I am pretty sure I only got maybe 2 hours of sleep on this night in the canyon. It was nice being out in the open, that was not a problem for me. I could not even hear the boys snoring, due to the running creek near our bed, again that was amazing, but I could not sleep. It was just a struggle for me to get comfortable in this 90 something degree oven, but I was exhausted, so finally my eyes would close...and I was walking along the trail the previous day when I slipped near the edge, and fell...and right before death, I would bolt awake 10 minutes from the last time I was awake. Over and Over again, I would continue to fall to my death, till finally, I had to pee. So I walked down to the bathroom, and back to my mat, where I would continue this cycle, till probably around 11:30ish, I finally stopped falling to my death, but instead was awoken by the alarm of 1AM.
It was somewhat of a slow moving morning, as packing up camp at 1am is new to us, and we had our red lights on to ensure we did not blind ourselves or anyone else crazy enough to be up. I remember eating a soggy tortilla, and some melted gummies (the arizona gummies handled the heat ok, but NOT the welchs gummies, just a pile of goo). While my shoulders had been throbbing with pain the day before, as I placed my bag onto my back, perhaps I was numb by then, but the pain had subsided a bit. And at 2AM, we left the bright angel campground with Sam leading the way, and three small 500 lumen headlamps wandering along the trail. Passing over the bridge in the dark was creepy. You could hear the might Colorado flowing beneath you, but the light didn't even get close to seeing that water. Then we took a quick stop on the other side of the bridge. I could tell from Sam's gait, that he was already hurting, and his removing then resetting his shoe let me know that a blister was forming. I also could feel a blister rubbing at the back of my foot, so I also took this opportunity to loosen (yeah, that works better for me) my boot and rearrange my sock.
Then we set out on the painful sandy 1.5 mile trip to the bathroom that would finally begin the continuous upward slope to the top of the canyon. But then Sam stopped once again..."I left my sunglasses at the campsite". It didn't take much convincing, but Davis and I quickly told him that those glasses were gone at this point. I could see it in his face that he wanted to go back, but he also knew it was not a good time to turn back for anything. Sam led the way back, but almost this whole return trip I moved up to the number 2 spot, while Davis took the rear. Davis would tell me later that he just had to keep my pace to get back up, no need to get ahead. He would also tell me about the large scorpions that I stepped right next to a couple of times. Then I heard from behind me a voice, and it sounded panicked..."Dad, how close is that first bathroom". I did not know for sure, but knew we had to be close, so I told him "5 minutes", and then we rounded and corner, and there it was. Davis' stomach was rumbling, and he barely made it to the stop, but I was glad that "5 minutes" was accurate. I hated this for him, as I have had similar issues when running, and well, it is just bad.
Waiting for Davis at this stop, we quickly had to move back to the redlights, because the bright lights were attracting EVERY BUG in the entire canyon. I mean seriously I ate two bugs, and one about blinded my already red right eye. It was an all out attack. I was able to get some medicine for Davis hopefully to help him on this climb in the dark. The secret to all of these major adventures, where you don't want to have any bathroom issues, is Imodium. I learned this at an early age after the infamous chicken in Denver, you take enough imodium, you can just take care of things in a few days. But Davis seemed better, and off we went to that 600 foot climb that was so terrifying in the daylight.
Davis was still struggling with his stomach, and also lost all light from his headlamp, so we stopped for some new batteries. Then as we were stopped in the dark as he was adjusting his batteries, Sam said "Hey, look up there"...and way up there at the top of our climb, we saw two other small light...SOOOO high above us that it did not feel real. Apparently a small group of 2 got out a little before us on this morning. This hike up was difficult, the shift from knees and shoulders to calves and hamstrings was significant. But it was the sights like this all along this hike that were mentally shocking. You want to look up, but that is painful, because it is always higher than you expect. Sam was clearly the best in shape of us three, and led us well through this first big climb. He set a good pace, and when we made it almost to the top, he found a good open spot to sit down and rest. But it was in this spot, that Davis stomach began rumbling again, and with no hesitation, he grabbed his toilet paper and started hiking off trail to find a place to mark his territory. I had to look at this spot on google earth later to see what a perfect spot it was...but it was the one place on this trail where the canyon actually went deep off of the wall probably up to another big wall going up. Sam and I sat there waiting for Davis. It is his story to tell as to how he found a spot, a funny thing about his shoes, and positioning that I don't want to even try to explain, but captured here to prompt that question. All I know is that I was proud in that moment. Don't think I was prepared for something like that when I was 16, but he handled it in stride. I guess I should have been worried about the mountain lions, scorpions or snakes, but there was a large drop to my death about 6 feet away also, so I guess you choose what you want to worry about.
Ok, enough about taking a dump on the side of the Grand Canyon, but seriously, out of the thousands of people hiking that trail, I bet his story and experience in the dark is one of the best. Back on the trail we continued to climb, and then as we finally started seeing some light around 5AM, we made it to the Indian Gardens. We had made it through the creek in the dark, this time trusting that we were on the trail. And thankfully, Davis stomach had finally settled down. Although, we did take some time at the Gardens rest area, prepping for the long climb out. We also shared some Lords Supper Thoughts, and took those emblems in this location. We talked about our walk and pain on this trail that we did as part of our vacation, but our Lord's pain and suffering on that trail to calvary done as a sacrifice. Can't find too many better places to reflect on God, his glory, and his plan for us. We did meet one girl here, the first coming out way, as she was there to meet a friend that was hiking rim to rim, with plans to hike back up with him. She took our picture on the giant stump below.
