During the summer, as the trip got closer, I reached out to a local friend of mine, Jill, who has done that hike. I told her I was planning to go in October and would love to sit down with her and get some advice. My life doesn't allow for a ton of time for me to spend researching something - that might not even happen - so I really was hoping she would condense what I needed to know and make it easier for me.
Turns out - she had an opportunity to hike the Grand Canyon, also in October. So, she asked me some details - when was my hike, and what trails were we doing? I asked Ann and got back to Jill. I told her October 10th was the hike and that we were hiking North Rim to South Rim via North Kaibab and Bright Angel Trails. Haha - every time I say, or write Bright Angel Trail, I say or type "Black Angel Trail" and I have to go back and correct it. I can't help but wonder if that is a dark Freudian slip...
Anyway, would you believe the coincidence that Jill's group was doing the EXACT same hike on the EXACT same day?! Craziness! So, me, Jill and some other friends we know (Meredith and Trish) all got the same flights out to Arizona.
Thursday, October 7th
We left at 5am from Richmond. We arrived in Phoenix around 11am, or so, I think.
Ann picked me up (Jill's parents picked them up) and we said goodbye, for now. Ann and I went and met Whitney (from Colorado) and Erin. Erin lives in Phoenix but couldn't go with us on the hike. We had lunch and went to REI to buy some snacks that I knew I wouldn't eat (nutrition during a hard/long hike is probably my biggest challenge). Then me, Ann and Whitney drove to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We drove to the park so we could see it before it got dark. It was amazing. I actually teared up the first time I saw it. Pictures do not do it justice. Seeing it in person is really hard to describe. It is so beautiful, it almost doesn't look real. I remember taking pictures and then looking at the picture on my phone and thinking, nope, this doesn't look right at all. It is WAY more majestic in person.
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| That is where we are hiking to - it looks so far away! |
At some point, more of our group arrived. Angie and her sister, Kellee drove from Minnesota (I think). We ran into my friends Jill, Meredith and Trish and I was able to introduce them to more of our group. We had dinner at the lodge that night. Then we went to our hotel, which was about a 10-15 minute drive from the park. Later, the last of our group arrived, Holly and her sister in law, Elizabeth. Most of us are special needs moms (except Kellee and Elizabeth).
We hung out for a bit, but I was super tired from the long travel day and time difference. I had to get up at 2am for my 5am flight from Richmond. It was a long day. Plus we had to get up early the next morning to drive back to the South Rim to catch our shuttle to the North Rim. I think we had to be there around 7am. You need to leave your car there, so that when you hike from the North Rim to the South Rim, your car is there for you.
Friday, October 8th
We got up early that morning and drove back to the lodge at the South Rim to catch our shuttle.
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| Angie, Kellee, Whitney, Ann, me, Elizabeth and Holly. |
It is about a 215 mile drive (5 hours or so) from the South Rim to the North Rim. The shuttle made two or three stops for gas and bathroom breaks.
The weather was colder than I anticipated. I knew pretty early on that I did a really shitty job of packing. But, packing is a hard thing for me. For some odd reason, I feel like packing is a PTSD trigger for me. I really struggle with it. And I know that may sound pretty silly, as so many people pack all the time and it isn't a big deal. I don't understand it - but it is very difficult for me. It is like my brain just shuts down when I have to think about packing. Simple decisions like which pair of jeans to pack, or whatever, feels really hard. So, I just end up throwing a bunch of stuff in there that I don't need. Like summer clothes - for winter weather.
In my defense, it was really hot in Richmond when I left. It was pretty hot in Phoenix. Then it was chilly at the South Rim. And in the North Rim, it was freezing. To make things more difficult, it was pretty warm in the bottom of the canyon. Ugh. So many layers.
We checked into our two cabins at the North Rim Lodge.
There is a restaurant there and a bar and a walk up deli kind of place. That's it. There's nothing else around the North Rim. You pretty much have to have reservations at the restaurant and we didn't have them for lunch (only for dinner) so we had to get food from the deli. It was cold and rainy and there was a super long line.
Around sunset we went to the lookout near the restaurant. It was gorgeous, of course. But, it was also very crowded with everyone trying to get photos.
We had dinner there that night. It was really good. While we were waiting, Angie and Kellee took one of those silly questionnaires to see what their spirit animals were. So, Ann and I did it, too. We finished at the same time and both of us got Grasshoppers as our spirit animals! What the heck? Is a grasshopper even an animal?! I was really hoping mine would be some badass animal, like a lion or tiger. But, apparently the grasshopper means that you take big leaps of faith and go forward with something, even though you don't know the outcome.
The grasshopper symbolism wants you to know that if you aim high and go where others are scared to go, you will accomplish amazing feats and achieve incredible results!
The grasshopper spirit animal chooses those who want to move ahead in life with their innovative thinking and progressive approach.
When you are inspired by the grasshopper totem, jump forward and get past whatever is trying to keep you or hold you back.
I have to laugh while reading this. This totally explains why I just want to ignore Covid and move on with my life. This new way of living "in abundance of caution" does not work with my personality. See, I just can't help it! Haha! Regardless, I think when it comes down to our medically fragile kiddos - Ann and I are so similar! So, in the end, I think we decided to embrace our inner Grasshoppers.As we were finishing up dinner, Jill, Meredith and Trish came in for their reservations. It was so fun to see them so often!
Saturday, October the 9th
Hiking the North Rim to the South Rim in one day takes about 12-16 hours for the average hiker. Typically, you start the hike in the wee hours of the morning. That meant that we were going to start the hike in the dark. So, we decided to go to the trailhead on Saturday afternoon, and check it out in the daylight. The trailhead is two miles away from the cabins. So, we walked there, and hiked down a ways, and then turned around and walked back to the lodge.
Even though I felt a little intimidated, I am so glad we did that. It was so beautiful and we would've never known what it looked like! Plus, we got to chat and enjoy the beautiful weather. It was sunny but chilly. I ended up having to wear the same clothes for most of the trip because I only packed a few warm clothes. If I had only packed what I actually wore/used - I could have brought a small carry on! Ugh. I really beat myself up over it. It is just so frustrating to be so smart in some things (Harlie's medical care) and so dumb in other things. I was constantly reminded as we had to pack, and then re-pack our bags several times a day, depending on what we were doing.
We had dinner reservations for that night, too, but decided to cancel them and order pizza instead. We grabbed spots on the observation deck and had pizza and beer.
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| Look at those crazy people! |
We needed to get back to our cabins so we could start packing for our hike in the morning. Oh, more packing! We were super lucky because Holly's husband drove up that day and he was going to be able to take all of our luggage and shuttle them back to the South Rim for us. So, we had to pack everything we needed for the hike and immediately after, since our luggage would be at the hotel 10-15 minutes away from the South Rim.
Packing was honestly the WORST part for me. I'd rather hike for miles and miles than pack anything. We had to have lots of layers - it was now freezing outside. I planned on wearing a tank top, a long sleeve hiking shirt, a hoodie, my raincoat (which I used as a top layer/coat for the morning) and hiking pants. Here is what I think I packed:
first aid stuff
hats - one for cold weather, one for sun
a pair of gloves
a fanny pack (I was so grateful for this!)
water
Sleeping was really difficult that night. I was pretty nervous and the wind was so strong and loud that night.
Blogger is not cooperating, so I'm breaking this up into two parts to make this less lengthy in one post. See Part 2 - The Hike.
Thanks!
Christy xo
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