I was able to take the second memorable trip of my life to the Grand
Canyon two weekends past, October 25-27. (I say "memorable" because I was 7 the first time I went, and all I remember was my mother yelling at me to stay away from the edge.) I've been waiting to do this ever since I left after my last trip, when I hiked to
the bottom and back in two days May 2012.
To me, the Grand Canyon is a symbol of rest, refuge and
close knit friendship. Every time I've gone,
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| May 2012 |
I've been with people I love
dearly, and we've always had a challenging and beautiful time. Not to mention,
I believe the Grand Canyon is the single finest specimen of God’s creation, aside
from the soul.
This trip was only partially planned. It had been in the
works since late September, but when the government shutdown occurred, we were
hesitant to make camping reservations or to even solidify our plans.
My roommate can tell you just how excited I was when the
government finally opened back up, when I realized that in fewer than 10 days I
would be hiking in the most peaceful place on earth.
Granted, this trip was not without its roadblocks. We only
drove one car up, and due to a lack of planning, didn’t even know whose car we
were going to take until the night before (Ben thought I was driving, I thought
he was driving…)
Ultimately,
Ben elected to drive, and so we embarked upon a
grand adventure to Flagstaff at noon on Friday the 25
th, which
really means we left Phoenix at 2:30 pm. We arrived at our friend Melody’s
apartment at 5 pm, where we planned to sleep on the floor.
Our night in Flagstaff consisted of a trip to Sprouts and
to Bookmans, where Ben and I both did our first live open-mic poetry readings.
I’m not sure if I’ll ever do that again. I felt like I did before my first big
swim meet—nervous beyond consolation. We returned to Melody’s and cooked
dinner, and got ready for bed. Once we were all in our pajamas, we realized we had
forgotten to put the parking pass in Ben’s car. He came back after trying to
put the pass in his car and informed us that the car had been towed.
One hour and $230 later, we were all asleep and ready to
hike the next morning. This is why I
always factor $50 emergency money into a trip plan, because sometimes
emergencies happen, and good friends help friends pay towing fees.
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| October 2013 |
Due to the late night car-fetching activities, we didn't leave
for the Grand Canyon until 8:30 on Saturday, but we were able to hike down
beginning at 10:30 am.
At first, I was incredibly apprehensive to make it to Indian
Gardens. The sign at the Bright Angel Trailhead says it is not advised for
hikers to try to go down and back in one day, and that it likely would take
eight hours (or longer) to reach Indian Gardens and head back up.
Before I knew it, we were at the three mile rest house. I
felt fine. I was fine, even if my toe was a little sore. I’d already made it
three miles; of course I could make it another one and a half.
All five of us—Ben, Jon, Melody, Marty and me—made it down
to Indian Gardens at about 12:45 pm, safe and sound. It was there that I said
goodbye to everyone when they continued on to Plateau Point (a mile and a half
farther). I sat, ate a sandwich, journaled, shot photos, and enjoyed the shade
offered by tall, green trees. At 1:30, I headed back up by myself, can of
coconut water in hand.
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| I should sell C2O this photo. |
How amazing is it that
we live in a time where we can enjoy natural refreshment from the coast in the
bottom of a land-locked canyon? Pretty amazing. I enjoyed every sip of that
coconut water.
My hike out was spent in prayerful contemplation, drinking
in the beauty that surrounded me. Seriously. It completely amazes me that I can
enjoy pine trees, red rocks, gravel rocks, bushes and cacti in such close
proximity to each other.
You really have to respect the Grand Canyon. Even if you’re
in shape, you need to enter the canyon with the mindset “I am physically
capable of doing this. Even so, I know it’s going to eat me up and spit me out
and I’m going to be sore as hell tomorrow.”
It took me exactly an hour to get from Indian Gardens to the
three mile rest house, then 50 minutes to get from the three mile rest house to
the one-and-a-half mile resthouse (I really had to use the restroom.) The final
mile and a half was taken at a leisurely pace—one mile an hour. I took photos
and stopped to watch the shadows set in over the canyon, wondering where my
friends were.
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| I was really happy to see them. |
Twenty minutes after I reached the rim, everyone else
surfaced as well. Tired and hungry, we headed back to Flagstaff, with a stop
for donuts (both the edible type and the I-lost-control-of-my-car type).
I don’t remember much about that night, except for the fact
that I fell asleep before the brownies Melody cooked were even out of the oven.
I must have fallen asleep before 10 pm.
I woke up slightly sore at 7:30 Sunday morning, and dressed
for church. After church, Ben, Jon and I adventured around Flagstaff, looking
at the usual music and book shops. We ate food and pumpkin sweets galore at
Melody’s, then hit up Firecreek Coffee’s new Flagstaff location before leaving
the town.
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| Stickin' my head out the window. |
We took the Oak Creek Canyon 89A through Sedona, because Ben
had never been to Sedona before. (Of course that means we decided we’re going
to Slide Rock someday.)
We stopped at the Chapel of the Holy Cross outside of
Sedona, right at sunset. The golden hour lighting mixed with the naturally red
rocks made for a beautiful photo. I had never been inside the chapel before,
and my breath was taken away by the views provided by
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| Babyhood friends. |
As we left Sedona, we went to Firecreek Coffee’s original
location south of Sedona and met Ryder, the barista. He let us know that
Firecreek does coffee cuppings every Friday at 3 pm. I’m filing that in the
back of my mind as a future weekend adventure.
Ben, Jon and I ended our restful weekend Sunday night at
Lux, where we met Raquel, talked about our trips (she went to DC) and proceeded
to do at least two hours’ worth of homework. Ah, the life of a college student.
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