I think I found the answer.
This story is about my own version of "127 hours", though it's just 2d1n hike, and I did not sever my arm.
While I was in Grand Canyon, someone told me: "you never feel the canyon unless you hike down to the bottom."
It then planted in my mind and fortunately, I did it.
- Sunrise @ Yaki Point, Grand Canyon -
Grand Canyon is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, along with:
- Great Barrier Reef
- Harbor of Rio de Janeiro
- Mount Everest
- Aurora
- Parícutin volcano
- Victoria Falls
Only 1% of 5-million visitors hike down to the bottom of the Canyon, where the Colorado River cuts through.
And I'm pretty proud I'm part of the 1%! :D
Down at the bottom of canyon, there's a souvenir shop called Phantom Ranch, selling exclusive souvenirs only for visitors been there. To get to the bottom, you have 2 ways:
A) By hiking - free.
B) By mules - costs you nearly USD 481.71
It is not encouraged to hike down to the bottom of canyon and return in one day.
Therefore, an overnight at the Bright Angel Campground, located at the bottom of Canyon is the preferred choice.
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The hiking mission overview:
Next day, visited the exlcusive Phantom Ranch, got the special postcard. Made a return trip by crossing the river with Bright Angel Suspension Bridge, or called Silver Bridge. Hiked up 8.1miles/13km Bright Angel Trail and reached the rim at the Bright Angel Trailhead.
If you watched 127 hours before,
you will know how risky and dangerous to hike alone. Though we did in a group of one male and 5 gals, it's still quite challenging and dangerous. We didn't have experience at all and it's the first hike in our lifetime! =.=''
127 hours happened around Blue John Canyon in Canyonlands National Park, which is marked as "B" zone while Grand Canyon is located at "A" zone. Well, the map below shows the Grand Circle, where amazing National Parks and breathtaking sight-seeing destinations are located. Colorado Plateau was uplifted millions to billions years ago, and it forms lot of creations by beautiful rocks.
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Ok. Let's go by timeline for the hike.
We planned to hike on 15 Nov 2010. In order to hike down to the bottom, it required an overnight at the bottom of canyon. Thus, a Backcountry Permit was needed to camp at the Bright Angel Campground.
11 Nov 2010: Went to Backcountry Office to apply for permit, the park ranger said: "Reservations are full." We felt disappointed....then, he added:"But you can come by the day before to get the special reservation, it has capacity of 5-6 groups of campers, with 1-6 in a group. " A good news!
14 Nov 2010: At early 8:30 am sharp, we were waiting in cold; shivering outside the Backcountry Office. Thank god we got the permit. Hooray! Non-refundable fee of $10 per permit and $5 per person. We only paid $10 for the permit because we were the employees of the park. :D
15 Nov 2010:
11:30 - Just came back from a town called Williams. Prepared everything in a rush.
13:30 - Met at General Store to collect our hiking tools. It's the first time I used those equipments.
Checklists:
14:00 - Took the shuttle bus to South Kaibab Trailhead.
15:05 - Started the hike!!!!!
**Finding #6: It's advisable that your backpack shouldn't weigh more than 1/4 of your body weight for an amatuer hiker. For example, I'm 60 kg. My backpack weight shouldn't heavier than 15 kg.
Just look at the pic below and imagine how heavy our backpacks were. Gosh! Luckily the temperature was around 10 to 15-degree Celcius.
Here's the usage of your entrance fees to the national parks.
Nobody planned to back off. We were stepping into nobody-land.
16:14 - We reached Cedar Ridge, a stop-off point. Had a break for bananas and restroom. Long way to go.
We had a line of postures to show our determination.
I had a song which moved me forward: Charice - Pyramid.
"pyramid, we've built this on a solid rock
it feels just like it's heaven's touch
together at the top (at the top baby) like a pyramid''
Bright and shaded canyon.
Thanks to google plus my searching skill, I managed to get the name of this plant.
Agave plant.
17:21 - Reached Skeleton Point. Sounds creepy.
Luckily no bones were found. LOL~
Grand Canyon was so colourful, with a mixture of pink and blue.
It's steep enough. Couldn't believe I hiked down this Zig Zag trail in dark...
You were in the middle of somewhere, you couldn't return, the only choice was moving forward.
There's no light or any signboards. Just a simple trail.
And we only had two headlamps. One led in the front, and I was at the back.
Had a break and tied our shoelaces.
20:22 - Notice the tiny light in the pic below? That's the campground.
So near yet so far. I kept going on and prayed hard.
I was the only guy, so if any weird creatures came out, I gotta be the one stood in front.
Luckily it didn't happen.
Hiking down the canyon with around 5000-feet differences in elevation hurt your knees a lot.
Imagine your weight is 1/4 times heavier, and it puts great impact on your knees, each time you step down the trail stairs.
20:57 - It had been the happiest moment throughout the hike when you saw a signboard.
It meant I reached a milestone, and nearer to the final destination.
21:05 - I heard the river flow. Thought I was reaching the river.
It's total dark and I couldn't focus with my cam.
So I simply pointed, placed still on a rock, snapped in manual mode.
Took 32.4 seconds with aperture f/3.5 to get the picture below
YES! That's the Black Bridge! We gonna crossed the river and another mile to go.
21:12 - Passed through a short tunnel before the bridge.
I didn't know how high the bridge was as we couldn't see anything.
