Rim2Rim - What goes down must come up

Our night in Bright Angel Camp had me thinking about our wonderful trip to Havasupai with the roar of the Creek echoing off the Canyon walls.

Knowing we had two days climbing ahead I was determined to see how well I could do. I hoped to set a good pace and maintain it for the remainder of my trip. 

We left Bright Angel Camp and for the first mile and a half we followed the Colorado River before turning uphill. To my surprise a Creek was running beside the trail which gave me an opportunity to wet my bandana and keep my cool....!!

Up and up we went and at every turn the view would change giving a different perspective and another Kodak moment.........  

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Looking back we could see how far we had climbed but looking up gave us only scant idea of what lay ahead. So far the climb up seemed to be easier than going downhill. Maybe after 2 days the altitude training was kicking in.

As the day was beginning to heat up it was a welcome relief to hike into the shade of Indian Garden campground.

Later that afternoon we hiked out to Plateau Point and had an "ooh aaah" moment looking down at the Colorado River and watching two river rafting boats navigate the rapids. The wind picked up and rain started to fall but it dried as soon as it hit the ground. It looked like the North Rim was going to get all the rain.We watched a group of Turkey Vultures soaring in the sky as we sat on the rocks and chatted to our campsite neighbours. 

We made plans before going to bed to sleep in the next morning and relax during the hottest part of the day and hike out between 3 and 4pm.

All too quickly our last day arrived. It felt unusual to sleep in and it took some effort to lie in until 7.30. The best part was not having to rush eating breakfast. For some reason knowing we were down to our last rations just made me hungrier and all I could think about was food....!!

We spent some time sitting under a tree cooling our feet in the Creek looking at some panoramic Grand Canyon books from the Ranger Station. After some time we seemed to be in the middle of great activity. A group of mule riders had stopped for lunch on their way to Phantom Ranch. I chatted to a Kentuckian couple and somehow when they left I had more food than I knew what to do with.....Oreo's, nuts and fruit juice. Ahhhh it was time for a cuppa tea and a biscuit.

We got away as planned around 3.50pm and I could really feel the 90 degree heat beating down. Soon we would be in the shade and every mile and a half was a rest station and water. I was keeping to my pace and determined to reach each rest station in a certain time. It was the best I had ever felt while hiking.

Soon we would be at the top and it would all be over. So we stopped occasionally just to take it all in.



As we inched higher up the trail the atmosphere became very friendly. We would pass familiar faces and then as we rested they would pass us. By the end we were encouraging them and vise versa.

When we neared the top I had an overwhelming feeling to share our experience with someone I knew so it was nice that we made it to the end about the same time as our new trail buddies.  

 

We did it.....woohooo ! 9.5 miles and 4,380 feet UP.

On our way to Dude, to our surprise, our memories of Havasupai didn't end in the Canyon because we came across an Arizona Outback Adventure van parked nearby. We had a quick shower and finished as we began with a burger and a beer...!!