Grand Canyon 2006 (GC06)

On Monday October 2nd, 2006 I fulfilled a dream I've had for almost ten years -- I hiked into the Grand Canyon.

• See my photos of the Grand Canyon (photoset, slideshow).
• See my photos of Zions Canyon (photoset, slideshow).
  

Two years ago, on the Ribbon Creek trail with Sean, Mike Gedlaman, Randy Fibke and Derek Kearl, I suggested that we do our hike the following year in the Grand Canyon. My suggestion didn't get much support, but I sort of resolved in my mind that I was serious about going, and that I would find a way to make it happen.

Last year, on the same Ribbon Creek hike, I suggested it again (with the same group of hikers) and Sean and Mike agreed to go. I started to do the research, and learned that a backcountry permit was required to spend the night in the Canyon, and that backcountry permits could be obtained on a first come first serve basis not earlier than four months before the desired start date. As the four month mark got nearer, the four or five people that had shown interest began to drop out one by one. Sean booked a trip to Hawaii, Mike spent his vacation allotment in other ways and didn’t have enough vacation time to make the trip. Kevin was totally committed in the beginning, but through some miscommunication between he and I, he ended up deciding against it (he thought I had decided not to go, and then he made other plans). Jeff Shipley and JD Taylor also couldn’t come – Jeff got a new job, and JD ended up have to make two trips to Utah in 30 days.

In mid September I still had not obtained a backcountry permit, but was resolved as ever that I was going to make it to the Grand Canyon. Erin made me promise that I wouldn’t go alone, and I’m glad it didn’t come to that because I may still have gone – even on my own. This trip had become a bit of a promise to myself that I had to keep.

In mid September I called David Waite (a missionary companion of mine who grew up in Bunkerville Nevada, and who now resides in Salt Lake) to ask if he was interested. I regret not calling David earlier – I’m not sure why it didn’t occur to me earlier in the trip planning stage. Had I called him in March, I likely could have obtained an overnight permit in time and would have had an overnight stay at Phantom Ranch. Regardless, David agreed to come but required some careful planning as only 30 days earlier his parent’s home in Bunkerville, the home he grew up in, was burned in an electrical fire.

On Thursday September 29th Erin, the kids, and I got in the car and started the 15 hour trip to Salt Lake City where I would attend the LDS General Conference on Saturday and Sunday, then leave my family in Salt Lake with Erin’s sister Amy and continue on to Knabb, Utah (40 miles North of the Grand Canyon) with David Waite to spend the night on Sunday evening before entering the Grand Canyon. On Sunday morning while sitting the LDS Conference Center waiting for the conference to begin, I struck up a conversation with a fellow seated next to me who coincidentally had been to the Grand Canyon. He gave me some advice, and ended by saying that if we could at all spare the time, we should get to Zion National Park. He told me he enjoyed Zion’s more that he enjoyed the Grand Canyon. This was very intriguing to me, and I decided that on our way home from Bunkerville, I would suggest to David that we drive through Zion National Park. My seatmate at conference proved to be right about which Canyon was more amazing.

Matthew had a major breakdown when I left on Sunday evening, and when I got into the car I had private teary moment. It was so hard to leave Matthew in that condition. I tried not to let David see me like that, but David knew, and kindly offered to cancel to trip. As hard as it was to leave – I knew Matt would be over his fit only a few minutes after I left, and I couldn’t break my promise to make it to the Grand Canyon. Honestly, I wanted to cancel the trip and stay with Matt.

We arrived in Knabb late Sunday evening. David and I visited for the entire 4.5 hour trip. It felt like about 45 minutes. It just flew by.

Monday morning we woke up at 6:30 AM and were on the road by 7:00 AM. We arrived at the North Rim entrance to the Grand Canyon at roughly 8:30 AM local time, and we were hiking the roaring springs trail by 9:30 AM. We visited with the park ranger at the entrance to the park for about 20 minutes and explained that we only had the 1 day in the park and had to be to St. George Utah by dark. She recommended the Roaring Springs trail, and suggested we stop at Supai Tunnel, then hike back out and drive to Imperial Point and head south and stop at each of the lookouts. She further recommended that we do the 4 mile hike out to Cape Final, and she told us that this was the most spectacular view in the Canyon, North or South Rim.



We took the rangers advice and started hiked Roaring Springs and Cape Final and stopped at 3 overlooks in between.



We started out down the roaring springs trail, and after about 20 minutes of downward hiking, we came to Coconino Lookout – our first real view of the Canyon. I did it. I made it to the Canyon after 10 years of thinking about it. It was an amazing feeling to actually be there. The vista was amazing, but the sense of accomplishment was far more satisfying. I could have turned around at that point and gone home a happy man.



The Canyon is amazing. I can’t describe how vast and majestic it really is. The best views of the Canyon were actually not from down inside the Canyon – but rather from the several lookout points (Imperial Point, Angels Lookout, Cape Final and Cape Royal). I got lots of great photos, although there was a fire at the South Rim which sent smoke and haze through the whole Canyon -- unfortunate, but not devastating.



