Day 14
- bpazdernik
- Nov 21, 2020
- 3 min read
A long way down…a way longer trip back up. My hike down into the Grand Canyon.
Woke up. Started the generator up. Posted a blog. Made some coffee.
Boy, I was unprepared for this hike.
I pull into the kaibab trail parking lot. Drank the rest of my coffee. Packed up my hiking bag. Filled my water and off we go. I plan on only doing a small portion of the trail. The full length is over 20 miles and it’s a backpack in hike. One day I’ll do the full thing.
The journey down is about 2 miles and 1,500-2,000 feet down in elevation. Not so bad going down. Temperatures go from in the shade and snow covered ground I have all my gear on to the sun desert level and I strip down to shorts and no shirt 😂
The views on the way down are just incredible. I’ll say it every time I talk about it it’s so vast it’s hard to comprehend. And this is only a minuscule part of the entire thing.
Finally get to the bottom at the tunnel and just was about to head back up and then….shit. I must have forgotten to put my inhaler back in my bag. I have a small case of exercise induced asthma. And at these elevations it intensifies it. Lovely….
Well, here we go. Knowing exactly what is to come ahead I try to mentally prepare and juice myself up by some crazy self-talk. Here we go let’s do this!
I manage a couple hundred feet in elevation before I’m taking a break 😂 I’m also at 8,000 feet in elevation so the air is a little bit of an issue, too. Just keep on pushing. You got this. My excuse to myself for stopping is to get another picture even though in reality it’s because I’m gasping for air. 🤣
I got done with the hike and it was in a pretty good time. Recharge with some food and rushed over to the canyon rim drive. I parked at a few places and found myself really rushing and getting anxious to get back at a certain time to get a few hours of driving in for the night. But then I sat back and thought, Bryce…is a couple hours on the road and all this stress really worth it? Dude, you are at the Grand Canyon. Stop. Pause enjoy this man. Be in this moment. Take it all in.
It’s so magical sitting on the highest point in the Grand Canyon looking over a mile down to a river. That’s right, a whole mile down into the valley. Can you imagine looking straight down a mile? It was hard for me to grasp that concept but in most places you can’t even see the bottom. Mother Nature created this. The forever creating and destroying process of life. It’s beautiful. It’s majestic.
Off to camp we go. Back to my peaceful site in the National forest. All by myself. To process what I had seen today. To enjoy the quiet of nature. It’s just pure bliss. Thank you Mother Nature and thank you universe for giving us this creation.
Until next time my friends,
Support the Intended
Bryce P
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