Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Theres Something About The Grand Canyon

Jeff and I went to the Grand Canyon with a group of his hiking friends. I went merely as support in case of an emergency. Their plan was to hike rim to rim to rim in under 24 hours but the snow melt had created a torrential stream that they couldn't cross. They went with plan B which was to hike to Phantom Ranch and back which took a mere 10 hours.
I took pictures of them for as long as I could then went on my way.

I visited all of the art galleries and souvenir shops. I bought a book called "The Anthropology of Turquoise" by Ellen Meloy and hiked up towards Hermits Rest looking for a place along the rim to sit and read. I had no idea the hike would be that steep and half way to my destination I dropped my water bottle, the lid broke off and half the water spilled out. Before I could find a nice, safe place near the edge I found a bench, a beautiful, wide, safe bench with a million dollar view. I would get immersed in my book and look up for a second and have my breath taken away by the splendor. How could I forget for one second that I was on the edge of the Grand Canyon?


There is something about this place that moves me. Every time I would stop walking and look out at the canyon I would choke up. Where is this coming from I wondered. I was all alone with hours until the group came back and I thought I would like wandering around alone and reading my new book but I didn't. I missed Jeff and my kids. I decided that I wanted to sell all of my possessions and live at the Grand Canyon and exist like the Natives did all those years ago. Make Indian jewelry and weave rugs.




Around six o'clock I went back to the rock I sat on that morning to watch for Jeff. I waited for about 20 minutes and then I saw him. I whistled and he immediately look right at me. We waved to each other and I headed down. I felt like I hadn't seen him for days. He was happy and still full of energy. We hiked back to the rock and waited for the others. After everyone showed up we went back to the room and celebrated with champagne and beer. Everyone was in good spirits except for one who was slowly passing a kidney stone. He looked pretty bad and went home first thing in the morning.



We woke up to this. It snowed from the time we got up until we were well out of Flagstaff. We had breakfast then grabbed our coffee and headed for the edge. It was a whole new canyon. I could see the snow falling down into the canyon. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Jeff thinks I am capable of hiking to Phantom Ranch and back if we stay over night. With a little training I think he might be right.





1 comment:

Unknown said...

Looks like another beautiful day in the Canyon! I was up there and did Rim to Rim to Rim on May 1st. Our total group was around 50 people with ~20 doing rim to river to rim.

Just curious, was this the stream they were mentioning (on N Kaibab Trl)? or was it on a different trail?
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3765672&l=82d9d8bae2&id=594834482

Most removed their shoes to cross it. Pain in the butt but better than having squishy shoes for the rest of the day!

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