Grand Canyon Day 2 -- The Easy Half

Having gone down to the bottom of the canyon in a single 9-mile day, our plan was to take two days to hike back out. The first day going up was going to be the easy day, and so it was. We went up only about 1500 feet and took only about 4 hours. Of course it wasn't a "piece of cake" walk -- we had to go back up the Devil's Corkscrew. And if you think going down was hard ... well, up was much more difficult. At least it was a sunnier and warmer day.

Actually, in some ways this day was the most enjoyable one of the whole trip, at least for me. When we got up to the camp at Indian Garden it was just lunch time. After another pleasant meal ... I took a nap. Jim and I went out and found a warm rock that was heated by the sun, and just lay down to relax. Jim listened to his tunes and I had a short snooze. Heaven.

Later that afternoon we went for a 3 mile walk, out to Plateau Point and back. It is amazing how easy it is to walk on flat ground (no hills) and without a 32 pound pack on your back! Plateau Point is a magnificent overlook, perched about 1500 feet above the Colorado River. Below is a short video I took from up on the plateau that gives a nice sense of the panorama.


After we got back to camp we had a pasta and pesto dinner and then we went to hear a Ranger talk on the "myths and mysteries" of the Canyon. The most notable of them was the story of a married couple that took a honeymoon ride down the Colorado River in the 1920s. They were last seen on the river just below where we were at Phantom Ranch. The boat was later found floating, but empty, down the river The wife disappeared, and the story goes that she might have killed here abusive new husband and walked out. But she was never seen again ... spooky.

That night was notable for only one thing -- how amazingly cold it was. Even though I wore 4 layers of clothing and was inside my sleeping bag (allegedly good down to 32 degrees) I actually woke myself up with my own shivering. Brrr ..... And it didn't help that the next day's climb would be much, much harder on little sleep.