We then left our final somewhat flat rest area, to climb the remaining 3000 foot to the top. Don't look up! It was on this stretch, that we found that we could not keep up with Sam, he hung with us in the dark, and kept us moving thru a difficult first stretch, but on this next section, we would have to stop several times. I have been on the prep hikes with Davis, and he can handle stuff like this really well, but I know his stomach issues, and the mentally grueling climb was getting to him. He began complaining about the steps, and I knew it was in his head at that point. The switchbacks just before the 3 mile rest house are flat out difficult. It was here I felt the blisters starting to swell in my right foot. But with all the weight shifting away from my knees and shoulders, the up climb was always something I was better at in running, and while each step was painful, it was manageable.
Sam had waited for us at the 3 mile stop, but quickly left us again. Each section as we got closer to the top was even harder. I think the distance between the 3 mile and 1.5 mile was about 5 miles, then to the top was another 10 miles. It was painful. I would rather keep moving through the pain, but knew Davis needed the breaks, and you would not see me complaining about the breaks ever. When we finally hit the 1.5 mile and realized Sam had been waiting for like 20 minutes, I told him to get this one last picture (We got a lady that had been hiking from the bottom following us slightly) together below the rim, and then told him we would see him at the top.
After what felt like forever, we finally reached the 1 mile tunnel. Then a series of switchbacks with what excited us, but ended up being a false top, it was just the top of one small section, but when we rounded the corner, we saw yet another series of switchbacks. I had some cell service by this time, and kept sending magan updates while she was at church...we are at 5 mile, 3 mile, 1.5 mile, 1 mile...we are almost dead. She could see the exhaustion in me and Dave's face. And after the 1 mile tunnel, I was ready to get out of this stupid canyon. I did not want to ever set foot in this canyon. It is a horrible horrible place and I just want to leave. I was just as tired as Davis, but had reached just a mad stage where I seriously think I could have started jogging to get out of this torture chamber. But Davis needed to stop, so we would stop in any shaded area I could find. Then one time, I looked over at him sitting on this rock in a small shaded alcove, completely asleep. In hindsight I should have gotten this video, and we have laughed at this story, but now I will share the truth, I was irritated and ready to get out, so I nudged him awake, and with my irritation pulled down inside, I said "Com'n, we got to keep going" (you will have to ask him if it was in my patient dad voice).
Then we turned a corner, and I saw it. I saw the tree where me and Sam and Davis and Grandad had stood and took a picture. This was the point that we had made it too. I pointed up high to show Davis the 0.1 mile tunnel ahead of us. We were about to stop again, but I told him we are this close, we have to keep going. And we did. I slipped ahead of Davis. We passed the Kolb Studio trail section but continued to the traditional entrance of the trail. Sam was there at the top. He had been napping but tracking our progress on Life360 (haha, modern technology), and knew we were almost there. He got a video of me then Davis reaching the summit. We were back on top! The pain went numb for a bit, while we chatted with a lady who asked about our adventure, and we were happy to share for the first of many times to others. She also was kind enough to take this first picture below about 5 minutes after our hike had come to an end.
After throwing our bags in the van, we did wander around at the top for a short time, purchasing a book on the phantom ranch, and Davis' shirt he wanted the day before. But we were done with the Grand Canyon. We were all three walking funny, due to muscles on the verge of cramping up at any moment. Then we had to get to Flagstaff for our hotel that night. And that meant the horrible 60 minute drive down to the interstate. Sam was the most rested, and I knew I would need a nap or something before driving, Davis was back to smiling and being is same silly self. So the plan was for Sam to drive, and Davis to keep him awake (they both got much more sleep than I did), and I immediately fell asleep in the back. Then I woke up about halfway to the interstate, and looked over to see Davis' sleeping head falling all over the place. Apparently he was awake enough to take a BeReal, then he passed out. I tapped Sam and asked if he was ok, and he was fine. But I started chatting from the back to help keep him alert, and after a gas station bathroom break, I took us for the final few miles to our hotel.
It was so nice to be back in AC. I let the boys hit the showers first, while I cleaned out the van a bit. Then I went in for my shower. And then all three of us slept from about 1PM to about 5PM. Then we hopped (It was more like we hobbled, our muscles after that nap had almost completely locked up) in the car for what we had all been waiting for...Cracker Barrell. We ate and we ate. And since the next morning would be an early morning out, we ordered some ham biscuits and some biscuits in gravy for the morning. I drank about 4 glasses of sweet tea. Life was good. We went back to our hotel, which smelled much like the Purina dog food factory that was right next door...and the smell went all the way down the hallway, but luckily was not in the rooms. We all shared views of the blisters we had collected, but I was kind enough not to include those pictures below. Sam and Davis' ones on their heels were nasty. My entire two smallest toes on my right foot were complete blisters. An episode or two of shark tank, then it was time for bed.
We had done it, we had hiked 20 miles in two days, climbing 5000 feet of elevation. We had crossed the Colorado River. We hiked the Grand Canyon. The only hike I have ever done even close to this was the Vernal Falls hike that Sam and I did in Yosemite, but nothing as unique as these last two days. I found myself thankful that I had NOT been able to go a few years back when it was planned with Granddaddy and my brothers....because I don't know if I would ever want to do this again. And I may have not had any desire to go again. But here, I was with two guys that have truly become good friends to me. Sure, I still see them as my goofy kids, but on this trip, and in that canyon, we were just three guys on an adventure together. I hope they will both read these stories one day and say the same about dear old dad...maybe I will be having another coughing fit in the other room because I tried to sit up and take a drink of water at the same time.
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