Day 1 of Grand Canyon Trip ...

Date: November 10, 2006

The day started early for everyone. Wake up calls came at 5:30 am. We started changing into our backpacking gears. Some of us wanted to take a last shower prior to our descent this morning. I did not see the point.

We went down to eat our free breakfast which included waffles. Yeah, WAFFLES!!! We all ate one each. Our last two group members showed during our breakfast. They are Nick and Amanda. Nick looks just like Josh. Nick is thinner and blond version of Josh. Wow! It turns out they are brothers.

After breakfast, we looked over our belongs and divvied up a little. I thought it is a great idea to divvy up communal items. I did not want just a few to bear the brunt of carrying things. Some still carried much more than others.

We drove in four vehicles to Grand Canyon, which was about 1.5 hours away. Again the drive seemed short. Amy, Colby, Debra, and I were in one vehicle, and we made it to the backcountry reservation office first. We waited for others to arrive. It took others sometime to arrive, which was weird because they drove just behind us most of the time.

It turned out they were making arrangements for dinners and mule transportation. Thanks to Cindy, I got a reservation for a steak dinner at Phantom Ranch. Yeah, Cindy! Pam made an arrangement for some of her stuff to be carried out by a mule. Good for her!

We, all thirteen of us, looked over our belongings and divvied up one last time to be fair. We also decided to weigh our bags, so we knew how much we were taking in. Colby came in first with 52 pounds, Pam came in last with 25 pounds, and I was in the lower end with 33 pounds. We asked Colby to share some more of his stuff with us. I felt better afterwards.

After two natural gas powered bus rides, we were ready to descend via South Kaibab trail around 11 a.m. Our spirits were high. We did not all climb down together as a group. Rather we just walked at our own pace and freely formed little groups. It worked well as no one should have felt any pressure to keep up.

We stopped to take in fluids and nourishments at two rest areas along the way to Phantom Ranch. Colby shared his smoked Gouda and peppered salami (insert your joke here). I would say he shed at least one pound of food from sharing. Smart move! I always say, "eat your own food first." I know people are always happy to share their food toward the end of any trekking trip.

When we got to the second rest area, our group ran into a couple who desperately needed help. It never occurred to me that they were going to stay there. It is good thing Josh and few others inquired and decided to help them. The couple hiked with one less backpack as four or five our group members divvied up the load. What a bunch of good people! Good karma should be coming their way!!!

I do remember asking the lady of the couple how she was, but she did not reply. I felt bad after the others helped her. I should been more proactive about asking and helping. I also thought I need to make sure I can be hike down before I can help others. What a bunch of garbage! I should have asked. Bad karma must be coming way, I can tell.

I thought to myself as I walked the trail that everything looked familiar. Surprisingly, I remembered many of the scenic views from the last hike. Sights and sounds are awesome!

It took us nearly five to six hours to hike down. What is with the one hour range? Well, some of us are faster. I was happy to finally take off the hiking shoes. My toes were hurting so much so I thought I would get blue toes the next day. Everyone was hurting from the steep steps, which were very prominent during the last part of the hike down. I, personally, felt my quadriceps shake as I took steps down. Ouch!

Everyone wanted to set up their tents first thing. It is a good idea since the sun would soon go down, which is about 5 p.m. I did not care as I planned to sleep outside. After setting up tents, we boiled water for our dinners. We all ate our freeze dried dinner. Mm! Freeze dried goodness. My chili mac with beef was not great. It was crunchy even after the prescribed cooking time. I suppose I could say al dente, but that would be a lie!!!! Everyone seemed to enjoy their dinner, but I know we all looked forward to the steak dinner the next day. I told everyone how great the steak dinner was the last time I was in Phantom Ranch.

We walked over to the ranger's talk after the dinner. I remember sitting down and listening to the ranger "Pam." She started to talk about the creatures of the night. I dozed then something about bats. I dozed again then something about ringtail cats. I dozed yet again then thank you for coming. Before walking back to our campground, some of stopped for a beer each. Mm, Tecate! I believe all of us slept soundly. At least, I did.