Grand Canyon Rim to Rim, Part 3 - and so it begins (North Kaibab trail)

With that 0430 alarm, and the ensuing energy and movement, spirits were running high! We had the 0530 shuttle from the hotel to get us the 1.5 miles to the trailhead, and just like that, it was time to go. According to my Garmin, it was 41* - I wasn't quite expecting that! Thankfully we'd had some idea of the potential for a cool start, so we were layered up. While it was cold at the top, we knew it would get warmer very quickly as we headed down into the Canyon. After a quick ride, we were at the trailhead along with many other people attempting the same hike. We stepped off at 0546, and the journey began.

Sunrise on the North Rim side was absolutely spectacular; the whole thing was almost a spiritual experience, in so many ways.

 

Coconino overlook at the break of day - September 15, 2018

The first part of the hike was terrific; it was cool and pleasant, we had fresh legs, we knew there was a rest stop not too far ahead, etc. etc. We had a zillion things to talk about, too, because we had just started - and also, Leslie and I never run out of things to talk about. Ha!!!

early start to beat the heat in "The Box"

Of course, the first day is all downhill - I knew it would be hard, but man, probably not even two hours in, my legs were already a little bit wobbly. It's crazy how hard it is to go downhill and how little you use those muscles for other things!! Still, it was fantastic to be doing the hard things... I don't know how many times we said that, as a reminder, as a motivator, maybe as a bit of self-hazing, but to me, that is one of the things that makes my life so full. 

GRCA GRLS - West Point Women #dothehardthings

There were quite a few hikers with us on the trail as we set out that morning; it was energizing to have company, though most of them passed us at a faster pace than we were moving. We were settling in, not in a hurry, knowing there was plenty of walking in front of us. At one point along the way, we did see the group of guys from our shuttle the previous day who were running R2R. I can't even imagine running R2R!! As the morning wore on, though, there were fewer and fewer people with us on the North Kaibab trail, giving us solitude in our companionship.

The North Kaibab trail winds across Bright Angel Creek a few times, providing an amazing perspective on the Canyon from bridges along the way.

We hiked on; the sun shone down; we talked and laughed and forged an even deeper bond of love and friendship along the way.

We took advantage of the rest stops - we knew we would be on the trail for quite a while on Day One, as the map indicated it was a little over 14 miles to Phantom Ranch. We knew, too, that being in "The Box" in the heat of the day would make it extraordinarily difficult, and we took our time while drinking water and keeping our reservoirs full at each water stop.

In a conversation with someone who had done the hike before, Leslie learned about a short side trip that was worth the effort: wisdom had it that Ribbon Falls was a "must do." Not knowing whether we'd do this again, we agreed: we had to see it! When we reached the sign indicating the turn off to the oasis, we dropped our packs and our hiking poles to give us a nice break mid-hike.

Distance-wise it added less than a mile, but it was a crazy climb over rocks and a tough path to get there. It was challenging to get to the spot but TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!! It was amazing!! Also, I got to cross an item off of my bucket list - to walk behind a waterfall!! We spent quite a while there together, resting and cooling off, getting into the water, taking pictures, and just enjoying each other's company.

By this point, it was getting pretty hot, so once we got back on the trail we were Embracing the Suck. I'm not entirely sure how far we'd gone to get to Ribbon Falls - maybe about 10 miles at that point? - but the balance of the hike to get to Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Canyon was HARD. The biggest thing - almost no shade. Second biggest thing - every freaking person we passed was like, "it's two more miles." It felt endless, honestly. And the stretch between water points became increasingly concerning as a couple of us were getting somewhat low on water. We put our heads down, kept putting one foot in front of the other, and focused on the goal of getting to Phantom Ranch. We moderated our pace, stopping to take cover in the shade on a bridge at one point. Whatever it took to keep going; we knew it wouldn't be easy, and this was part of the experience.

in "The Box" - in the heat of the day

The Suck, though, meant that when we did finally see the sign that we were at Phantom Ranch, our delight was probably disproportionate to the arrival. According to my Garmin, we had hiked just over 17 miles that day. Wow!! We did a really excellent job of constantly telling each other how awesome we were!

kind of a combination of sheer joy and sheer exhaustion - but we'd made it to Phantom Ranch!!

We dropped our packs, checked in, and made our way to the bunk house to drop our bags. THANK GOD we had the bunks... it was SO HOT down there. It may have been 41* when we started, but by the time we got to Phantom Ranch around 3:30, it was 80* - IN THE SHADE! The Ranger said it had been 101* that day - and we had just spent about 2.5 hours hiking in the direct sun, no shade anywhere. My guess is the heat index in the direct sun was probably about 115* as we hiked those 2.5 miles. Craziness. We decided before we showered, we would grab some lemonade at the canteen (you can't even imagine how good that felt) then walked down to the creek where I straight up sat down, fully clothed, to cool off. It was almost like an ice bath - an amazing spring in the Canyon, and I bet the water temp was around 60*. It felt AMAZING. That was one of my big surprises - I never thought about or would've guessed how much water there is in the canyon. Springs, creeks and waterfalls are all over the place. I mean, I know it was FORMED by water, but that's the big old Colorado River. It was all of the other water everywhere that was a delightful surprise.

We get cleaned up - SHOWERS!! (<-- say this word with a choir of angels singing in the background, please) - and then went over to the canteen for dinner. BEEF STEW!! Soooooo good. So good. Actually, I don't know if it was that good, but it was because we were so hungry, haha. We definitely ate on the way down - we had all kinds of excellent hiking snacks and fuel - but just being able to sit down to a full meal that someone else cooked and was going to clean up, that was a true gift. We got to see an incredible night sky with all of the stars as we went back to the bunkhouse, being silly and using an app to identify constellations and planets.

Day One was complete - we had made it all the way down the North Kaibab Trail and conquered more than half of the miles Rim to Rim. Our legs were wobbly but our hearts were full as we collapsed into our bunks, dropping into the sleep of recovery of women who do the hard things.