Previous post in this series on our Grand Canyon hike is here..
Hiking is always a time to reflect
On this hike, it was literally and figuratively just that!
There were puddles everywhere from the rain and snow.
While the puddles slowed us down, they were showing me reflections at glancing angles as we walked down. So decided to put the iPhone upside down with the phone almost touching the water surface to take a few photos..
you be the judge..
and a photo of the serial puddles..
Photos of me taking those photos, thanks to my fellow hikers!
it was fun to stop and do frequent sit ups for these photos.. but the last five miles saw only two such photos. It was incredibly difficult to even sit down and stand up.
There is still one more post to wrap up this trip!
The cover photo for this post.. (usually it is a "bench photo".. there were no benches on this hike and this was as close as it got)
Here is a video highlight of the entire trip! This time posting the video upfront. . .
The morning of the hike, we were all ready at 5:15 AM waiting for a ride from the Yavapai lodge to the trailhead. There is a car service that gives large groups rides directly to the trailhead for around 3 to 4 dollars a person. We were 9 of us and it was a full van! It was a 5 minute ride to the trailhead but would have been another 2 plus mile walk!
Once at the trail head we took photos and started at 6AM. The ground was covered in snow and ice. None of this was in the plan!
This hike is not for the faint hearted. It is a pretty difficult trail. It is an 18 mile minimum hike starting from the South Kaibab trailhead that goes all the way down to the colorado river.. ~ 8 miles of straight downhill hiking over 5000 feet. The weather goes from cold to warm to hot when we are down at the bottom.
The portrait format photos are fewer..
The landscape format photos (most of them) are in this slide show! Just amazing views all day..
The first two miles were slow going because it was still dark and the icy ground. We reached Ooh-aah point to catch the sunrise! It was spectacular watching the first rays of the sun hit the canyon!
First photos of us as we went through the hike with some time stamps... just 4 years older than Sangeetha, but when that 4 years is on either side of 50, it seems to make a huge difference when it comes to walking uphill.
6:30 AM : Photos at Ooh_aah point waiting for the sun to come out..
San allowed me to do yoga poses on rocks. Was wondering "is there a catch?" and turns out there was none. She is now a yogi and appreciates me posing with the BYSJ shirt at national parks!
She did start screaming when I turned to take this selfie on the ledge..there was screaming from multiple ladies!
8:15 AM at Skeleton point
After the first two miles we tried to pick up the pace, but it was hard with all the puddles in the trail. That was an added distraction for me. Have a whole series of photos from puddles which will be posted separately.
We managed to reach Skeleton point after two hours and 15 minutes and Tonto West (Tip off point) at 9 AM. We had made up some distance in the last hour. Then it was time to go through a steeper descent to the river.
9:00 AM Tip off point
9:30 AM
We can see the colorado river and the green bridge
10:30 AM
We finally reached the green bridge across the river. At this point the group was split up into two. So two of us went ahead in search of the next restroom which was a mile away! By the time th rest of the group joined it was 10:30. We walked together to Phantom ranch after a break.
Under side of the green bridge
Then there is a few miles of walking along the river to Phantom ranch. From there it is a crossover the Colorado river again and back to the Bright Angel trailhead at the top. (most folks start at bright angel and end up in South Kaibab).
Hindsight being 20/20 and given we had our own packed food, we should have just got back on the river trail and saved ourselves 2 hours in time and 2 plus miles extra walking. Phantom ranch was overrated.
Phantom ranch was a let down. There was a canteen there and a few benches to sit and eat lunch. We were told that there is free lemonade for everyone who visits this place. IT IS A MYTH! THERE IS NO FREE LEMONADE!
There is lemonade for sale at 6$ a cup with 1$ for refills. Some folks in our group were all set on having that lemonade and did! Their verdict? Nothing special !
After eating our packed lunches and having lightened our backpacks a bit, we started our hike back. The return was going to be 9 miles with a stop every 1.5 miles.
The silver bridge to get back across the river
The return is longer as it has at least 30+ switchbacks in the last 3 miles of the trail and is just grueling!
12:00 Noon
We see a warning at 2 PM around Tonto East
We walked together as a group for the first 3 miles. We were climbing steadily but slowly. The altitude gain was gradual. Then we split up 4 and 5 and went through the next mile and a half. Once we reached this Indian garden or Havasupai garden (which is a cross point for two trails), three of us decided to move forward as we were already losing steam.
that is a little too late...
