The Sound of Your Footsteps on the Trail

The view from the top of the trail head for the Grandview Trail in the Grand Canyon National Park. This view is to the Northwest.

Looking at the starting point with the Moon getting a view of the day in the canyon.

 

Trail on the left side-- some scary stuff here.

The scenery is just spectacular, you have to stop and just take it in.

Near my turn turnaround point there is an old mining works, with a modern sign to warn of radiation hazard. A lot of green rocks scattered about.

 

These are the notes that I took for the hike with my Apple I phone 6.  Some additional info has been added post hike.  But it gives good idea of the exertion required and the amount of fuel your body will burn. I was on the trial for 5 hours and there was 12 people including me on the trail of 6 miles round trip.

 

I was in Flagstaff , AZ this week to visit a tissue mill.  I made my trip long enough to get in a little Canyon hiking, I was too close not to give it a go solo.  I stopped in Phoenix to borrow a walking stick from Linda's Uncle Dan Sinclair and talk about some options for a hike.  I had one day, too short to go the river and return.  In the summer,  a roundtrip in one day is basically as about as crazy as thing that you can attempt in the Canyon.  Too hot at the bottom to get it finished.   He suggested a hike on the Grandview Trail in the Canyon just East of the main tourist center on the South Rim.   Dan had done this trip several years back and had enjoyed the challenge.  It is a true day hike, no access to the river and also no water.  You go as far as you dare and return the same day.  Pretty simple event while you are sitting in the AC at the kitchen table.

 

Since, I was alone for the adventure, I made sure I had the safety bases  covered and could survive a night if something really bad happened.  I took some extra clothes, first aid, a  really bright light, enough water to last several more hours, my road ID,  and extra battery  for my IPhone 6.  I sat down the night before the hike and calculated the water needed.  I allowed 1 liter per hour, just like the Canyon rangers suggest, for a total of 5 liter which gave me 2.5 hours and I would turn around..  5 hours total was my timeline-- I was not going to tempt fate while on a solo.    I also took enough dried fruit, one banana, and two energy bars and electrolytes for the trip.  Food is something that you force your body to do, it is really  not hungry, you put in fuel to burn.  And going up took twice the fuel as down.  I wore my hear rate monitor, that is why you see the calorie burn listed in the diary.  The heart rate monitor is critical coming back up so you can figure out when to rest and eat.  I tried to eat something every 500 calories and I drank water by the clock.  One liter per hour was my target rate. Another little assistant was a new app for my phone.  It is an app that gives your real time elevation.  It was critical to find my location, I could tell by the elevation of where I was on the trial.  I really love this new app for hiking, it will become a critical part of my gear and planning very quickly.   They also suggest getting a good night's sleep before leaving and I think I slept 90 minutes.  I wish I could make myself sleep with big events coming up, but I can not, so I disobeyed on that count.

 

I got up early in Flagstaff and hauled ass to the Canyon going in the East entrance and arrived shortly after sunrise at the trailhead.  Perfect timing to beat the heat.  The park is basically empty at that time and it is just you, a few hardy souls and The Spirit of the Canyon.  More on The Spirit later. I got all my gear on, put sunscreen on anything exposed and that was only my hands and face. .  The clothing is  basically my running gear with a goofy hat to keep the sun off my head and a pack with the water and other basics.  I had never laid eyes on this trail and the maps for the Grandview in my opinion sucked, so I headed for the edge looking for a sign.  No sign posted,  just a trail that looks lightly used and I am off.  Cool bright morning in August to start an adventure.  Another couple was saddling up as I left and I met them near the bottom, see the notes about them. 

 

As I started down, the trail was steep and hard immediately.  But what a view, it is the Canyon and I was looking across at the North rim the entire day.  The trail has had a lot of development with sandstone set as a steep walkway and some stairs made from wood in other areas.  The first section is just steep and my legs were getting a little wobbly from the steps down.  When I could get a little flat section they felt a lot better.

 

I was alone in the Canyon. I stopped several times to listen--nothing.  No cars, machines, planes, wind in the trees--absolute silence. No phone service either.   You can see for miles and no one was there but you and The Spirit of the Canyon. The only thing that makes a sound is your own foot steps.  I have been in the Canyon two other times and each time you climb out over the edge and return to the normal world, I get this incredibly Spiritual feeling.  It is just you and The Spirit in the Canyon.  You are in the Spirits' space, their turf, and hopefully you can come away with a great experience as you are allowed to be part of Spirits' world.  The last two trips I was with other family members and the Spiritual feeling was the same.  When you enter the Canyon, you enter a real wonder that The Spirit created to make sure you know how insignificant you really are in comparison.  The Spirit has scoreboard and if you think you are going to change that fact, the pain will be real, The Spirit is the all time champ.

 

The Canyon is a real challenge in the true sense.  In many ways,  it is my space exploration type event.  It is thrill when all goes well, but there are consequences from failure and the lack of proper prep.   It is normally a team sort of event and is much safer when performed in a group.  But this event was  a solo  challenge in my life.  Sometimes life will challenge you-- divorce, sickness, crazy relatives, idiots at work.  This time I thought I would challenge life.  Challenging life can be dangerous or crazy.  Failure is painful and effects a lot of other people.  But success is a true life event that will stay with you forever.   I will never forget my challenge in the Canyon for 5 small hours.  I got a chance to experience my limits and I think I am better off as a result.