Day 4: Rest Day - September 6, 2008

I woke up pretty stiff and sore. My downhill muscles were starting to heal and my uphill muscles were sore. All in all, the keyword was sore. How can someone as fit as I am get so sore? It must be genetics. It certainly is frustrating. Nancy was a little tired; her biggest concern was her feet - no boots would touch her feet on this our rest day. We both put on our Tevas and went to the Lodge for breakfast. We got the buffet - Nancy because she wanted another shot at their famous homemade granola and me because I wanted a little of everything. Sara was our wait person - she was great - a born leader - sure of herself, perfectly in tune with Nancy and me - she was an early morning treat.

After breakfast we headed back to the cabin to figure out what we wanted to do and grab our day packs. I can't remember what it was we were going to do but as we walked across the street we saw a crowd of people gathered around a Park Ranger who was giving a walk/talk. We decided to tag along. Why not? We had all day. So we hooked up in the back and quickly realized that we just could not walk that slowly, so we moved up to the front. The Ranger talked about the Ponderosa Pines - their special vanilla smell and their ability to withstand fire. Fire is a big deal in this area - I saw lots of signs of fire - some fires were caused by lighting and some were deliberately set by the Forest Service - but the Ranger made it clear to us that there is no such thing as a controlled burn - you try and contain it, but there is no control.

We saw some lightning damage and insect damage and how if the cambrium (that's the inner layer just under the bark and the only really alive part of the tree) is damaged, usually the tree dies. Fuel for more fires. I love the Ponderosa Pines. They look like they belong there. I felt like I was really in the west when I saw them. We walked along the Bridle Path and stopped at an area where there were lots of rocks with fossils in them - he talked about some of the geology and I admit that I really didn't listen closely. We finally moved along and found ourselves overlooking Transept Canyon - the North Rim Lodge overlooks this canyon and it feeds into Bright Angel Canyon which is the canyon we hike through to do the rim to rim. We listened to the Ranger speak and answer questions - he was a pretty opinionated guy - and impressed with his own self. Kind of a turn off, if you ask me.

We walked back to the Lodge and sat on one of the terraces facing the Canyon, feet up, side by side, the warm morning sun bathing us and the stunning beauty of the Canyon before us and as far as we could see. Nancy wasn't content just to sit - she had been talking about the idea of begging, borrowing or stealing a car to go see some of the north rim vistas. We hadn't found that vehicle yet so she decided to go ask the front desk if there was any kind of tour bus or shuttle to take hikers to these viewpoints. She was driven - it was like she just had to do this - had to try everything - could not give up. Tenacity, that's what I would call it. Nancy is nothing if not tenacious. I sat in the sun and waited and waited and waited and waited. I was content and my usual hyper vigilance was far from consciousness so I didn't really start to wonder until maybe 20 minutes had gone by, and even then it was more of an idle, "Wonder where she is," than a full fledged, "Where the hell is she?"

When she returned she was out of breath and excited - I listened to her story. She had gone to the front desk to ask about possibilities and was told that nothing existed, but she could go check at the Ranger Station. She went there and they told her there was nothing, not enough hikers to warrant a shuttle, so we left and walked out front. That's where she overheard some folks talking about Imperial Point. She walked right up to them and stepped into the conversation to listen. I could see it in my mind's eye - Nancy standing there, looking interested and not feeling to the others like an intruder, but there for a reason, as if she belonged there. She introduced herself to a guy named Mike who it turned out was the trip leader and field geologist for an Elderhostel Trip out of Northern Arizona University. They immediately hit it off and Nancy found out the tour bus was taking some of the Elderhostel folks to Imperial Point for lunch and views. Nancy asked if we could come along and Mike said, "Well, let's see how many lunches we have on board - come help me count them." They opened the belly of the bus and counted the lunches - there were two extra - Mike turned to the driver, Chuck, and asked if he thought we should be invited along and he responded by saying, "As long as they don't mess up my bus."

So it was done - the magic worked and we were going to see Imperial Point and get a free lunch. We waited for the Elderhostel folks to board the bus then got on and as we traveled down the aisle, people welcomed us in such a kind way, I couldn't help but grin and feel incredibly blessed. Nancy did it - Nancy knew what she wanted and didn't give up - she kept looking and she found a way. Amazing tenacity. People on the bus asked us questions - where were we from, how did we get there, and were impressed by our courage and strength to hike a rim to rim to rim.

On the way we stopped along the road and all got out of the bus and walked into the meadow - Mike asked if we knew the Latin name for the tree he was pointing at. We all shook our head and he said, "Populus tremuloides", or Quaking Aspen. Why Quaking Aspen? He asked us each to pick a leaf off an Aspen tree and look at it - what was different. I couldn't tell and he told us that what was unique about the leaves on this tree is that the petiole is long and flattened on one side - normally the petiole is round so the leaf can twist and turn on any axis. With the petiole flattened on the opposite axis of the leave, the leaf can only move in two directions - back and forth - and when the wind blows the leaves they shiver back and forth giving the illusion that the tree is trembling. Wow! What a cool thing to learn. Then we stood in silence with our eyes closed and listened to the sounds - wind through the Aspen leaves, wind through the meadow grasses, some birds - an exquisite moment.

It was hard to break the spell but we didn't have to because a helicopter flew over us and helped. We trooped back into the bus and arrived at Point Imperial some fifteen minutes later. At 8,803 feet in elevation Point Imperial is the highest point on either rim. From there we saw some majestic views of the Painted Desert, to the east; of Mount Hayden, to the southeast; and of Saddle Mountain, to the northeast. I must have taken 50 pictures but could feel that my feet, because I was only wearing sandals, were starting to burn. I stepped away from the crowd listening to Mike talk about the geological age of the Canyon and into the shade. His words were fascinating - if the age of the Canyon can be thought of as one year, the dinosaurs were only here for 10 days - that gives you a small idea of how old the rock at the bottom of the Canyon really is. 1700 million years. Truly beyond my ability to comprehend.

We were all given a bag lunch and chose different places along the rim to eat - some at picnic tables, some along the rim with a view. After lunch we packed up and drove back to the lodge, first stopping at the North Kaibab Trail to let off those hardy souls who were going to hike down to some of the views. Not me - I was still nursing my muscles and knew we had a big day ahead. Back at the Lodge we dropped off our day packs and went to the Gift Shop and bought...nothing. I lied. I bought four packages of trail mix for tomorrow's hike. We ate one in the store. Then we walked out to Bright Angel Point - a deliciously beautiful walk with places to climb and dizzying views down down down. Falling was not an option. And there it was, so close. Right there.

Our dinner reservation was for 6:30 so we checked in early since we couldn't find any seats out on the terraces during the sun set. We sat inside the lodge looking out huge 12x20 foot picture windows. Our dinner was good, but our wait person was humorless and droll. Blah to Ed, was all I could say. Nancy had tilapia and I had a steak. We finished without indulging in dessert and walked back to our cabin to pack and prep for tomorrow's early rise. We set the clock for 4:30, knowing the Saloon opened at 5 a.m. for coffee and muffins, and the bus to the trailhead left at 5:45 a.m. It took a while to get ourselves ready, but once we did and crawled into bed, we were asleep almost immediately. Dreaming about doing the walk all over again. Whoo hooo!