Rough Cuts of Trekking Grand Canyon ...

Here is my rough cuts from the Grand Canyon footages. Let me know if you have any suggestions for making it better.

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.

Day 0.5 of Grand Canyon Trip ...

Date: November 9, 2006

Josh organized a trip to Phantom Ranch, which is in the bottom of Grand Canyon. I've been looking forward to this for months. Of course, I still waited until the last moment to get ready. This means I was desperately double checking and triple checking the packing list a day before our descent date. I was busy making last minute shopping trips and calling my parents to take care of my dog, Cenya. Even with a mandatory meeting at work, I still managed to get ready although I felt really rushed and under prepared. I guess this is what I get for procrastinating. I barely managed to fit my belongs in my Miata's trunk.

I drove to Colby's to catch a ride up to Flagstaff. There are four of us, who are Amy, Colby, Debra, and me. When I got to Colby's, he lifted my backpack to make sure it was not super light. I was already catching flak for packing light. I mean who wants to hike in with bunch of stuff you may or may not need. Besides, I will be carrying about five pounds of video equipment. Sure hope to catch good video footages and photographs.

We left a little after 7 pm. It was a nice little drive up. It was good to catch up and have a little chat. It was really nice to feel a little cold as I got out of the vehicle. We checked into La Quinta Inn, and met others who were already there. It was good to see Pam, Gina, David, Josh, and Cindy since it's been sometime, but there were two people I did not know. They were Janna and Anthony. We hugged and said hello.

Josh decided to go to Walmart to get a last minute fishing license. Colby and I went along. We got a six pack of Alaskan Amber from Bashas' along with a fishing license. We drank and joked in the lobby for a little before turning in for the night.

Four Musketeers Are Back Together ...

One of us got married! Guess who? I cannot remember the last time all four of us were together. Garrick, Karen, Ian, and I (from right to left) are good friends from high school. Yes, the good ole days. Karen and I even went to the same college. It took a wedding to get all four of us together. Most of the time we meet as a pair and on rare occasions as a trio.

Karen married a man named, Chris, last Saturday evening at Phoenix Botanical Garden. It was a simple and elegant wedding. I was very impressed with the wedding, which was a small and intimate ceremony. Bride looked beautiful. She looked happy. I could not be happier. Good luck and much happiness in their future.

I also appreciate Karen for making sure her high school friends were together to enjoy and reminisce. Ian, Garrick, and I were having great fun catching up and laughing it up.

On a side note: Karen's mother introduced me to her friends and guests as a teepeeig hoodlum. Apparently I cannot live down the night Ian, Garrick, and I got caught teepeeing the house of Karen's parents when we were high schoolers. I remember panicking and freezing up when Karen's parents drove up. Luckily, they told us to finish up. I made a lasting impression with my youthful indiscretion, which is funny. At least, it is now.

One Bad Week ...

My apology goes out to my three loyal readers, who probably wondered where the heck are the new posts. I had an acute food poisoning that practically kept me close to my personal porcelain god. I am not sure what I ate, but starting last Monday night I was vomiting, very slight temperature elevation, frequent #2, felt cramping in my stomach, and was very gaseous. I felt much better by Wednesday, and made the mistake of eating solid food. Wow, that was not a good night either, minus vomiting. Thankfully, I am much better this morning. I had solid food last night without any ill-effects.

Chinese Connection

I had a ghost from the past drop in for a visit last week. His name is Dennis. He is a good friend from college days. He went to China as a missionary more than five years ago. I guess Dennis wants more Chinese people to accept Jesus as their personal savior. Personally, I am not sure how I feel about this.

Dennis got married about four years ago to a lady named Grace. She also is into evangelizing. I guess this would make it a family business.

Dennis and Grace are now in US and will attend a seminary in Denver, CO soon. I thought this meant they will be ministers, but they are doing it for their faith. WOW!!!!

On their way up to Denver from Tucson, where Dennis' parents live, they stayed at my place a night. It was nice to see Dennis after many moons. We got along pretty well although I am pretty much agnostic about religion.

His wife, Grace, was very good at speaking English. I was very impressed. In addition, she is fluent Japanese speaker. Doubly impressed. (Side note: I should have asked about how most Chinese people do not like Japanese people per WWII occupation.)

We went out to a Cajun place for dinner. Weather was nice so we dined al fresco. It was a good time.