Day 17 Grand Canyon

I've aged a bit since yesterday. Only kidding this is not me....no come on now its not!! Why this is none other than Rim-Rim Maverick (Laurent Gaudreau). See him on tv at http://www.ksl.com/.

I had no clue who he was but liked his t-shirt and asked if I could take a picture. The shirt reads "I utterly refuse to act my age". Laurent duly oblidged and handed me his card. I think this guy said he had done the gorge more than a hundred times?

So I'd decided to do the famous Souh Kaibab trail. The only ridge hugging and steepest trail down into the canyon. At eighteen miles and three feet wide with colossal drops its vertigo central. All the safety advice insists you do not go up and down in one day as deaths sadly arise and some 250 people are carried of the trails each year through heat exhaustion. The option to stay down in the canyon overnight was not available to me as it requires booking four months in advance. In any case this is what a heavily packed overnighter looks like. Meet Doug a particularly relaxed up state New Yorker originally from Arizona.






Compare this if you will to my light daypac. Should be ok I thought.......

Hmmmmm....I consumed over four litres of water and the trick they say to stop your muscles going into spasm is regular intake of salts and sugar. In my case chocolate chip cookies. Well the trail is no place for diets. Cream cake anyone?

The views are breathtaking and yet after two hundred photos I concluded none do it justice. Its just so big..............................................the canyon I'm talking about.

Met this desert squirrel called Richard way down in the canyon. Hops along he does , sits right next to me giving it the whole preening of the whiskers and bushy tail routine. Had to give him a piece of my apple even though it could represent the last life saving morsel to me later in the day. Richard was exstatic and no doubt chuckled at his mate a bit further down the canyon going all old school and burrowing away the base of a cactus for sustenance.

On a serious note nobody should feed the animals. They will struggle to adapt in winter and the bus driver told me the wardens attend to about ten bites a day as the creatures become so domesticated they saddle on up to tourists who in turn pat them. Chomp and ouch. A complete clash of agendas...affection meats food source.

Finally I reached the base of the canyon and the ferocious Colorado river. The Canyon's creator. I decided to face him head on...off with the socks and shoes for a paddle (Swimming not allowed ...nothing in the rules about paddling). Haaaaaaaaay its freezing.

It was getting tough on the way up and gald to see the Park has a sense of humour.....

By the end of it I was wanting out of the place. More than a little bit of canyon fever setting in and from who knows where I found a last bit of enegy and double timed the last mile with the mantra "Almost there..next corner" repeating in the inner depth of my still hydrayed brain.

One last look...

The legs were packing in as I fell onto the bus. The driver said well done getting in before dark..."A few mountain lions hanging about this week".

A mighty feast and some weird dreams best summed up as........

All in all an unforgettable day. Sandy you were right...nothing prepares you for the scale of the Grand Canyon!!