinking water and toilets available at regular intervals, the option to purchase food and cold beverages at Phantom Ranch as well as the large number of people.  We are happy to have done it and feel some pride in our accomplishment but we have absolutely no interest in hiking either of these trails ever again.  It is simply too much humanity for us but fortunately there are many remote trails available.  

 
Break time at Phantom Ranch

We then headed back to the North Rim to prepare for another backpack trip this time in the northwest part of the park.  We did a 4 day/3 night trip on the Thunder River and Deer Creek trails spending our first night at Upper Tapeats Creek (~9 miles with ~4800 ft of elevation loss) our second night at Deer Creek, and our third night on the Esplanade, a broad flat expanse part way back up to the canyon rim. This last night would be in a “dry” camp so we each carried one gallon of water down on the first day and stashed it near where we would camp that last night.  A highlight of the first day was seeing Thunder Springs which improbably shoots out of cracks in a rock face.  Apparently the volume of water was much higher than normal.

Thunder Springs

To create a loop hike the Thunder River and Deer Creek “Worry Paper” indicates there is a “rough, informal trail” that will take you from the mouth of Tapeats Creek down river to Deer Creek.  We left our campsite at Upper Tapeats Creek by 6 AM but the high volume of water from Thunder Springs combined with the high level of Tapeats Creek prevented us from crossing it to access the shorter, easier flat trail on the other side.  Instead we had to take the “strenuous and exposed”… trail that …“should only be used as a last resort”.  We didn’t reach the river until 8 AM to begin the route (~4 miles) down the river and it soon became extremely hot, ~ 100 degrees.  The canyon was like a reflector oven and we found it challenging.  We were forced to adopt the strategy of other desert creatures and seek the intermittent shade beside and sometimes even under rocks. 

We appreciated any rock with enough shade to crouch in 

But we persevered and reached Deer Creek in early afternoon.  Deer creek flows through an absolutely gorgeous slot canyon. 

Deer Creek Canyon

Unfortunately, at least for us, this is a common stop for river rafters.  They can make a very short hike up to an area of the canyon known as “The Patios”, named for its large areas of flat rock and cool shade.  When we finally arrived we were physically spent and all we wanted to do was rest in some quiet shade and soak our feet in the cold water.  Instead we were greeted by the sights and sounds of about 40 people lounging around in most of the available shade or playing in the water.  It was a bit disheartening.  So we continued upstream to our campsite in some trees and found some adequate shade and water.  However, later in the day once all the rafters had left to return to their boats to go to their camps we had the canyon almost completely to ourselves.  Deer Creek forms a waterfall into the river which is supposed to be quite beautiful.  We intended to hike down to see it but the trail was still in the sun and quite hot very late in the day.  We just couldn’t bring ourselves to do it.

At the mouth of Deer Creek. There is a waterfall somewhere below here.

On the third morning the sky was partly cloudy and the temperature decreased as we climbed out of the canyon towards the Esplanade (6.6 miles with 3200 ft of elevation gain).  Later on dark clouds and strong gusty winds led us to consider hiking the rest of the way out.  We continued on for a ways but we eventually found a more sheltered and very scenic spot.

 

The Esplanade

It was such a contrast.  The first two nights had been so warm that we both slept naked on top of our sleeping bags.  On this third night we slept at least 3,000 ft higher and found we both needed to wear all of our extra clothes we had felt silly for carrying the past 3 days; 2 long sleeved shirts, an insulated coat, a hat and long underwear bottoms.  We later heard it had snowed that night on the North Rim 1800 ft above us.  We enjoyed cooler temperatures on the hike out the next morning.

 

We camped 3000 ft higher than the previous night and it got about 50 degrees colder

All of our Grand Canyon photos are on Flickr.

We spent an entire month in Grand Canyon and feel we did it justice.  There are other hikes we would like to do (The South Bass trail in particular) but they will have to wait for cooler weather.  Perhaps we’ll return in the fall.  After leaving Grand Canyon we spent nearly two weeks in Kanab, UT getting caught up with chores, picking up mail, utilizing the campgrounds Wi-Fi and just relaxing (oh, and we created a logo).  Our son Tom will be joining us later this month for a visit and we plan to spend some time in Canyonlands National Park, UT and Mesa Verde National Park, CO.  After he goes home we plan to spend more time in Colorado.

This next bit is just something I’ve been thinking about.

The clock is ticking

I recently celebrated my 57^th birthday and I’ve been feeling old especially my knees.  This is discouraging as there is still so much we want to do now that John is retired.  Our current “wish list” is extensive (and ambitious).  It includes hiking in Peru (not just to Machu Picchu), spending several months exploring New Zealand and Australia, hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada, riding our tandem bike across the northern tier of the US and through southern France, hiking in the Swiss Alps, kayaking the Inside Passage, taking a photo cruise to Antarctica, visiting every National Park and National Monument in the US, and spending more time in Canadian Rockies. 

 

Breakfast with Mt Robson, the highest of the Canadian Rockies

Mt Robson Territorial Park, British Columbia, Canada 

As many require much physical exertion and we’re not getting any younger (especially me) we realize we need to set some priorities.  Of those, the most physically demanding is hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), 2,663 miles done over ~ 6 months, so it would seem it should be at the top of our list.  However, we need to be realistic.  Given the most recent deterioration in my knees I have come to the disappointing conclusion that I probably can’t do it.  John most likely could but is disinclined to do it alone.  One option is for us to do it over 2 (or more) summers but that just wouldn’t provide the same sense of accomplishment (nor the “bragging rights”).  And as we have just so many “good” summers left to do the more demanding trips we have to decide if we want to devote 2 (or more) of them to the PCT causing us to put off others for years. 

