Day 2: South Kaibab Trail - September 4, 2008

It was glorious to wake up at 6:30 a.m. and pull open the curtains and look out at our first view of the Canyon at sunrise. Wow. We checked the outside temps and dressed quickly so we could go to the El Tovar for breakfast. Expensive and delicious. The coffee was exquisite, rivaling the coffee at Prime Roast in Keene. After breakfast we walked down to the Bright Angel Lodge to register with the folks there for our Phantom Ranch stay. I logged onto a computer and started searching for hotels near the airport - found one - Best Western Airport Inn and made the reservation. This would take the pressure off and we could stay in the Canyon for as long as we wanted on the 9th.

Then we stopped in at the Bright Angel Curio shop. I bought some electrolyte replacement mix and a couple of t-shirts while Nancy bought a fleece jacket to keep her warm on the north rim. Here we met Dick from Illinois - a seasonal worker who lives in an RV and was incredibly helpful and friendly - he gave us lots of inside information about places to hike, cool overlooks, and other stuff. We parted, went back to our room, packed up and brought our suitcases to the El Tovar for them to store until we returned. Then we hopped on a shuttle bus to the trailhead.

We were on the trail by 9:45 a.m., boots tight and our packs - oh my god - our packs weighed a ton. I was shocked - as soon as we started walking I knew I had over packed - what the hell was I thinking bringing a book (a heavy one) and a journal (a couple of pieces of paper would have sufficed). Too late now. I sucked in my gut, tightened the hip belt and stepped out into the day.

The South Kaibab Trail is 7 miles of steep downhill with views every step of the way. No water along the trail. We knew we had to carry our own - another part of the heavy pack issue. I had two liters of water in my hydration sack that was stored in my backpack, a liter of water in a Nalgene bottle, and a liter of Gatorade. I don't fool around with water in the Canyon. It took us almost 20 minutes to walk 100 yards - the beauty of the trail, the flowers and the views and the excitement had us exclaiming aloud and taking pictures every few seconds.

Eventually we settled into a rhythm and started down into the depths of the Canyon. It was like climbing an inverted mountain - first down to the summit and then up to the base. I like that analogy. The South Kaibab Trail runs along the spine of a ridge with little shade and total exposure to the elements and to the Canyon. We were both in heaven with the beauty surrounding us. How could a place like this really exist in the same country that also has the rugged, rocky, rooty trails in the White Mountains where green is the dominant color instead of pale reds, greys, tans, and teals. What an incredible place, this country, to have such diversity of landscape and history. We were walking down to the Colorado River and walking through millions of years of history - history so old that in the context of time the millions of years that the dinosaurs roamed the earth was only 10 days in the context of time in the age of the geology in the Canyon.

We saw a few hikers coming up after doing short hikes down to the various viewpoints. With so much water in my system, I used the facilities whenever they were available. We saw a ranger down at Cedar Ridge and he kept eyeing us until he finally asked if we had a backcountry permit - we said no, that we were staying an Phantom Ranch and he let us go, but not before asking if we had plenty of food and water for the trek down. When we left Cedar Ridge we circumnavigated O'Neill Butte before coming down to Skeleton Point. There we found a perfect lunch spot and our first view of the Colorado River. We took off boots and socks and sat in the shade and ate our apples and carrots and trail mix and anything else we could find. Hungry girls.

We stayed there maybe a half an hour or longer - Nancy's feet were starting to give her some blister symptoms and my toes were not happy at being crunched into the toe box - I shouldn't have worn low shoes - I can't tie them tight enough to the ankle to hold the foot back from the toe box like I can with a boot. No matter - the day was warm and cloudless and we were in the Canyon. Whoo Hooo!

Shortly after we left our lunch spot I started feeling the effects of the constant downhill plunge. I hate going downhill anyway and even though I had fresh legs I felt the effects of the constant braking in my calves, quads and hip flexors - part of it was the heavy pack and part was the steepness of the trail, despite the switchbacks. When pain enters the picture, I usually become quiet and withdraw into myself. While I didn't do a total withdrawal, I did lose some of the excitement I had felt early on. Nancy said she felt strong and I could tell she was good to go. I felt like a wimp and a loser and I hate, absolutely hate, feeling like a wimp.