22:00 - We picked a campslot and settled down. Took us another 30 minutes to setup the tents.
22:40 - The girls went to the toilet, and I was at the campground alone. Met the first creature - Coyote I assumed.
It had a pair of bright eyes, staring at me. I got my hiking stick, and I tried to frighten it away.
I think it was aiming at our food, and curious about the intruders---us.
There are many species of wildlife in canyon. Elk, Mule Deer, Mountain Lion, Gray Fox, Coyote, Squirrel, Condor, etc...
Based on its size, I think it's a coyote.
A google image pic of coyote:
Luckily it just "shuu" away after a while. I've never seen a real coyote, till I googled the image.
GOSH!
23:15 - That's for the tiring day. Night.
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It felt warmer at the bottom of the canyon, but it's cold to sleep in the tent.
Freezing all night and finally the sun rose.
We were just too tired to get up.
16 Nov 2010:
09:15 - The first view out of my tent was: WOW!
09:20 - Had our breakfast.
He's kind enough to share with us the peanut sticky biscuits made by his wife.
Felt so warm.
It's essential to avoid wildlife eats them before you have it.
A stream nearby made it a perfect heaven.
Online translation: a fictitious land of peace away from the turmoil of the world.
10:46 - After packing up, we gotta start our journey. If not, it might be too late to reach the rim.
Of course, before leaving, a visit to Phantom Ranch was a must.
Never been here, never been to bottom of canyon.
It's still late Fall. There's an Autumn tree in front of the Phantom Ranch.
At least a cabin with more extensive decorations selling more kinds of souvenirs.
"Hello World! I am ready to hike up!"
It's said that it takes twice the time of going down to the river to hike up the rim.
We took 6 hours to hike down, meaning we needed 12 hours to reach the rim!!!??
11:25 - Ignoring the statement, we just tried to walk as fast as possible.
Our load got lighter but it's almost the same. We got to bring the rubbish along.
"What brought down to the bottom of canyon must leave with you."
We picked Bright Angel Trail to hike back to the rim.
A longer but easier trail but for sure it needs twice the effort to reach the rim.
Seriously....defying the gravity.
Since it's a different trail, we were crossing the river with Silver Bridge.
Even the one day white water rafting package will cost you around $499. @.@
11:14 - It's not early and we wished we could reach the rim before the sky turned dark.
In front the majestic canyon, we were like so tiny and nothing.
11.58 - Bumped into the mules. Mules were fit enough to bring visitors down to the river and they carried the supplies for Phantom Ranch too.
She is the lightest and smallest gal in the group, based on size.
Yet, she carried heavy load like us. Bravo!
(Rubbish was tied on her backpack. LOL.)
11:27 - Pipe Creek Beach. Another rest point.
Went through different surfaces. Muddy soil, small stream, steep stair...
Kept on sweating but we just couldn't stop.
Took a rest almost every hour. That's definitely too challenging.
Just imagine carrying extra 1/4 times of your weight and hike up a 13 km trail.
It's totally different with running on the paved road.
It's hot like hell in daytime.
And we could only choose to motivate ourselves.
"Be positive, it's nearer...it's nearer..."
14:27 - Indian Garden.
Another 3.1 miles to go. Gosh!
The sun set around 530p.m. that time....not much time left.
Started to think why we put ourselves in such situation...
Felt so tired...loads never get lighter....
Got this lucky shot. The light cut through the canyon at 45-degree angle.
Just so amazing. But it indicated that the sun was setting.
17:18 - Evening view of canyon.
No matter how many times I looked at it, I felt it's different and unique in each view.
So...overwhelming.
No mood in taking pictures anymore, the only target was survival!
The wind blew very strong and it's getting dark and freezing chilling.
We almost can't stand still and we had to hold to the rocks to stabilize ourselves.
I took the pics below on other days. The trail is quite narrow.
A stupid mistake will cause you slip and fall down.
We were not dare to hike near the edge of trail.
It's like a never ending journey.
It kept on going round and round up while nearing the rim.
I could feel the urge to survive.
All I think was reaching the rim faster and rushed to the restaurant for my chicken quesadillas.
Another thing was: The girls didn't give up, so I definitely couldn't surrender!
"ARGHHHHH! Just do it!"
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19:00 - FINALLY, we reached the rim after the tough struggle.
Seriously!!!!!!!! Mission accomplished.
Tiring, Sleepy, Weak --- physically and mentally.
But deep in our heart, joy overcame everything else.
The satisfaction was something we couldn't define.
And that's probably how first time hiker feels.
At least, it's something worth to proud of.
Most of us suffering from severe muscles pain.
Took almost few days to recover.
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"First time Grand Canyon hikers tend to react to the experience in one of two ways: either they can't wait to get back, or they swear they'll never do it again."
A: I think....I will choose the former.
Everytime I face a challenge that brings me down, I will always recall that I've been through a real tough lifetime hike down to the bottom of majestic Grand Canyon, a reminder of everything is possible to myself.
Majestic View from Lipan Point, Grand Canyon National Park.....so...so...breathtaking!
For full resolution and zoom in to see the details:
http://h.imagehost.org/view/0047/lipan_point_view
For full resolution and zoom in to see the details:
http://h.imagehost.org/view/0047/lipan_point_view
**FYI, we still had to work the next day, and we didn't skip!:D**
If you appreciate the effort, don't hesitate to click "like" as motivation. Thanks.
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