Today's Post (description and pictures) were composed by Levi...
When we started it was 26 degrees and 6:30 in the morning by the time we were at the bottom it was 11:00 and was 96 degrees. My pack didn't seem too heavy at the beginning...We made it to Ooh-ahh Point before we took a break and that was just to take off our sweatshirts and pants. I had my Clif bar about 30 min into the trip -- even though it looked like poop it tasted OK.
We were 2 mi into our hike by the time I normally wake up. Sometime before Skeleton Point someone was listening to a Johnny Cash song and Shae started to sing along. After Skeleton Point there was a series of switchbacks followed by relative flatness. By now my shoulders were starting to feel sore. We then came to another series of switchbacks which lasted until Kaibab Bridge, which spans the Colorado River. [shoulder update, they were beginning to kill me.] We walked about a quarter of a mile to Bright Angel campground. We set up camp at the first available campsite thanks to me. After constructing the tent I proceeded to fall asleep. We hung out at the base, swam in the Colorado and went to bed.
Although we didn't know it at the time our campground is in that grove of trees by the yellow arrow.
The next morning, we hiked on the Bright Angel trail up to the rim. The first half of the trip up followed a Creek for 4.5mi until Indian Garden. During this stretch, whenever we crossed the creek, we would dip our hats in the river and put them on to cool off. I also made the trip more comfortable with pants which I stuck between the pack straps and my shoulders. We had a lunch of meat, cheese and crackers (and leftover pizza) at Indian Garden and refilled our water supply. It was all sand and switchbacks for the next 5mi. It was great to spend time with E, Shae, and Dad, but it was good to see the rest of the family waiting for us at the end of the trail.
When we started it was 26 degrees and 6:30 in the morning by the time we were at the bottom it was 11:00 and was 96 degrees. My pack didn't seem too heavy at the beginning...We made it to Ooh-ahh Point before we took a break and that was just to take off our sweatshirts and pants. I had my Clif bar about 30 min into the trip -- even though it looked like poop it tasted OK.
We were 2 mi into our hike by the time I normally wake up. Sometime before Skeleton Point someone was listening to a Johnny Cash song and Shae started to sing along. After Skeleton Point there was a series of switchbacks followed by relative flatness. By now my shoulders were starting to feel sore. We then came to another series of switchbacks which lasted until Kaibab Bridge, which spans the Colorado River. [shoulder update, they were beginning to kill me.] We walked about a quarter of a mile to Bright Angel campground. We set up camp at the first available campsite thanks to me. After constructing the tent I proceeded to fall asleep. We hung out at the base, swam in the Colorado and went to bed.
Although we didn't know it at the time our campground is in that grove of trees by the yellow arrow.The next morning, we hiked on the Bright Angel trail up to the rim. The first half of the trip up followed a Creek for 4.5mi until Indian Garden. During this stretch, whenever we crossed the creek, we would dip our hats in the river and put them on to cool off. I also made the trip more comfortable with pants which I stuck between the pack straps and my shoulders. We had a lunch of meat, cheese and crackers (and leftover pizza) at Indian Garden and refilled our water supply. It was all sand and switchbacks for the next 5mi. It was great to spend time with E, Shae, and Dad, but it was good to see the rest of the family waiting for us at the end of the trail.
You can't see the Colorado river in this picture --it is inside the slit in the middle of the photo.
2 comments:
Great job on the writing Levi!!! Did you see any of the mules? Dave (15) and I took the mule ride down in November. Our bottoms were so sore that walking back up to the top looked good!
http://malkoffgrandadventure.blogspot.com/2007/11/112807-grand-canyon-mule-ride.html
Hey Leavesman! Great job on the Grand Canyon blog entry. We felt like we were right there with you.
The pictures were awesome, too. Did
you take them or were they Dad's?
Love you buddy!
Amy, Grampaw and Bobo
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