We checked out every view, even when it meant an extra walk - they were all worth it - absolutely gorgeous. When we arrived at Panorama Point, Nancy wanted to sit - she was mesmerized by the view of the River and the drama of the moment. Unfortunately, I was unable to get out of my own head and allowed the pain and tiredness of my body rule the moment. I didn't want to sit down with my pack on, knowing how hard it would be to get back up, and I didn't even consider taking it off - I wanted to be down and done for the day. What I really could have used was a kick in the ass - Jesus, look at the view and take a moment and sit and absorb it - incredible! But no, I stayed in my head, trapped in my nervous system instead of being in my heart and allowed the pain and exhaustion in my muscles to rule the moment. We didn't stay very long and reluctantly Nancy got up and moved down the trail. As it turned out, this was a critical moment for both of us - she wanted to stay there and be in the moment and I was not able to and she did not ask for the time and I did not allow myself to see that she wanted to stay so badly.

Shortly thereafter we arrived at the black bridge and the Colorado River - it was hot and I was feeling pretty done as we walked the last half mile up to Phantom Ranch. Through my tiredness it felt like a homecoming seeing the familiar corrals and houses and the main lodge at Phantom Ranch. We took off our packs and went inside the cool air to check in and buy some lemonade (Lemmy's). We were assigned to dorm 15 and went off to claim our bunk. Since we were arriving a bit late most of the bunks had been taken so Nancy ended up with a lower bunk next to the door and I was on an upper bunk across from her. The "dorm" consisted of five sets of bunk beds, a sink, a shower room and a toilet room. Not much space for packs and gear. We took off our shoes and put on flip flops before walking to the Bright Angel Creek that flows next to the Ranch where we sat on a rock and put our feet in the cold water. Ahhhh - Nancy's blisters were speaking to her and were very happy to be in the water after a long day of being rubbed. I had brought my leftover Gatorade to put in the creek to cool off and as I was squatting down to put it in, I felt a sharp pain in my left knee. It was so sharp it was nauseating. I immediately stood up and took my weight off it - petrified that something had finally torn in there. But the pain eased away and a few minutes later I was back to normal. That scared me though - my knees have been used hard in my life - my right one had the meniscus removed so it is bone on bone and the left one has clicking and grinding noises that sometimes cause me pain and sometimes do not. I have little time bombs for knees, never knowing when one is going to give out. I felt relieved as the pain ebbed, although I could feel that something had happened and that squatting was not something I should try for the next few days.

After some time by the creek, we decided to go shower and dress in clean(er) clothes. We had reservations for the early dinner and spent the time between the shower and dinner sitting on a bench facing the creek and the walls of the Bright Angel Canyon where Phantom Ranch is located. Watching the sun set behind the Canyon walls was beautiful. Then the bats came out and started feasting on insects - bless them. Dinner was at 5pm and consisted of steak, baked potatoes, corn, peas and carrots, cornbread, salad, and tea or water - dessert was chocolate cake. I ate it all, steak, potato, potato skin, cornbread, veggies and cake. I could almost feel my body processing the food into energy as fast as I could shovel it in. However, the chairs they have for us to sit at the tables are the worst, I repeat, the worst and most uncomfortable chairs I have ever sat in. They are too low and the seats are rawhide interlaced into a pattern of squares - the rawhide has stretched over the years and bowed down - my rear end barely fit and the wooden sides of the chair dug into my already tired hips. I think they keep those chairs so folks will eat fast and get out of there so they can prepare the second meal serving.

After dinner we went back to our bench and stayed outside talking until full darkness descended. Then back to the dorm to get ready for bed. It was only 8:30 when we turned off the light and settled in. We slept ok, not great - strange bed, strange noises, and overtired legs contributed to a less than ideal sleeping night. But we managed to rest until the 4:30 am knock on our door: "It's 4:30 - breakfast will be served at 5 o'clock."