Into the Grand Canyon -- The Adventure Begins

Last weekend Paul began a trip into the Grand Canyon with his brother Jim. The start of the trip was, itself, an adventure.

We were originally scheduled to start our trip into the Canyon Saturday morning. Paul was scheduled to arrive in Phoenix on Friday at 2 PM and then to spend a leisurely afternoon at the Biltmore in Phoenix before leaving for the Canyon. We even had a nice pedicure scheduled (gotta cut the toe nails before hiking down!).

But the Federal government was NOT going to cooperate. As the week went along the prospects of a Federal closure loomed. We learned from the US Park Service was going to close the park at 9 PM Friday. If there was a shutdown, then anyone inside the Park could stay. Those outside would not be allowed to enter. So we made a radical change of plans and beat feet for the Canyon direct from the Phoenix airport.

Little did we know that we were driving into a snow storm. The drive the last hour into the park was a real blizzard with snow making visibility almost impossible . As we tried to climb the hill up to the hotel, our car nearly rolled backwards down the slope. But we made it (and lucky thing too since even though the Federal government did NOT close, the roads behind us were iced in miserably and we might not have gotten to the Canyon the next day anyway). Safely ensconsed in the Kachina Lodge we had a pleasant (non-alcoholic) dinner and went to bed.

We awoke to find that between 10 and 15 inches of snow had fallen. The canyon was beautiful in the snow, but it was continuing to come down as we had breakfast and prepared for the hike. Candidly, both of us were a little nervous.

Our nerves were definitely NOT made any better when we had to make another change of plans. We had intended to hike down the South Kabib trail. But the roads to the trail were no plowed and we couldn't get there. So we had to change our schedule and, instead, hike down the Bright Angel trail -- about a mile longer.

But, in the end, we were ready to go. With 32 pounds each on our backs (our guide, Ryan, was carrying 50!) we began the hike. as you can see, the trail had been broke a little -- but not terribly much and it was tough going. But the adventure had begun!