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WEEK 45 2015

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Saturday 7 November 2015

Saturday - Moving pretty slow still...

Friday 6 November 2015

Friday - We were all sore and slow moving in the morning, but ambulatory. After several cups of coffee I managed to wake up enough to take another shower, shave, and start assembling my gear. By checkout, 11am, we were all ready to go.

I had promised a steak dinner to everyone, but, since we got in late on Thursday, just bought lunch at the Bright Angel lodge instead.

Then we dropped off Bob at the Flagstaff airport and headed back to California, arriving at my place around 10pm.

We did stop for pie.

Pie and coffee.

A great trip, and I hope to do it again!

Thursday 5 November 2015 Thursday - This was the day to walk out, 10.6 miles.

We got up reasonably early (though not as early as the three chatterboxes from Europe in the next campsite over) and started packing our gear. By 7:15 we were on the trail.

A waning Luna over Bright Angel Campground, 5:30am.

We maintained a steady pace, first on the level ground past Pipe Creek, then up the Bright Angel trail through Indian Gardens. The sun peeked out, then the sky's mostly cleared, until I was just hiking in jeans and a t-shirt. At Indian Gardens we rested, had a bite, and refilled our canteens. I was sore and tired, as were the other guys, but nothing exceptional or unexpected.

Then came the really brutal grades and switchbacks, made worse by damage from the mule trains. Ugh. We were passed by a number of people, but no big deal.

When, about 5pm, one of our party suffered from dehydration we just stopped and made chicken soup, drank Gatorade, and put on warmer gear and refreshed ourselves for an hour or two. Then, very carefully because it was dark and we were using headlamps (and it was freezing and the wet ground was frozen hard) we hiked the remaining three miles out.

We even stopped again for a hot beverage at the 1.5 mile place, about 10pm or so.

About midnight we found ourselves at the rim, my friend's wife was waiting, and we headed off to the lodge for pizza (she's an angel) and long hot showers and a good night's sleep.

Wednesday 4 November 2015

Wednesday - This was our rest day. We all got up pretty late, despite the best of intentions. I walked down to the river and took a few pictures with the iPhone.

The Colorado was very muddy and deceptively fast moving after all the rain Arizona's been getting.

Then back to the campground for a breakfast with Dave and Bob.

We talked to a ranger about two possible hikes, one to the falls, and the other just up to Pipe Creek, and decided on the latter, as it was a LOT shorter - five miles, not twelve.

So we did a little trip over to Pipe Creek, all hobbling at first, then picking up speed as we warmed up and our muscles loosened.

We had lunch there on the sandy river bank and then headed back when it started to rain. It rained a lot, and our super lightweight tents were blown about when we returned to the campsite, but we re-arranged and dried them, had a nice stay at the Canteen, with coffee, beer and cocoa.

Then we went back to the Bright Angel campground and had a nice dinner, and hit the sack early.

Tuesday 3 November 2015

Tuesday - I got up a bit early, made coffee and hot water for oatmeal in the room Keurig, then met up with Dave and Bob and took the shuttle from the lodge to the South Kaibab Trailhead at the rim.

There we took a few pictures of ourselves, including a group picture taken by some young ladies in return for taking a picture of them, then headed down about 7:30am.

The weather was interesting, a mix of clear blue and a layer of clouds. The day before, despite predictions of rain, it had been clear blue. Now, not so much...

Looking north-east from the South Kaibab trail.

Things worked out however, with no rain until we were nearly at the bottom. Then it was just light sprinkles until we were at the river, upon which it rained pretty hard. But we had our rain gear on by then and it wasn't a problem.

The recent rains had the effect of making the air crystal clear, and making the rock and vegetation colors vivid. I used Dave's waterproof camera, and the iPhone a few times (I mostly was saving the iPhone for communication when we were near the top on the way out).

We trudged to the campground and after a short while the rain let up, and we set up camp at Bright Angel Campground and had dinner. We were all a bit tired by the hike down, but the trekking poles made a huge difference, and so despite sore knee's all around we were in pretty good shape.

Monday 2 November 2015

Monday - OTR, off to the Grand Canyon.

Dave came by the house a bit after 4:30am and we headed out.

Sunrise, just west of Daggett.

We were at the Flagstaff airport by early afternoon and picked up Bob, Dave's brother, then headed back to the Grand Canyon and checked in at the lodge, had dinner, then spent the evening sorting our packs.

Light rain, and probably snow at the top was certain. I wanted to take my personal tent and stuff, but was worried about weight and my knee, so settled for an emergency tent and no cushion. I tossed out a bunch of extra food and supplies, and cut the water ration to 1.5 liters - it's cold enough that dehydration on the way down isn't a problem, and there is water at several places on the way up.

Sunday 1 November 2015

Sunday - Slept in a bit until 6:30, the latest my internal clock and the cats will let me.

Roger did his usual extraordinary Halloween setup, taking off a week to arrange everything. The weather made up for last years rain by being extraordinarily warm for Lancaster, essentially shirt sleeve weather until about 9:00 pm, unheard of around here this time of year.

The turn out was good, though not extraordinary.

I actually wasn't feeling 100% and had a nasty headache that the smoke machines and strobes outside didn't help. Eventually I just fell asleep on Roger's couch after 9pm, and didn't wake up until nearly 11pm.

I'll get a few more things done on the camping preparation today, Dave is staying at the Best Western here tonight, and we'll head out early. About 500 miles to Flagstaff I think.

Picture of the Week

halloween

I think Roger may have more skeletons than the local boot hill.

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