3:00 PM
We had hot chai and Parle G biscuits and started walking the last 4.5 miles. It was a steep climb and after the first mile it was already sapping.
The stops have a restroom and we can refill water bottles.
4:00 PM
Was taking it literally one step at a time. My legs were burning by then. There was no option but to keep going. The three of us tried to encourage each other with jokes every now and then.
4:30 PM
The towel came out to keep wiping rain from face.
5:00 PM in bad rain with a Poncho
When there was two miles left, it started drizzling. By then we had climbed up a good deal. We had come up 3500 feet and had 1500 more to go. Then drizzle became rain. The towel around my shoulders had to come off and replaced with a poncho. Was drenched inspite of the poncho. It was also getting colder as we were hiking up.
5:30 PM Made it back up! Changed clothes and got the jacket back up.. by then the rain had slowed to a drizzle
The idea of hiking up to end a trail is not that great. Usually we hike up mountains and come down to the parking lot. This was brutal to put it mildly.
When we made it back to the top, we were soaked and were not going to wait for the rest of the group. Glad we didn't. They were also hit by the rain and darkness and had to walk with headlamps and ponchos and made it an hour after we did. A 20 minute delay at Indian garden made them an hour late because of the unpredictable weather! We took the cab service and made it back to our rooms a little after 6 PM. Took us a good 30 minutes to sort things out and after a hot shower and some chai, we realized that we had actually made it!
The legs were shaking and sitting down or standing up was a slow process. I had already taken a couple of Ibuprofens every 3 hours all day thanks to my laces jumping the notches in my hiking shoe and hurting my ankle earlier in the day. That still didn't help at the end of the day.
Once all of us were ready we spent some time at the canteen at the Yavapai lodge. Then it was time to call it a night.
The next morning we were going to start at 8 AM from the lodge and celebrate!
That and the return back to Phoenix in the next post...
The last weekend, we hiked the south rim of the grand canyon! This was in the plan for months. Four ladies from the hiking group had been doing the planning with lots of meetings, zoom calls, excel spreadsheets, training hikes, etc.. while the four men watched in silence for the most part.
There was a reunion of my undergrad classmates that was moved to this weekend. They were all meeting in Istanbul for three days. My heart was in two places the day before traveling as there were posts from classmates sharing their experience in Turkey. A commitment is a commitment.. this weekend was already taken.. so I had to sit Instanbul out..
A month ago, another brave soul decided to join in as well. He knew most of the folks in this group and was naive enough to put up with the craziness that is our hiking group.
Did I mention T-shirts were already purchased to celebrate post hike. The ladies had that kind of confidence that everyone will finish. I was not so sure at the start.
We all took Friday off from work and flew to Phoenix early in the morning. I was still sleeping in the car to the airport, at the airport and through the flight. This was because of making tea and sandwiches at 3:45 AM after going to bed at close to midnight.
We spent 90 minutes to get our rental van and car. It was decided that the guys will be in the van and the ladies will drive the car. We stopped for lunch at a vegan mexican food place. It was good food and great service!
Then came the drive to Yavapai lodge via Sedona and Flagstaff. We stopped in Sedona at a few vista points to take photos..
took these shots from a puddle of hopefully rain water (given it was next to a porta potty.. one never knows!)
the soil was all red and the reflection had the red tint to it.. so made a black and white version..
Then we stopped at Flagstaff to get water and other food items for the hike.
For some reason, the ladies used Apple maps and were sent on route 64. The men used Google maps and were sent on route 180. We got a call from the ladies to stop at some exit number for gas that did not make any sense. Then we figured out what had happened. Then things took a turn for the worse. It started snowing heavily. There was no talk of snow in the forecast!
these are color photos..
taken through the van's rear window..
We decided to go to the lodge anyways no matter what. The ladies were making a steady pace. We got stuck in thick snow and almost skidded off the freeway at one point. Got to hear myself scream in fear on this trip. Was in the last seat in the back and all the backpacks came flying at me when the van went out of control. Luckily our driver, who was being given 20 conflicting directions on what to and what not to do managed to just take his hands and feet off everything and the van skid to a halt.
