June 14th, 2010
Rim to Rim Day 1: Roaring Springs, Cottonwood Campground
Day 1 of our trek! We woke at 4:30am and went into a little frenzy in getting ready (I was anyway) so we can leave as soon as possible. I've read all about no hiking during hours of 10am - 4pm due to heat in the Grand Canyons, so I was keen on hiking during those off hours. But getting ready took longer than I expected, we had to cook breakfast, take down tents, repack, put on sunscreen....etc etc. We officially set out at 6:30.
On our way to the North Kaibab trailhead, I felt happy and optimstic about our grand trek across the Canyons, whatever doubt I had about making it across was kept well at bay. When we reached the trailhead of North Kaibab Trail, I felt the need to take a "before" photo, thinking it would be sweet victory when we emerge from the Canyons 4 days later and have our "after" photo.
The hiking went very well for the first 2 hours, we were making good time while snapping lots of pictures. Everywhere you look is amazing scenery from the Canyons, it's hard not to take out your camera and capture it. We did some alphabet games too - from health issues, fruit names to song verses. It was good times.
Sometimes after the 2 hour mark, my big toes started hurting. My hiking shoes were still new so they were hard as rock. On the down-canyon trek, my big toes would hit on the front of the shoes with every step. When the pain got to be too much, I took off my shoes to have a look during one of our breaks. Cathy then helped me put on some moleskin on the toes and bandaged them up. Jennie offered some painkillers, which I gladly took. The combo of the two treatments made me feel loads better and ready to walk again.
When we started walking after the toe wrap break, I had one thing in my mind - relaxing by the creek with my feet soaking in it. It was something that the mule driver had said when we talked to him by the Supai Tunnel. "Your hike is as good as [the condition of] your feet" he said, and he suggested to stop by the creek and relax. I can't agree more.
It felt like a long trek to the Roaring Springs. For about 30 mins after we first spotted the spring, I couldn't see the trail heading down for the spring. When we finally arrived at the crossroads, we had another 20 mins to go before reaching the water. At that point I felt tired, sweat-soaked and in pain. Every step was an effort and I couldn't wait to take off my pack when we reach the creek.
It felt good when I got to take off the pack and even better when I took my feet out of the boots. I was in absolute bliss when I put my feet into the cold stream - hmm hmm heaven! It was all worth the effort.
It took another 1.5 to 2 hours to get to the Cottonwood Campground, I was absolutely ready to drop when we got there. While I sat exhausted on a bench, Hnin and Cathy went to find an empty lot. Turns out that lots of people had arrived before us and naturally took up the campgrounds lots with shade. We eventually took up a spot close to a nearby stream. Cathy and Jennie made their own shade with their tent footprint and trekking poles. We then all sat and enjoyed the fruits of their labor and creativity! A trip to the creek revived me after I wiped all the sweat away. I still smelled awful, but no longer covered in a layer of sweat salt.
Dinner followed and Jennie whipped out her hot chocolate packets and kindly offered them to us. We all laughed at the image of drinking hot chocolate at the bottom of the Grand Canyon in June heat. Good times, good times.
We went to bed early in anticipation of an early hike tomorrow - at the middle of the night I woke to Hnin's effort to bring her sleeping bag inside the tent. When we went to sleep, the ground was still warm from the sun but it grew chilly throughout the night. She was fiddling for a little while so that kept me up, but it was all good -- the night sky I saw from my tent was the most beautiful I've seen in a long time.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Epic Epic Grand Canyons - 2
June 13th, 2010
South Rim, South Kaibab Trail, Transcanyon Shuttle Ride!
Second day started out kind of early, I think we were shooting for waking at 5am-ish but ended up at 6 something. No matter, it was a look-around and relax day anyway. We enthuisiastically re-pack our packs and ate some breakfast. I took out some foods from the pack to lighten my load but I knew my pack still wouldn't weigh less than 35 lbs.
After checking out at the campground, we headed to the visitor's center. At the center, we learned the distressing news that there will be no drinking water down at the campgrounds due to a pipe break, repair date is unknown. Other than that, we got to stamp our books/paper with a stamp and went onto browsing the bookstore nearby.
We then headed to the Mather Point in hopes of catching our first glimpses of the canyon, but unfortunately it was closed due to construction. So we drove towards the South Kaibab trailhead instead. On the way we passed by a scenic view of the Canyon, we immediately ran out of the car to snap pictures of our first views of the Canyon. It was truly magnificent and breathtaking, I felt excited just thinking about seeing more of it in the coming days. After the photo session, we happily piled back into the car and continued onto South Kaibab.
