April 30, 2008
Back to the Big G.C.
The family fun started off with some local activities: a day trip to Bisbee, a hike on Mt. Lemmon, good food and lots of tequila. Part II of the family fun took Paul, myself, brown dog Morgan, and my parents to the Grand Canyon for a few days. My mom had never seen the canyon before, my father just got a quick glimpse of it back in '03, and the last visit for Paul and I was the big "Grand Canyon Adventure" in Oct of '06. So needless to say, all of us were all pretty anxious to do a little more than just the standard peer over the South Rim, tourist style.
The original Plan A was for the four of us to all hike down to Plateau Point together; a nice little family day hike. 'Nice and little', however, is hardly an accurate description. After Paul and I refreshed our poor memories with the fact that this was a 12.2 mile hike roundtrip, with over 3,000 feet elevation gain (ahem,"loss"), we all quickly realized that this wasn't quite what we had in mind for a fun family hike. Thankfully, we realized the magnitude of this hike up on the Rim versus down in the heated depths of the Canyon, (contrary to all the misfortunate hikers in "Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon;" a *fascinating* book of gruesome cooked-to-a-crisp mishaps in the big G.C. that we picked up in the gift shop and just CAN'T PUT DOWN!) :-)
On to Plan B. Now, let me just mention one thing here - had Paul and I devised Plan B in the car on the way to the G.C., it most likely would have gone something along the lines of a moderate out-and-back, minimal elevation, perhaps hiking the Rim Trail from start to finish, etc. But no. The answer to Plan B was immediately dictated upon our first glance into the Canyon and down at Plateau Point: Paul and I were going. And that's all there was to it. We *had* to go. The gravitation of the Canyon was practically yanking us off the South Rim. Come on in! It's a party down here! Perhaps this is the natural tendency of the massive Canyon....does everyone feel this way or is it just us? Or perhaps the big "Grand Canyon Adventure" pried open another passion that is quietly, patiently waiting for us to get this rock climbing obsession out of our blood so that we can move on to bigger mileage mentality (not likely, haha). Whatever the case may be, Paul and I decided right then and there that we were goin', and goin' in deep.
So Plan B turned out to be this: Paul, myself, Mom and Dad would all leave the South Rim together and start heading down Bright Angel Trail. Paul and I would run, and Mom and Dad would hike. After 2 hours of downward progress, the plan was for both parties to turn around and start heading back up to the South Rim. At 2 hours, Paul and I estimated we'd be at Plateau Point (6.1 miles) and my parents somewhere around the 3 mile rest-house. Paul and I would then book it up to meet up with Mom and Dad and we'd all enjoy the Rim top-out together. That was the plan, man.
Well, our estimate couldn't have been anymore dead on. Paul and I made it to the amazing Plateau Point, and my parents to a sweet vista just below the 3 mile rest house. Both parties enjoyed a tasty lunch with a view to die for. Paul and I met back up with my parents about 1.5 miles from the Rim and we all cruised to the top. A perfect hike in the world's most perfect Canyon.
Posted by Paul at April 30, 2008 07:32 PM