1998 Grand Canyon, California Trip, part 8

Friday 9/4--uphill 3000', rest houses, mules, people, a shower!
Our final day in the Canyon, I started hiking about 615am. This was the most aerobic of my hikes. Although the pack was lighter from having eaten most of the food, it was still quite heavy because of my camera stuff, and the fact that I’d over-packed. As I trudged along, I was thinking of the line from Princess Bride where the Spaniard asks Wesley, “slow going?” while he climbs up the cliff.

Being the “cheerful” morning person that I am, I got a bit irritated at Maria for being able to bounce up the trail and say cheerful “good morning” to the equally cheerful people passing us as they went downhill into the canyon. Those folks hiking downhill are always so freaking cheerful! Most folks are more grumpy like me when they’re going uphill. In Maria’s defense, she had packed much lighter and more efficiently in her pack, and so got to enjoy the results.

As we got closer to the South Rim, the trail got more and more crowded, especially compared to the North Rim trail. I passed many groups of tourists (more foreign than domestic), and at least 4 mule trains heading down. I suppose I was a tourist, too, but since I smelled bad and looked scruffy, that places me in the category of backpacker, not tourist.

At one point I forgot the rule of thumb to move to the inside of the trail when a mule team approaches. I went to the outside and found a huge mule coming right at me. I had to half-dive out of the way to avoid being trampled. Whew. I almost had to do the same thing with many day-hikers, most of whom were ignorant of the “please yield to uphill hikers” rule of etiquette. I tried to be gentle when I shoved them out of the way!

The two rest houses along Bright Angel trail were nice...good places to hit the restroom, take the pack off, and eat a bit. The North Kaibab trail had no such comforts along the way. One negative about the hike out was that I kept running into this one backpacker with a very sour disposition who kept complaining about the ”%@^# tourists” who always get in trouble hiking. While it’s true that each year lots of people do get in trouble hiking in the Canyon each year because they’re not adequately prepared , but geez, this guy seemed to really be letting it ruin his day! We’re on vacation, right? It wasn’t like he was having to personally rescue anyone along the trail that day. I also got some good pictures along this trail of my compadres and of the Indian Garden campground, Plateau Point, and the lower portions of the Bright Angel trail far below.

Then, about noon, it was time for the victory dance after successfully making it out to the South Rim. I had never jogged more than 5-6 miles before that trip, so I don’t know how finishing a marathon feels, but exiting the Canyon was elating. It felt like the day that I turned in my master’s thesis. There were high-fives all around, then it was off to the showers! Because each campsite during our hike had a spigot of running water, I was able to keep a bit cleaner than if it were a true 5 day wilderness hike; however, there was still a lot of stink to remove. We cleaned up, then went to the gift shop to get a few more souvenirs. The drive back was a blast...lots of laughter, finishing off in Flagstaff with some heavy food at an Italian restaurant. I think I spilled some red wine on my “Rim-to-Rim” shirt.

We got back to Phoenix and said our goodbuys, although we did see each other 5-6 weeks later to have a short reunion in October 1998 for a trip review/picture party. Thanks to Cathy and Jim for helping to arrange one of the best hikes of my life, and to Alfonso for putting me up for 3 days!