I am back from sunny Arizona sunburnt, sore, and a year older than before. To celebrate my 30th birthday Kim and I flew to Phoenix and met up with my parents and brother. From there we were on a long weekend tour of the Grand Canyon, Sedona, and Phoenix areas as well as all stops in between. Along the way we hiked, mountain biked, off-roaded, ate great food, and drank good beer.  One of my favorite adventures was hiking in the Grand Canyon. I had never been there before so seeing it at sunset upon our arrival was amazing but nothing can top hiking into it. I had done my research and everything I read said not to attempt hiking down to the Colorado River and back to the rim in one day. I’m assuming that in the summer this can be extremely exhausting due to high temperatures.

Before leaving I talked to a friend who had hiked to the river and back and he said it is definitely doable. My plan was to start on a ranger guided hike on the South Kaibab trail that would go a mike and a half down the trail and to take it from there. Well this hike isn’t actually offered until the summer months. Instead everyone in our group started hiking the trail, with me leading, just after eight in the morning.

As we descended down the South Kaibab the view got better and better. When we reached the mile and a half turnaround, Cedar Ridge, we decided to continue on down the trail. Shortly after we ran into an older couple who said the were going down to the river and back up another trail, Bright Angel. They told us they had done it before and it took only nine hours or so. This is much quicker than the guidebooks say.  I had always wanted to touch the river and go back but was afraid that we didn’t have enough time on this trip. Once I heard their estimated time, I was all for it. Everyone else really liked the idea of doing it and so we hiked down with a new goal!

After around three and a half hours of hiking we had reached the suspension bridge that crosses the Colorado. We crossed and actually went down to the river and felt the frigid water. We took a short break to eat some food and fill our waters and were on our way up shortly afterward.  The hike up started pretty steep. We knew the South Kaibab was steeper than the Bright Angel, but we also knew it was around three miles shorter. We may have started the first set of switchbacks with too much speed, which led to a few extra rests and some tired family members.

Eventually after another four hours of hiking we were all standing back at the top of the Grand Canyon. We had all made it down and back! I was so proud of everyone and so happy that I was able to accomplish this. With stops included, it took us nearly eight hours exactly to hike the 13.5 round-trip miles. It was a hike that I’ll never forget.  Pictures and more adventures coming soon.