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.

Grand Canyon Day 1 -- From Blizzard to Beaches

Our first day began, as I've noted, in a blizzard at the top of the Canyon rim, after 10-15 inches of snowfall. Only some of the roads had been plowed, as we shouldered our packs and began the hike.

Our goal for the day was the Bright Angel campground, 9 miles away on the trail and roughly 4800 feet down. Down is a particularly hard direction to train for going in! You can do stair master for the uphill climb but nothing really prepares you for walking down hill, except, I guess, walking down hill. We discovered that there are two areas of the body particularly engaged when walking down hill that are a surprise for their involvement -- the hip flexors and the calves. Apparently, the calves are an important part of the downward flex of your ankle. I suppose we "knew" that in some intellectual sense, but that is very, very different from having your calves scream at you and tell you about it.

The snow on the trail went down roughly the first 2000 feet and about 3 miles into the walk. It wasn't just that the snow was bad -- it actually wasn't. But what was far worse was the oozing red mud. As the day got warmer and as we walked down toward a hotter part of the canyon, the snow started melting. And the melt mixed with the bright red dirt to form mud ... and mud puddles to go with them. You haven't truly "lived" until you've stepped in a mud puddle and felt the water ooze into your shoes and soak your socks.

After 3 hours we'd gotten half way down the canyon to a small oasis called Indian Gardens. More about that place tomorrow, as we stopped there to camp on the climb out. But after a quick and tasty lunch (it turns out that our guide, Ryan, is secretly a true cordon bleu chef -- not really, but he managed to do some pretty good things with very limited gear and food. Our first dinner -- ramen noodle stir fry with terriakyi sauce -- was really quite excellent) we resumed the downward hke

On the way down we passed through a part of the trail known as the Devil's Corkscrew. Now, you don't need to know anything at all more about this part of the trail to know that it isn't really the most fun place in the world. Its about 1 mile long and 1000 foot drop and the trail is basically plastered to a side wall of the canyon. It's 3-5 feet wide and on the open side there is .... nothing. Nothing at all but a downward drop. The pictures don't really do the trail justice, but they will have to do for a good description.

Once past the corkscrew we were almost home. Most of the way to the bottom and just a couple miles of walking to get there. But there was one more bridge to cross, so to speak. A real bridge, known as Silver Bridge. Unfortunately, the roadway on the bridge was not a solid road -- just a series of cross hatched steel ribs that you could see through. To be honest, I was more scared looking down through the steel to the raging river below than I was on the Corkscrew -- it's just the way my mind is wired I guess.

But we made it across and too the bottom, there to find ... another surprise ... sandy beaches on the banks of the Colorado River. Of course it was too cold to go swimming -- but the image of going from a blizzard to a beach in 1 day is pretty evocative.

We made camp at Bright Angel and set up the tents. After dinner, we walked over to the Cantina at Phantom Ranch -- a small bar where Jim and I drank a well-deserved lemonade and bought postcards to mail home. One "neat factoid" is that the mail is carted out from Phantom Ranch every day by mule -- one of only two postal stations in America still served by mule rather than by car or foot. When we were done, it was back to camp for a well-deserved rest.

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!

Seattle -- Rugby and Friends

Paul took a short trip to Seattle this weekend. His main reason for going was to watch a rugby game. It was quite an exciting match. Seattle beat Denver by 2 points, and the match ended literally with Denver on the 1 yard line trying to score. The weather was surprisingly delightful -- high around 55, crisp clear and sunny.

That made the vistas just stunning. As always in Seattle, when the weather is good you can look west across Puget Sound to the Olympics and then a few seconds later, you can look east to the Cascades. This was one of those days when you really couldn't ask for better views than this. Plus a nice look at Seattle's iconic skyline and "bingo" you have near perfection.

By far the highlight of the trip, however, was getting to see an old friend, Kevin Wood, his wife, Kelly and their two young boys, Ryan and Galen. You know it is going to be a good visit when the door opens and Ryan greets you with "I have a surprise." You ask "what is it?" and he says "two worms." Perfect.

Ryan is, indeed, a 4 year old pistol -- all boy with energy to match. He looks particularly good in the Batman costume that he wears. Galen, at age 1, is less well defined, but he seems to like laughing. It was a special pleasure to meet Kelly, whom I had not met before. She seems like a perfect fit with Kevin (but I guess they know that already!). They were kind enough to host a dinner at a local restaurant, St. Clouds, where I had a wonderful fish entree. And I highly highly recommend the coconut, chocolate chunk ice cream.

On the whole, a grand time was had.

Sacramento -- Old Town

So, this weekend I was in Sacramento to watch a rugby match. It was a beautiful day in the Bay Area -- temperature in the mid-60s, a cloudless sky, and a beautiful new rugby pitch. The game itself left something to be desired (the final score was 106-0 which even people who don't know any rugby at all will understand is a wipeout), but we can't have perfection can we.

Afterwards, the referee Aruna Ranaweera, and I used Yelp to find the "best bar" in Sacramento. We were directed to the Back Door Lounge in Old Town. I'd never been to Old Town before but the city has a "cowboy" theme to the old town, complete with horses, carriages, hitching posts and a bunch of tourists. It was a hoot and a half.

The Back Door is a "perfect" dive bar. And I do mean perfect. When we wandered in, we were caught up in a "pub crawl" to celebrate St. Patrick's day, amidst a crowd of drunken, singing Irishmen all wearing the green. Great fun.

Aruna and I were joined by two other rugby folks -- Kat Todd-Schwartz and her husband Ray Schwartz, both of whom are larger than life characters. At Ray's urging, I tried a Golden Cadillac, which is a wicked drink made with Galliano, Creme de Cacao (?) and some other stuff. Tasted yummy, but watch the kick. In any event, a joyous albeit slightly inebriated time was had by all.

Katy's in Costa Rica; Paul's Off to Sacramento

Katy is in Costa Rica for two weeks at a Spanish language class. She'll post on that when she returns. Meanwhile, Paul is headed to the West Coast to watch a rugby match -- U.C. Berkely v U.C.Davis in Sacramento. Off to the flight .....

On the Road to Chicago

Well, we've made this trip 3 times in the past month and we've got it down to a science. Door to door from DC to Evanston is 732 miles and it takes us 12 hours and 40 minutes when we work at it. Some highlights and lowlights from the trips:

Highlight: Sunrise over the Allegheny mountains as you head west from DC

Lowlight: The Gateway Restaurant in Breezewood, PA -- why oh why have I 70 and I 76 not been connected with a highway connection?

Highlight: Listening to US history tapes from the Teaching Company

Lowlight: Ohio is very, very flat

Highlight: Finding a Panera Bread outlet in the highway rest stops in Ohio [Yes, not really that high, but the scale is a relative one!]

Lowlight: Gary, Indiana still smells

Really Lowlight: Arriving in Chicago on a Friday rush hour where the express lanes are closed with snow and being at a standstill, totally, for more than an hour

Highlight: Arriving at our own apartment, not a hotel, in Evanston

Real Highlight: Seeing our kids and grandchildren 3 times in the first week.