Last night me and D=rt joined hundreds of others at a presentation about John Wesley Powell, the first white man to float through the Grand Canyon. It is fascinating to me that a man would run the rapids in a wooden boat, not knowing what could be around the next bend. Talk about adventure, his trip puts ours to shame!
The talk kept me up late, and we were up early. We had 23 miles to hike with a 5500 foot climb. We were up at 5 AM, and hiking on the Bright Angel Trail by 620. It was so nice to beat the sun, and all the way down to the Colorado River there was a light cloud cover.
The trails were busy all day. We must have passed hundreds of individuals. Some were day hiking. Some were backpacking, but the biggest group we passed today were runners, most going from the South Rim, to the North Rim, then turning around and retracting the last 23 miles, back to the South rim. I was so surprised to see so many people doing just that. We eventually ran into TC while we were taking a siesta! Him and his friend Susan are doing rim to rim to rim. They seemed to be in good spirits when we saw them, even though they still had 18 miles to go! Congratulations to them for completing such a feat!
We made it to the North Rim about 6 PM. It was a tough climb! I am glad I did not have to turn around and hike back to the South rim! Crazy ultra-runners! We are camped among ponderosas, drinking snowmelt, and probably looking at a cold night tonight. Glad I did not mail home the long underwear.
I can not believe that I was on the verge of quitting a couple days ago. I am so glad that I was able to experience today, and look forward to the next 10 days. I am not sure that I will be ready for it to be over when it is over.
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