We actually couldn't drive all the way onto the South Kaibab trailhead, so we parked the car at a nearby picnic area and walked to the trailhead. We arrived after walking about 15 mins or so and had ourselves another photo session before heading down the trail. It was a nice and sunny day, it seems that every step we took going down reveals another side of the Canyon - so I snapped pictures the entire time we were heading down.
Our destination was the Ooh-Ahh Point, there would be no signs but apparently we would know when we get there. Boy was the poster right, I knew that we had arrive as soon as I saw the place in the distance -- it was this amazing lookout that seems to offer a 360 deg view of the canyon.
When I headed down the trail, I walked slowly and cautiously because I thought all it would take is one mis-step and I would plunge thousands of feet down the canyon to my death. It turns out when you concentrate too hard on your balance, your body gets tired fast. So when it was time to head back up, I could feel fatigue wearing on me. I started to worry about my physical fitness level for this trip - if I feel tired walking up with no pack at all, what would it be like with a 40 lb pack?!
After getting out of the South Kaibab trail, we headed for the Bright Angel Lodge for a quick meal and a shuttle ride to the North Rim. The shuttle cost about $80 per person and we all got to throw our packs onto the top of the van to make room for sitting inside. Besides our group of 4, there are 4 other people - 3 of them we got to talk and meet on the trail later: Jason, Jeff and Ted. Hap was our shuttle driver and she drove aggressively to get us to the North Rim. I've never seen anyone pulled off a pass when there is oncoming traffic 100 ft away. Besides that interesting/near-death event, the rest of ride we spent napping.
After arriving at the North Rim, we set up camp and walked over to the Grand Canyon Lodge for our dinner. It was a nice restaurant with amazing views out to the Canyon, everybody had tons of food and I even got leftovers to bring back to camp. I also had a dire need for a shower before setting out on a multiple day journey with no showers. Unfortunately I was the only one who felt this way, so I had an interesting/creepy experience showering alone in a big campground shower room at night. I couldn't be happier when a woman came in.
When all is said and done, I got back to tent at around 10ish. Taking lesson from the night before, I put every piece of clothing I've brought on myself before wiggling into my sleeping bag. They kept me warm and asleep throughout the night.
South Rim, South Kaibab Trail, Transcanyon Shuttle Ride!
Second day started out kind of early, I think we were shooting for waking at 5am-ish but ended up at 6 something. No matter, it was a look-around and relax day anyway. We enthuisiastically re-pack our packs and ate some breakfast. I took out some foods from the pack to lighten my load but I knew my pack still wouldn't weigh less than 35 lbs.
After checking out at the campground, we headed to the visitor's center. At the center, we learned the distressing news that there will be no drinking water down at the campgrounds due to a pipe break, repair date is unknown. Other than that, we got to stamp our books/paper with a stamp and went onto browsing the bookstore nearby.
We then headed to the Mather Point in hopes of catching our first glimpses of the canyon, but unfortunately it was closed due to construction. So we drove towards the South Kaibab trailhead instead. On the way we passed by a scenic view of the Canyon, we immediately ran out of the car to snap pictures of our first views of the Canyon. It was truly magnificent and breathtaking, I felt excited just thinking about seeing more of it in the coming days. After the photo session, we happily piled back into the car and continued onto South Kaibab.
We actually couldn't drive all the way onto the South Kaibab trailhead, so we parked the car at a nearby picnic area and walked to the trailhead. We arrived after walking about 15 mins or so and had ourselves another photo session before heading down the trail. It was a nice and sunny day, it seems that every step we took going down reveals another side of the Canyon - so I snapped pictures the entire time we were heading down.
Our destination was the Ooh-Ahh Point, there would be no signs but apparently we would know when we get there. Boy was the poster right, I knew that we had arrive as soon as I saw the place in the distance -- it was this amazing lookout that seems to offer a 360 deg view of the canyon.
When I headed down the trail, I walked slowly and cautiously because I thought all it would take is one mis-step and I would plunge thousands of feet down the canyon to my death. It turns out when you concentrate too hard on your balance, your body gets tired fast. So when it was time to head back up, I could feel fatigue wearing on me. I started to worry about my physical fitness level for this trip - if I feel tired walking up with no pack at all, what would it be like with a 40 lb pack?!
After getting out of the South Kaibab trail, we headed for the Bright Angel Lodge for a quick meal and a shuttle ride to the North Rim. The shuttle cost about $80 per person and we all got to throw our packs onto the top of the van to make room for sitting inside. Besides our group of 4, there are 4 other people - 3 of them we got to talk and meet on the trail later: Jason, Jeff and Ted. Hap was our shuttle driver and she drove aggressively to get us to the North Rim. I've never seen anyone pulled off a pass when there is oncoming traffic 100 ft away. Besides that interesting/near-death event, the rest of ride we spent napping.
