Grand Canyon Lodge
Our cabin
Top bunk! Just like when I was a kid...
View from Grand Canyon Lodge
Inside Grand Canyon Lodge
There were supposed to be five of us heading back across, but after the first day's efforts, only two of us were feeling up to it. After eating half a breakfast burrito and drinking lots of coffee, it was time to head back across the Grand Canyon. We got moving around 11:30am. But before actually entering the Grand Canyon, we had to hike the 1.7 miles to the trailhead.
And then came the mules. What a nightmare! We were stuck behind this group of people on mules that were stopping to crap and pee every two minutes (the mules, not the people) and it seemed like we were never going to get moving, until finally the leader of the group allowed us to pass. After about 2 or so miles, we were stopped by a ranger who informed us that the water situation had worsened since the day before. Now there was even less water to refill our supply than there was yesterday.
There's more of the trail, way down below...
Thank goodness
We hiked fast toward Phantom Ranch. All I could think was: "Get to Phantom Ranch. There is lemonade there. It is cold, not warm like the water that you are trying not to drink." We finally arrived at Phantom Ranch around 7:00pm, and guess what? The store where they sell lemonade was closed because they were serving dinner! I almost cried. Not really, but I was kind of mad. I ate the rest of my breakfast burrito (and did not get food poisoning) and then was lucky enough that an employee offered to sneak some lemonade out to me and my friend. This is when I almost cried because I was so happy. I gave him a big hug without even realizing how weird that probably seemed.
Now, when we left Phantom Ranch, it was pretty dark. People are funny. When they hear you're hiking across the Grand Canyon in one day, they look at you like you're crazy. And when it's getting late, they ask you stupid questions like, "You know it's going to get dark, right?" It was kind of awesome to hike the Grand Canyon in the dark (but then again, I love hiking in the dark -- some people really hate it).
We took Bright Angel trail this time (not South Kaibab). Bright Angel is a lot less steep, but it adds mileage because it's a more gradual incline.
In the almost dark on the bridge
About 3.5 or 4 miles left. I can't remember.
Probably when there were about three miles left, I started to get really really tired. I remember thinking, "This is the hardest thing I've ever done". My calves felt like cement. Looking back now, I don't really feel like it was that hard, but I know that it must have been or I wouldn't have been having those thoughts.
Down is optional. Up is mandatory.
The lights of Bright Angel Lodge faaaar in the distance.
Another of those warning signs they put near the trailheads.
Done and done!!!
We had seen the lights of Bright Angel Lodge (where we had a room booked) from very very far away and high up above us, and kept getting glimpses of the lights every once in a while when we would turn a corner. I finally turned a corner and there was Bright Angel Lodge, right in front of me! I had made it! It was about 2:00am. I got to the room and pulled off my boots and...yuck...big blister. I didn't know where to get ice, so I soaked my feet in really cold water in the tub, but I started falling asleep and thought I would fall backwards off the edge of the tub, so I decided to go to bed.
And that's the story of my "R2R2R" journey -- which actually probably isn't "official" because it took me two days. You're kind of supposed to do it in one. So, I suppose that is another challenge for me to face someday.
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