I got up at about 6:45am this morning after having fallen asleep at 7:00pm last night! Don't worry, I managed to get out of my tent before falling asleep to pee and lay down for a few minutes to look at the stars, which were beautiful. I think people way too often forget to look up at the stars, partially because these days so many people have never experienced them due to all the light pollution and whatnot. Remember to look up when you go outside. The immensity of the night sky never fails to amaze me. It always makes me feel so small.
The other interesting thing that happened last night was that the ranger who came to check my permit had worked for Outward Bound for 15 years at various schools before joining the park service. He was quite the talker, and I didn't think he was going to leave. We didn't know anyone in common, but I love it that Outward Bound can connect complete strangers!
But back to today...I broke down my camp, ate some breakfast, and was on my way by 7:36am. The majority of the first part of my hike was right along the Colorado River. By the time I turned the corner to start hiking away from the river and follow Bright Angel Creek, I had stripped down to my shorts, vest, and long-sleeved shirt. It wasn't too long after that that I lost the vest and popped in my headphones (yes, I know...it's cheating and taking away from experiencing nature by bringing my iPod, but I only had one earbud in and I needed a little extra fun to hike out of that canyon which was provided in the form of The Band Perry on repeat for five hours...It just felt like appropriate music for my trek out, and positively, now I know all the words to the songs! Well, sort of. =)
I saw a few other people as I hiked along, including a group of three older women I had briefly spoke with yesterday. They were so sweet and impressed that I was doing this trip all on my own. One of them thought my pack looked "horrendous" and offered to carry some stuff for me. I politely declined. The other woman told me I was a "cutie," and the first woman told me my "smile needed to be broadcasted everywhere." Made me smile more. And, not gonna lie, gave me a bit of an ego boost.
Oh! I almost forgot. Shortly before I met up with them, I had to cross several small creeks by carefully stepping on rocks that were above or partially submerged in the water. I was able to successfully make my way across without falling over or getting my feet wet (Keen boots score again!). I felt pretty "G" (as my kiddos would say...it means "gansta" for those of you who do not hang out with little 14-year old wannabe thugs on a regular basis); although, it really wasn't something to be that proud of. I was just happy I didn't fall on my butt.
After passing the trio of ladies, I came to the Indian Garden Campground where I was originally scheduled to stop for the night, but seeing as it was only 10:00am, I decided to push on and finish the remaining 4.5 miles that day. I talked with a couple while I filled my water. They were amazed I was in shorts and a long-sleeved, then laughed and said it made sense when I told them I was from Wisconsin.
It was so fun getting to talk to people along the trail. Everyone (well, most everyone, but especially the people hiking to and from the river) is so friendly. Makes me want to be more outgoing and talk to more people I don't know! =) Don't worry, Mom, I'll be smart about it.
From the Indian Garden Campground, it is another 4.5 miles to the trailhead/rim of the Canyon. This part of the hike is composed almost entirely of switchbacks and quickly began tiring me. I aimed for 30 minutes of hiking before stopping, but that quickly turned into 20 minutes, give or take. More than anything else it was my back that hurt the most. It's kind of like riding a bike: once you spend enough time on your bike, your shorts stop growing teeth...same with a backpack, although it doesn't grow teeth, it just gets heavier.
I made it to the 3-mile resthouse (it's 3 miles from the rim) and stopped for my second snack of the morning and water before pushing on to the 1.5-mile resthouse. By that point, there were considerably more people headed down the trail on dayhikes, many who did not seem to be properly equipped with the correct shoes or water or the realization that when went down the trail had to eventually come back up...and that it sucked!
The last 1.5 miles was excruciating. The top never seemed to get any closer. I kept to my 20 minutes of hiking then stopped to rest and drink water for a few minutes. Sometimes I think I drive myself too hard. I would never have been able to move at the pace I did if i had been with someone else (well, maybe but they probably would have made me stop for longer than 3 minutes at a time in the interest of physical well-being and sanity).
I had been dripping sweat since the 3-mile resthouse, and since the sun hit the southside of the Canyon last (which was the side I was hiking out on), sitting in the shade for too long automatically led to chills, so it felt better to just keep moving.
The last 1/2 mile was the longest 1/2 mile of my life. One family stopped to talk to me about where I had hiked from that morning, assuming I was with other people. When they found out I was alone, they were so impressed and the mom, just like my mom would have, said, "You go girl!"
I finally made it to the top at 12:46pm, 5 hours and 10 minutes after I started. Not bad for hiking 9 miles uphill with crazy elevation gains. (And, of course I had to do the math, the park says that it will take you twice as long to hike out of the canyon as it does to hike in. Well, the day before I hiked 7 miles in 3.5 hours, or 210 minutes, which means I was averaging 1 mile every 30 minutes. So, if I had hiked 9 miles down the Canyon, it should have taken me 4.5 hours, which means it should have taken me 9 hours to hike out of the Canyon today. But I did it in 5 hours and 10 minutes. I think you can do the math from there...basically Me = Awesome...haha)
I was (and still am) crazy proud of myself. I felt (and still feel) like the confident badass I was before things fell apart this summer. I feel like I've really embraced life lately and have done a lot of things I kept saying I would or wanted to do (like the Mud Run) but just never did, mostly because I was scared. I feel so empowered and happy right now.
With no fanfare or applause, I walked the additional 5 minutes to my car where I promptly called my mom and dad before turning on the heater to eat lunch (I was so hungry!) and creatively put the majority of my stuff away without getting out of my toasty warm car.
Feeling absolutely gross (at this point I had been 4 days without a shower which, truthfully, isn't that long for me), I went to the Mather campground showers where I took the most magical $2, 8-minute steaming hot chocolate....(haha! I actually wrote that in my journal! "steaming hot chocolate" instead of "steaming hot shower"! Guess that's because I was drinking "steaming hot chocolate" when I wrote this). I had quite the heap of dirty clothes, so decided to do my laundry while I was there, too. After my laundry was done, I pulled out my computer and external hard drive to put all my pictures on. I think I took close to 130 pictures just at the Canyon! I'll have to do my best to keep that up over the rest of my trip.
I'm sitting at the General Store's cafe right now drinking hot chocolate. My legs, butt, and back are incredibly sore. It's going to be rough going tomorrow, but so worth it.
As my mom likes to tell me, "You ROCK kiddo! You ROCK OUT LOUD!" Lots of love, Me =)
3 Things 1.The Band Perry = amazing. 2. Mud runs are CRAZYfun (Yours gave me the idea and I did the Tough Mudder). 3. You ROCK OUT LOUD...is there any other kind. I'm inspired.
ReplyDelete