After spending the day in the Grand Canyon National Park we packed up and drove to Bunkerville, Nevada just outside of Mesquite (a popular golf and gambling destination) where I met David’s family for the first time after having heard stories about them since 1994, 12 years ago.

David’s family is remarkable! We stayed in his brother Stephen’s home, as his parents home is uninhabitable as a result of the fire. I was greeted very warmly by everyone, and David’s mother called me “Scotty” the whole night (I loved it!). We had pizza for dinner and a lovely family home evening after dinner. Stephen and Emily Waite have a beautiful home inside and out. Emily is clearly a very talented home decorator and mother. I also met David’s sister Krechele again (I had met her at BYU almost 10 years ago, right after my mission), and Krechele’s husband Craig, and children Sarah and Matthew. Krechele’s Matthew reminded my own Matthew.



The next morning we arose at 6:30, had breakfast, and then David gave me the penny tour of Bunkerville. Which, as I had suspected, didn’t take long. I hugged Mama Waite and we were off to Zion National Park.



In a word, Zion National Park is AMAZING. Truthfully, it proved to be far more spectacular than the Grand Canyon, and I am so glad we decided to spend some time there. We arrived and went to the visitor center and spoke with a park rangers about what hike we could do in just a few hours. He recommended Angels Landing, and told us that it fit our time constraints, but the last half mile was difficult and not for the faint of heart. The trail description in the trail guide says this about Angels Landing,

Strenuous. Long drop-offs and narrow trail. Not for anyone fearful of heights. Ends at summit high above Zion Canyon. Last 0.5 miles follows steep, narrow ridge; chains have been added.

We boarded the shuttle and took off for Angels Landing.



We kept pretty a pretty fast pace for the first mile or so, hiking quickly and passing dozens of other hikers. We hiked quickly because I was trying to be back in Salt Lake at 8:00 PM and it was a four hour drive from Zion to Salt Lake. It also been my experience that I’m no more or less tired after the mid-point of the hike regardless of the speed of the hike. This may seem illogical, but I think David would agree.

After slowing our pace and taking a brief rest, I spotted the mountain peak and became a bit nervous and a bit excited about arriving there. The trail is beautifully maintained, and paved for most of its five miles. I kept commenting to David that I had never hiked such a well manicured trail of this difficulty. There were decorative retaining walls, and paved trails, and friendly signposts etc… The trail was full of switchbacks, that wound back and forth along the perimeter of the mountain, frequently taking us out to the edge of the Canyon for some spectacular views. The weather was excellent, about 30 degrees Celsius.



As we approached Scouts Landing we passed a group coming down the trail who heard us make a humorous complaint about the increasing pitch of the trail. One of the men in the group, in his late twenties said something about how it only gets more difficult the further up you get. I commented back that we love difficulty, and that’s what keeps us hiking. He sarcastically said something like, “we’ll if you’re that comfortable with difficulty, you’re going to love it up there – you’ll be so at ease you’ll take a nap.” Sensing that it was going to get difficult, I stopped and had David promise me he wouldn’t let me back out if it got steep, or if my fear of heights started taking over. I said, “David… we’re going to get close to the top and I’m going to start getting afraid of heights. Don’t let me chicken out – get me to the top and I’ll get you to the top.” We promised each other then we continued on.

Not five minutes after our empty promise to each other we came to Scouts Landing and could see the last half mile to the summit. My heart sank. Instantly my fear of heights took over and I began to doubt that I’d make it to the top. I could see why the trail guide said that this hike is, “not for anyone fearful of heights”. From Scouts Landing the trail narrows to less than five feet wide in most places, and becomes very narrow with 1488 foot sheer drops on either side.



There are chains punched into the horizontal parts of the trail that continue from Scouts Landing to the top at Angels Landing. I could see people who looked like little sheep moving slowly along the chains, bending over and crouching down to hold on. I felt sick. David moved over to the side of the rock to look over the edge. I felt sick. David asked for the camera to take a couple of photos of what he could see off the side. I felt sick.

We agreed to have some lunch to and wait to see if I could acclimatize to the height. I couldn’t. We ended up spending about 30 minutes at Scouts Landing and in the end I didn’t have it in me to make it to the top. I admit I was a bit frustrated when I spotted a woman who appeared to be roughly 70 years old coming off the chains after having successfully been to the top. My frustration was compounded when I saw a nine year old boy bounding down not even holding the chains. I did manage to crawl over to the edge of Scouts Landing and peek over the edge for about five seconds. I quickly returned to the middle of the rock, and re-centered.



The hike down was very enjoyable. We stopped frequently for a picture and I just couldn’t get over how amazing the Canyon was. I decided that I really wanted to come back to Zions and spend more time hiking the Canyons, and maybe attempt an Angels Landing summit again. David and I spoke about making this a yearly trip and spend some time at Bryce Canyon next time.



We got in the car and started the trip back to Salt Lake (only after a stopover in St. George for something to eat at Café Rio). We arrived in Salt Lake at about 8:30, pretty close to our forecasted time. Matt came bounding out of the house and hugged me for about three minutes. I hugged him back.

So I made it to the Grand Canyon – I did it, and I was pleasantly surprised by Zion Canyon National Park. I can scratch the GC off my life’s list of things to do. Next up, Florence.