Sunday 9/1/13
4:23
a.m. I’m up, because I’m determined to
get to the rim and see the sunrise. Not
taking the bus, just walking in the dark.
Saw the dark outline of an elk walking near me. A little scary. Made it to Rim Trail in plenty of time to get
a good spot for the sunrise. Had a
church service.
8:00 a.m. All of us starting out on Bright Angel
Trail. Amazing views everywhere, from
the landscape of the canyon, to the details in the rocks, and the mule deer,
squirrels, condors, butterflies, and plants.
9:30 a.m. Made it to the 1.5 mile rest house, which
must be way more than 1.5 miles. Seemed
like at least five. Used the very gross
bathroom, snacked on jerky and trail mix, and refilled our water bottles. Mike instructed the children , “It’s going to
be a difficult hike up, so you might want to conserve your breath by not
talking.” Noah said, “That sounds like a
politically correct way of telling us to shut up.” And it was at this point
that I first encountered the hilarious Australian couple with whom I would hike
most of the way back. Mrs. Aussie
laughed a lot at the exchange between Mike and the kids while she was waiting
behind us to refill her water bottles. A
squirrel was sniffing around her backpack, and she yelled at it, “Get away from
my pack, you horrid thing!” in her Aussie accent, and we’ve all been quoting it
ever since.
Noah made it out of the canyon in 45
minutes with very little rest. Mike and
Sarah took a few rest stops and made it in an hour. I spent much of my time bonding with the
Aussies (and others) and resting frequently, so it took me 2 hours. The Aussies made it so fun that I had to break away from them for
a little while, because I couldn’t spare the oxygen required to keep
laughing.
There were very few Americans,
lots of Europeans, some Asians and Spanish-speakers, but we all bonded on the trail. It was a lot more fun
than I expected it to be. An Englishman
was coming down the trail with his finger bleeding , and I was coming up, panting and puffing. He said, “Cheerio! Can you spare an artery?” I said, “I’ll trade you an artery for a
lung,” and he said, “Deal!” A Spanish couple
was hiking with their two young daughters, and the youngest one had a screaming
tantrum when she realized she had to hike all the way up. Her fit echoed off the canyon walls and
sounded like a wild animal, and it went on and on. She cried and whined most of
the way. Mrs. Aussie whispered to me,
“That child needs some chocolate!” At one
point, I stopped to rest by myself and saw a stuffed animal that some kid had
dropped over the edge. A guy was coming
up the trail, so I pointed over the edge and said, “Look! A snow leopard!” The guy looked shocked and said, “What?!
Really?” and peered over, as if it could possibly be a snow leopard. When he spotted it, he said, “No, that’s a
Siberian tiger.”
The Aussies and I
stopped to take a picture of what looked like a big moth. There were some Americans taking pictures of
it too. I asked them what it was and
they said it was a hummingbird. The
Aussies and I looked at each other doubtfully.
Mrs. A said, “I may be just a stupid foreign tourist, but I know a hummingbird
when I see one, and that thing is NOT a hummingbird.”
Later we were watching condors soar overhead
and someone asked us if they were condors.
Mrs. A replied seriously, “No, they are giant Grand Canyon
Hummingbirds.” Mr. A said, "No, they're pteradactyls."
12:00 p.m. The rest of the afternoon was spent resting
and eating and hanging out (literally) in our room.
The people at the table
behind us at the pizza pub left six perfectly good pieces of pizza, and Mike
surprised me by scavenging them.
6:00 p.m. Waiting with hundreds of other people for the
bus to Hopi Point to see the sunset.
Drunk guy doing weird gesturing and blowing.
Everyone cheered when the sun dipped below
the canyon. We stayed to watch the stars
come out and caught the last bus back.
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