Training Log Archive: Sandy

And then a flight home and back to cell phones and news and technology.

I really loved this trip - for some of the same reasons I liked the Kilimanjaro trip. There was a lot of time to just let your mind wander and you didn't have to think too hard about what you were going to do. Everything was done at a leisurely pace but there was always something to do. Camping for 11 nights wasn't bad and I got used to having sand in everything after a day or two and it didn't bother me as much as some of the others. I learned to not listen to the guides when they said the hike was easy and I could do them in my sandals - I just carried my trail shoes in my day pack and put them on whenever there was anything with rock scrambling involved which was most of the hikes. Just like Kili, the weather couldn't have been better so I think we got lucky on that front. All of the guides were great, each for different reasons, and while I didn't make any fast friends, I did met several people I really liked and it was easy to avoid those that I didn't. Definitely glad I did this!

Our guides:

We got helicoptered out of the canyon to the Bar 10 Ranch where we could shower and clean up. I got to ride shot-gun which was really interesting; never been in a helicopter before.

Then we took a small plane to the south rim and the main Grand Canyon Park visitor's center and it all seemed so anticlimactic to me - I know it's impressive but having been down on the river for two weeks, it seemed a bit of a let down. And from most of the lookouts you couldn't see the river. It didn't help that it was kind of a hazy day.

Our last full day on the river, we saw a lot of bighorn sheep.

We did the most famous rapid (Lava) but as I said, hard to get pictures. I always felt perfectly safe in the boats and had complete faith in the guides. (I was much more nervous about the hikes and in awe as they scampered up these crazy rocky trails and across narrow ledges in their flip-flops.) I was in the back of the boat for this one and got bounced around big time flying high in the air at one point - but it was easy to just hold on and you just came back down on the rubber raft so a soft landing. One of the baggage boat guides went out of her boat; she got an oar caught in the current and just got flipped out but had surfaced and climbed back in before she was even out of the rapids - quite impressive. But as I said, difficult to photos of the rapids.
View from our last campsite.

This was a very scary hike - always exposed, some shimmying around cliff faces on 6 inch ledges, but a really cool oasis at the end.

One of the more interesting camps we stayed at - called "Ledges" for obvious reasons. Carol was another woman on her own and we generally picked out spots near each other so we could help each other put up/take down tents and other things.

My spot was a little further up the slope. OK - I admit it - I was nervous about rolling over in the middle of the night and ending up in the river.

Another glorious morning.

Havasu Canyon

Another campground - this one showing the topeat sandstone formations which provided a nice handy shelf behind my tent. At this point I was still putting up my tent, but sleeping outside under the stars. I loved staring up at the milky way and seeing so many more stars than you ever see around here.

And another hike ending in a waterfall.

And this day was much like the others with gorgeous scenery and a hike up a side canyon with a clear stream and a waterfall at the end.

We hit Phantom Ranch early in the morning half way through the trip. The bridge is for the Bright Angel Trail that comes from the South Rim to Phantom (which is on the north side of the river). It was nice to have running water but while many sat in the air conditioned cafe and ate and drank, I just rinsed sand out of my hair and cleaned up a bit. I talked with a bunch of hikers doing the down and up who try to do as much of the hike before the sun gets too high, then stay at Phantom for the middle of the day, then hike back up as the sun starts to get lower.

We hit some good rapids in the afternoon but it's tough to get pictures since they want everything strapped down and put away when we get close. But I know there's one just around the corner because Jeri (the guide who is rowing) has her go down rapids shirt on and the guy in the front left of the boat is getting ready to put his go-pro helmet on to get video.

Other than the rain we had early in the trip, we had beautiful sunny days all the rest of the time with blue skies that were almost fake looking they were so blue.