After arriving at the North Rim, we set up camp and walked over to the Grand Canyon Lodge for our dinner. It was a nice restaurant with amazing views out to the Canyon, everybody had tons of food and I even got leftovers to bring back to camp. I also had a dire need for a shower before setting out on a multiple day journey with no showers. Unfortunately I was the only one who felt this way, so I had an interesting/creepy experience showering alone in a big campground shower room at night. I couldn't be happier when a woman came in.
When all is said and done, I got back to tent at around 10ish. Taking lesson from the night before, I put every piece of clothing I've brought on myself before wiggling into my sleeping bag. They kept me warm and asleep throughout the night.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Epic Epic Grand Canyon Journey!
Grand Canyon Rim to Rim
June 14 - 17, 2010
June 12th:
It actually starts bright and
early @ 4am. I barely got any sleep and headed to LaGuardia Airport with my doubly wrapped backpack and a lighter daypack. After dad dropped me off, I happily checked my backpacking pack and headed inside. The plane ride was pleasant enough and soon (I feel), I got to Memphis for my connection. After wondering around the airport, I sat down at my gate and waited to board my plane to Phoenix. Out of nowhere, Cathy popped out and said hi. I was very happy to see her and have company for rest of the way.
The ride to Phoenix was in a tiny regional carrier. I felt like I couldn't move and be comfortable. The plane ride was only supposedly to be 3 hours or so, but it felt like forever. Finally at 11:50ish Arizona time, we arrived @ Phoenix Sky Harbor! We soon found our checked luggages and met up with Hnin. After a meal at the airport, we were ready to rock and roll.
Jennie had some trouble with her plan
e earlier in the morning, so she arrived a bit after our lunch. We hurried over to car rental and got on our way after we successfully packed away all our backpacks at the trunk.
June 14 - 17, 2010
June 12th:
It actually starts bright and
early @ 4am. I barely got any sleep and headed to LaGuardia Airport with my doubly wrapped backpack and a lighter daypack. After dad dropped me off, I happily checked my backpacking pack and headed inside. The plane ride was pleasant enough and soon (I feel), I got to Memphis for my connection. After wondering around the airport, I sat down at my gate and waited to board my plane to Phoenix. Out of nowhere, Cathy popped out and said hi. I was very happy to see her and have company for rest of the way.The ride to Phoenix was in a tiny regional carrier. I felt like I couldn't move and be comfortable. The plane ride was only supposedly to be 3 hours or so, but it felt like forever. Finally at 11:50ish Arizona time, we arrived @ Phoenix Sky Harbor! We soon found our checked luggages and met up with Hnin. After a meal at the airport, we were ready to rock and roll.
Jennie had some trouble with her plan
e earlier in the morning, so she arrived a bit after our lunch. We hurried over to car rental and got on our way after we successfully packed away all our backpacks at the trunk.The drive to the Grand Canyon was filled with beautiful Arizona scenery - dried lands decorated by shrubs and cactus to as far as the eye can see. Everything is so flat! Truly sky is the limit here. Everything is so different and so new, I felt happy just by staring out the window and taking in this new pla
ce I am at.
We also stopped for scenic view somewhere along the way, it was then that I realized I had a craving for icy cold cokes and it was to last the whole trip...
After going through some mountains and rain, we arrived at the south entrance! I was excited to see the park entrance booth and the many adventures that it promises in the coming days. The park ranger at the entrance had concerns about whether we spoke English and asked us to not hurt ourselves on our hike. Hmm.
We found our campground after driving through the loops at Mather Campground, it was a nice and quiet spot. We were all in high spirits after arrival, so we happily and quite quickly got our tents set up. We're some happy campers.
Later we found our way to the Cafe on the South Rim and had a scrumptious meal of Chicken Pot Pies and Pasta! (Dessert was a yummy creamy chocolate cake)
ce I am at.We also stopped for scenic view somewhere along the way, it was then that I realized I had a craving for icy cold cokes and it was to last the whole trip...
After going through some mountains and rain, we arrived at the south entrance! I was excited to see the park entrance booth and the many adventures that it promises in the coming days. The park ranger at the entrance had concerns about whether we spoke English and asked us to not hurt ourselves on our hike. Hmm.
We found our campground after driving through the loops at Mather Campground, it was a nice and quiet spot. We were all in high spirits after arrival, so we happily and quite quickly got our tents set up. We're some happy campers.
Later we found our way to the Cafe on the South Rim and had a scrumptious meal of Chicken Pot Pies and Pasta! (Dessert was a yummy creamy chocolate cake)
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