Grand Canyon Hike

Sometime in early fall, Josh, after speaking with some of our soccer parent friends, came home and informed me that we would be hiking the Grand Canyon in late October. At first, I wasn't very enthused. However, I could tell that Josh was really excited and wanted to do this trip. So, I agreed. I am so glad that we did. It was one of the best experiences we have ever done together.

The trip's itinerary was designed by Adrienne. She is a very experienced Grand Canyon hiker. Her family has been hiking the canyon a couple of times a year for over ten years. She was amazing! She told us exactly what to pack, where to be, how much to train (which I didn't really follow) and how much we owed for the trip. She coordinated the hotel rooms, the restaurant reservations and the carpool lists. All we had to do is hike. Easy breezy.

On Friday morning, we all met up at Adrienne's house to carpool up to the Grand Canyon. There were about fifteen hikers. We stopped in Flagstaff for lunch at Pato Thai Cuisine. Then, we headed up to the Grand Canyon. Upon arrival, we checked into Maswik Lodge and headed over to El Tovar for drinks and dinner. We also had breakfast at El Tovar on Sunday morning. The food was fabulous. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, neither Josh nor I slept well. Probably too excited or worried about the hike.

The Grand Canyon ~ Friday afternoon

The View from El Tovar's Porch

Saturday morning, we all awoke early, ate breakfast at the Maswik Food Court and then rode the bus over to the South Kaibab Trailhead. That was our starting point. The plan was to head down South Kaibab to the Tonto Trail head west to Indian Gardens then take the small hike to Plateau Point to see the Colorado River and then back up the Bright Angel trail out of the Canyon. So, at about 7:30am, we all started our day hike adventure. Josh and I stepped off of the Bright Angel trail at 5:00pm exactly. We hiked around eighteen miles that day in less than ten hours. Josh and I didn't really start feeling fatigued until the mile and half rest house on Bright Angel. That last mile and half out sucked. It felt like we were almost going straight up and the switchbacks just continued and continued. My strongest motivation to get out of the Canyon was the beer and chicken wings that were promised for dinner. Best motivation ever. And the beer and wings were pretty good too. Overall, the experience was amazing! Perfect weather. Great hiking companions. Beautiful scenery. Fun weekend.

Map of our route