This past weekend a friend and I thought it would be a great idea to do something insane that we will probably never attempt again (yea, right). We decided to cross off one item off the bucket list- drive 4 hours north to the Grand Canyon, hike the entire Bright Angel Trail (12 miles total), and drive back to Phoenix in one day! It was probably one of the best, and craziest challenges I ever had to physically endure.
We started off by driving from Phoenix, Arizona at 2 AM and headed over to the south rim of the Grand Canyon to hike the Bright Angel Trail. Once we got there it became very obvious that hiking the entire trail may not have been a good idea. In fact, there were warnings about dying from heat exhaustion all over the place! As a warning, just because I have done this and have gotten away with not dying does not mean you will too! Be sure that you know where your limits are when attempting stunts like this one! On a similar note, hiking trips like this one are not to be taken lightly. It is very important to bring enough water, food, and wear appropriate clothing. The last thing you want is blisters in your feet in the middle of your hike, to run out of water in the desert heat, or to get hungry with another 6 miles to go.
Now onwards to the trail....
As we approached the Grand Canyon trail, we could already see an awesome view! You can see way down into the canyon from the top of the rim. Obviously being a tourist attraction, there was a fair number of people already there even though it was barely 7 AM. It quickly became obvious once we approached the trail who the tourists were and who the actual campers/hikers were. Every tourist was carrying a huge camera, unfit hiking shoes, a t-shirt, and jeans... probably not the best idea for hiking.
Upon the descend into the canyon, I started feeling as if I was going to fall off the ledge. There are no rails at all. It was also strange to not exactly comprehend how high up you really are along the trail and how much you can fall over. Luckily over time it got better and I didn't mind the heights as much. The slopes going down varied from a small slope to a rather large one, and they curled around the canyon, giving you a nice view for the duration of the hike.
This is a part of the trail that I thought looked pretty awesome. It was really amazing how well paved the canyon trails could be, for a canyon at least. It makes me really wonder how this was even completed. I doubt they could easily lower heavy machinery to pave a trail over a few months, but who knows?
As we continued our descent, the environment started to change from a dry one to a wet one. In fact, there were many green shrubs along the bottom of the canyon, right next to the river. I definitely had a lot of fun jumping over rocks along the river so my shoes wouldn't get wet.
Upon making it to the bottom part of the canyon, you could look back and see how far you've progressed. I couldn't believe that I had gone that far down into the canyon! But the best is yet to come...
It seemed as if the canyon was merely opening up, and that we were barely at the foot of it. At this point, it really gave me a new appreciation of mother nature. To have to take millions of years to form these structures is just absolutely incredible! Moreover, to allow us humans to view it, share it, and experience it was just unforgettable!
And so we followed to trail some more...
And found ourselves at the river at the end! It was a cliff that dropped directly down (so don't fall over!). We peered over and noticed all of the white water rafters trying to control their rafts some thousands of feet below us. The currents looked pretty tough, but fun to row through.
Towards the end of the hike, the last 3 miles were really hard on both of us. The trail seemed as if it was not going to end, and walking only uphill made things worse. The weather kept wavering between what felt like a 10 degree difference depending on if you were in the sun or among the clouds. Elevation definitely played a big role in the temperature drops and rises. The bottom of the canyon reached nearly 95 degrees F, while the top was barely 60s. We drank about 1.5 gallons of water each, and devoured an entire box of cliff bars. The 5ish hour ordeal was done and we had just hiked 12 miles up and down the Grand Canyon. Only thing left to do was pig out on food and drive another 4 hours home, but we made it! What a Saturday! I hope everyone else had a day that was just as awesome as mine. :)