This one is of us at six am .We all look pretty cheery, mainly because we had no idea how hard it was going to be again, and also there was no sense starting out crying.
The sun had barely cracked the horizon and if you look closely you can still see the moon in the sky.
We would be climbing Bright Angel trail which is 10 miles in length and climbs 4380 feet up. Just what some people would call a walk in the park. People who hang around the Grand Canyon, that is.
The sun crept into the sky in a hurry.
And that meant it got real hot, real fast.
On an interesting side note, we came upon this hole in the wall and Addie told us the story about a man by the name of Ralph Henry Cameron who with some partners filed a bunch of fraudulent claims along the Bright Angel trail so they could charge people tolls as they passed by his dormant mines in order to get to the bottom of the canyon!! Interesting business.
Meanwhile as we were walking up the side of the canyon it kept getting hotter,
and hotter.
We had to get out of the way when a mule train passed. If you've followed my blog/emails over the years you know whether it's Mules, Buffaloes, Goats or Donkeys, animals always have the right of way!
We were heading up,
and the mules continued down.
Oh yes, did I mention the temperature also kept going up.
At one point in time someone dropped one of our hiking poles down a couple of stories and Bret hopped down like it was nothing, grabbed it and was back up in a flash, but this wasn't as uplifting as it would have been two days before. By this time us rookies already knew that he and Addie were second cousins to Billy goats or Longhorn sheep and rules of things that bothered us, didn't pertain to them. We were mere mortals and this was starting to hurt.
About halfway up is a rest stop called "Indian Garden", we had something to eat and refreshed our waters, but I think for all of us we were getting pretty tired. It was halfway granted, but it was the easy half and things were only going to get harder as it continued to get hotter.
Yes that is 120 degrees in the little bit of shade that the roof overhang provided and it was still early in the day. Lots of time to get hotter and although I had been trying to keep everyone cheery acting like a clown, even I was wondering, "what have we got ourselves into."
Help came in an unexpected form.
Yep, right out of the blue, who shows up but Ranger Dan. He and another female ranger had hiked up to check some things at Indian Garden and I just happened to see him and called out...."RANGER DAN". I think everyone else in our group at first thought I was hallucinating or suffering from heatstroke but when I pointed him out we all started laughing. He picked up all our spirits, me just because I had got such a kick out of his classes at the bottom, and I think the rest laughed at how much fun I had surprisingly seeing him halfway up the Canyon. There was nothing for it but to get my photo taken with him, I mean we had already got one with him and Joani and by this time I thought we were old friends. Bill snuck off and asked the other ranger if she could give me a junior ranger badge which I think he did to tease me, but truth to tell it will make a great souvenir. Thanks Bill.
While I shouldn't talk for the other hikers, I think we all left the halfway mark feeling a lot better, maybe just for different reasons. Thanks Ranger Dan!
Things ran smoother for a while after that.
But I don't mind telling you it was a long hot day!!
These tracks, that Addie pointed out, predated Dinosaurs, and it helped seeing something so ancient.
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And it finally started getting cooler as we climbed.
And still we climbed. Ahead of us in this photo is the home stretch. By this time we knew we were going to make it allthough the breaks were coming faster and faster as we got more tired, more sore and the elevation was starting to get to us even as the heat was dissipating.
Five of us almost at the top. Joani of course is the love of my life, but the other three you see in this photo, I will always consider great friends, whether or not I ever see them again. (And I do hope to see them again)
The entire group at the top. We were all happy to be at the top, celebrating in our own way. I know I was walking around pumping my fist in the air, whooping and hollering, and a group of total strangers upon seeing us celebrating and finding out what we did, congratulated us and took this photo.
These two, Bret and Addie were smart, efficient, capable, caring and funny. But most of all they were also people who I will always think of as friends, whether I see them again or not.(again I freely admit I hope I see them both again some time)
One more plug to the company they work for.
https://www.oars.com/
The challenge.
The finish line
Garry
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