On the 12 of October, I crossed off a major bucket list item. The day before I was in Sedona climbing Bell Rock, playing with a 14-year-old tarantula named Rosie, and buying BBQ flavored mealworms. It was a great day. After falling in love with the uber expensive town, I took off for the Grand Canyon Village. I arrived at night which was difficult because I lacked a GPS or internet, there were no street lights inside the neighborhood, and I had surprise encounters with massive elks in the road. However, I arrived safely and headed for bed by 9 to start my next day's trek.
I was suited up well before the sun and made way to find a bus that would carry me to the trailhead. With both a coffee and tea in each hand, I got on the blue line to start the adventure. My bus had some other early birds, mostly Asian tourists who were also seeing the canyon for the first time. As we passed the an opening in the trees I saw a glimpse of the canyon and started hyperventilating. Literally in awe, which I've never felt so intensely before, I sat there with my new Chinese companions and held back my tears while making sputtering noises.
What I didn't realize was that the trail takes you down into the canyon and then back up. I imagined my hike would be on the rim and from up high. Nope. I went straight down for three miles and then straight back up. (Later I found out I had hiked the entire 10K with a sea urchin still stuck in my foot!) Anyways, I went down the canyon in sweat pants, gloves, ear muffs and a flannel. The first part of the hike is shaded from the sun, but once it's out... the heat is on. I changed my sweaty clothes three times since I had forgotten a t-shirt.
Out of hundreds of people who came during the three hours of trying to convince my legs to carry me, only one other woman made it to Skeleton's Point. Most people turned around at the Ooh Aah Point which is not far from the bus stop. I was sad for those who only stayed to look around and not explore the canyon itself. Later I understood why they didn't go through the grueling labor... I felt like the hike would never end. When I finally returned to the bus my legs wobbled like jelly, similar to how I would feel after playing a weekend soccer tournament. But it was worth every painful step. after step. after step. I was also the only one listening to music on the hike which I thought was surprising. If I hadn't been marching to a Devil Makes Three beat... I might have heeled over at some point. (This may also be the reason why no one could keep up with these chicken legs-ha) I tore in and out of the canyon in a few hours and headed back for the village to gorge on a pint of Grand Canyon Lager and a slice jalapeño pizza. Then I went on more hikes around the village and found a nice spot to catch the sunset with time lapse cameras set up.
I boarded the last bus back to the village, snuck past two elks, and went straight to bed. Four a.m. came and I started my drive to Albuquerque (I was racing the Hertz rental people to make it back before noon). I managed a quick stop on the corner of Winslow, Arizona and sped away out of one of the most beautiful states I've ever laid eyes on.
No comments:
Post a Comment