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.