Description: I had felt so much power and self-confidence the first time I hiked in April 2005, I had to do it again. It was a group of 3 woman with one I call the “Grand Canyon Hiking Guru”, the woman has done it 11 consecutive times! I must admit this year I didn’t train as well as I should have and I felt it. I did decide to use the hiking poles this year (best hike equipment I’d ever invested it!!) And carried 12 pounds down the trail in my backpack. We started around 11am from the South Kaibab trail (steeper but quicker) and took our time down into the canyon. We made our first stop at the Cedar rest point for lunch. There are so many interesting people hiking the trail. We met an 80-year-old (yes 80!), who was hiking up, as we were going down. He was going at a good pace and stopped and chatted with us. He told us that he had hiked the canyon 45 times this year and did the Rim to Rim hike a few times. The gentlemen did not look 80, I’d say maybe 70 years old. It's amazing what a person can do when they put their mind to it.
We’d made only 2 more rest stops along way and finally made it to Phantom Ranch 4 hours later on the steep 6.5 miles trail.
Phantom Ranch was as great as it was in 2005. Unfortunately our time was a little slower and I ended up getting an upper bunk (BUMMER) since the other women had already claimed the beds. We stayed in the women dormitory—10 bunk beds, a shower and restroom. The Ranch provides all bedding, pillow, and large towel. We got our usual congratulatory drink of fresh lemonade at the Canteen for making it to the bottom. The Canteen is where all food is served. We got to Ranch at 4pm and dinner is served at 5pm. The food is served family style and was as good as last year so that lets me know they are consistent. The Canteen closes after dinner and reopens at 8pm. They sell shirts, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. There is also a nightly “Ranger Talk” that I found very informative last year. This year was just too tired and went to bed early.
The next morning it was time to head out. Up by 4:30am, breakfast at 5am and packed and ready to hike out by 5:30am. The coolness of the breeze that comes from the Colorado River set the tone and gave me the added energy to start our journey out of the canyon
and up to a hike that would take us 6 hours on the 9.5 mile Bright Angel. We took Bright Angel because it has water stations whereas South Kaibab does not.
The hike was worth it the second time around.
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