That is when our brave joiner who had experience driving in Pittsburgh snow took the wheel and drove at 10 miph for a good 30 minutes and eventually we got to a lower altitude and made good time to catch up with the ladies at the park entrance. We were an hour late but were happy to be alive!
When we parked at the lodge was just happy to see Sangeetha. She hates driving in rain. Somehow she managed to drive in that weather.
Given the snow the whole hike was a toss up. We sat together to drink tea and have dinner together in the room. The plan was to get ready in the morning at 5AM and take a shuttle to the trailhead and take it from there, as long as it was not going to be snowing in the morning.
The next morning, there was no new snow and the hike was on..
This is the preamble post.. the hiking post follows..
Day 3 was for the return journey to Phoenix. Given San's back and our attempt at being nice to my SIL we decided to drive to Phoenix but stay overnight near the airport and take the first filght back in on Memorial day morning to the bay area.
First stop on way back was the horseshoe bend. It is a mile walk from the parking lot. San walked slow and steady. It was 8 AM and already hot. We should have visited this place during golden hour. The direct sun and shadows did not make for great pictures. The place was way too crowded. I tried to sit on the ledge and San starts screaming as usual. So doing yoga poses on the edge was ruled out!
A short video clip of horseshoe bend..
After the walk back from Horseshoe bend I was asked to "hit the gas"... and that I did. There was some volcanic crater on the way back towards Sedona. Just before going to the exit, we decided to keep driving .. lunch was calling.
We took a good 20 minutes to find parking in Sedona. Then we had a nice Italian lunch at Sedona Pizza and Pasta. Excellent food and excellent service on a busy day!
Walked around a few stores along the busy street, the ladies did some "shopping" and we were on our way back towards Phoenix.
We had an early but amazing dinner at a place 5 minutes from the airport and close to our hotel. Indian Delhi Palace food was mouth watering!
After stuffing ourselves we went to sleep early. We had to wake up at 3:30 to make it to the car return and catch the first flight out. The car rental place is not close to the airport. There is a train ride from there to the airport!
We made it back to the bay area and San was still in decent shape and declared her back was no worse than when we started. That to me was a success. The SIL seemed to have had a good time as well.
This was a new place for all of us and it was a good trip overall given we took an extra nights rest.
We have so many places to visit that I doubt we will hit Page again anytime soon. If you have not been to Antelope canyon, definitely see it in this lifetime.. plan and visit!
Glad that this trip was captured in this blog finally, over the next long weekend!
While eating the tamarind rice and choking on it, I asked San "arent we supposed to be on a boat tour today as well?" and she goes "In the interest of time I did not book it!".. a few tears and sentimental dialogues that would seriously make Sivaji Ganesan hand over his Chevalier award to me, we called the tour operator and were confirmed for the 5PM (last) boat tour of Antelope Canyon. We were asked to be at the dock 15 minutes before and the dock was 15 minutes from our hotel.
We decided to take a power nap for an hour and head out..
it was Antelope canyon day.. a tour all morning, a tour all afternoon and now for the evening a boat tour.
We realized while entering the dock that the boat tour fees did NOT include the entry to the dock which was part of the National park service. If you don't have a National park pass, you have to pay 30 $.. if you do enjoy national parks, strongly recommend you get the annual pass for 80 bucks. It is always a good thing to support our national parks!
Seeing natural wonders gives me more goosebumps than visiting any temple. Keep telling my family that if you want to realize god, go to a National park and take a look from any vista point! Or look at the smiling face of your spouse or children.. while the second option makes you mentally happy, you don't get the exercise.. so go to the parks!
The boat tour was great! we got waterbottles on the boat and a tourguide who was local and gave us a personalized tour as we spent an hour on a boat going through the canyon on water!
Loved it through and through!
a photo gallery of the nature pics..
Once done, we decided to go find dinner in Page. The first mexican place we went to had a 45 minute wait. So we went to the second one and were promptly seated. The food was amazing as was the service.
my models did not disappoint!
Video highlights reel of the boat tour and back..
The next morning was going to be an all day drive back to Phoenix after a few stops. So we decided to hit the one big super Walmart in the area before going to bed. Have not seen a store this big in my life! Stocked up on some yogurt, bottled water etc. for the return trip and made it back to the hotel.
Thursday, October 24, 2024 at 8:19PM ;)
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