So it looks like the PCT will come off the list and this is a hard one for both of us to give up and I feel badly because I am the cause.  In the past when I’ve been faced with doing something challenging if I could conquer my fear and put my mind to it then my body would just go along without complaint.  This is the first time where my head and heart are both willing but my body says “no way!”  When did this change occur? 

It seems like not all that long ago we’d be hiking and could easily pass many of the other hikers on trails.  We passed all of the ones with grey hair of course but we both admired those “older” hikers and enjoyed their cheerful attitudes and their eyes that smiled at us from their weather beaten faces.  They weren’t going too fast and probably weren’t going as far as we were but they were still going.  We were inspired by them.  Then over time more hikers began passing us.  I started consoling myself with the knowledge that we were old enough to be the parents of many of them.

This guy got way ahead of us on the way up Mt St Helens in Washington State
but it was okay because we were old enough to be his parents.  Wait a minute...we are his parents

Early on the day we did the Grand Canyon “Rim to Rim” we were passed by quite a few young, fit trail runners.  They were soon followed by some young fit hikers passed but I was okay with that.  It still seemed like a big deal for people “our age” to hike 25 miles with ~5,800 ft of elevation loss and ~4,400 ft of gain and I was feeling a little proud of myself.  Then we encountered some older dumpier folks who were also doing “Rim to Rim.”  A few even passed us.  And if that wasn’t bad enough we talked to a grey haired, pot bellied fellow with a bushy mustache also heading up the Bright Angel Trail to the South Rim.  After we told him we were hiking Rim to Rim he replied “Yeah, so did we.  We started at the South Rim yesterday and hiked to the North Rim and today we’re headed back.”  Well…I didn’t feel so proud anymore.  I felt discouraged because I knew there was no way I’d be up for hiking back to the North Rim the next day.

Heading down the North Kaibab trail hiking "Rim to Rim"

Intellectually I realize that I need to come to grips with the fact that I will not be able to do everything we have wanted to do starting with the PCT.  But what we can do is scale back our more ambitious goals as needed.  For example, we can do the most scenic portions of the PCT such as hiking the PCT through Washington State.  But the best part of the PCT has got to be the John Muir Trail, 211 miles through the Sierra Nevada Range in California.  This is considered by many to be the premier hike in the US and we were lucky enough to obtain one of the highly coveted permits beginning in mid August.

 Our permit allows us to take up to 26 days to complete it so our pace does not have to be grueling.  And I’ve been told that compared to the steep grade and extreme elevation gain/loss of the rough trails in the Grand Canyon the JMT is a “walk in the park”...  just a very long one at much higher elevations.  Of course it will still be a challenge and a ruling factor will be how much food we carry and the distance between the resupply points.  We’re considering going 10 days without resupply for the final 100 miles.  This would prevent the need to hike 7 miles off trail to the nearest road, then hitchhiking 12 miles into the nearest town and spending a night in a motel before repeating the process to get back to the JMT. We have time for this built into our schedule if need be but we’d prefer to avoid it so we’re planning on just carrying a lot of weight for a while.  So yeah, it will be a challenge but my knees are willing to try and I can’t ask for anything more. 

I also realize I need to come to grips with the fact that I am getting older and feel good about what I can still do.  Last summer we met a fellow in his late 20’s while we were backpacking in Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon.  He told us we were an “inspiration” to him.  Then in the fall a young man we talked to on our backpack trip in Glacier National Park said how great it was to see “older” people still backpacking. 

An "older" backpacker in Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon  

I was taken aback by this initially as I didn’t think we looked all that old.  I don’t have grey hair (I color it to match the sunny disposition I wish I had) and I didn’t think either of us looked all that weather beaten yet.

Fortunately there are no mirrors in the backcountry so neither of us is aware of just how bad

(and apparently how old) we look while backpacking.  Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon

But after thinking about it I’ve decided to feel flattered by what these two guys said because even though I’m not going too fast and I may not go as far as they will but I’m still going.  And when we are out-hiked by grey haired members of our own generation I don’t have to let their accomplishments diminish my own.  Instead I can choose to still be inspired by them.  We talked to another fellow on the Bright Angel Trail and when he found out we were hiking Rim to Rim he said “Wow!”  I then pointed to pot bellied mustache guy and said “Yeah but see that guy over there?  He hiked from the South Rim to the North Rim yesterday and is headed back today.”  Wow!

So yes, my “clock” is ticking but it sure beats the alternative…having a “clock” that no longer ticks at all.  But there is one thing that confuses me.  Even though I’m feeling my years physically, emotionally I feel much younger…like I’m still just someone’s little sister.

 Me with big sisters Linda and Robin and baby brother Vance 

At this point in time it looks like I will just grow old without ever feeling grown up.  But then I got to thinking…so what?  We’re retired so we don’t have to feel like grownups.  Chronological years are irrelevant and our “age” really is a state of mind.  We’re “kids” with adult sized resources, we live in a house on wheels and we’re free to play outside whenever we want!  What could be better?

  

Playing in the Toadstools