With our lives packed into our cars and a little shed that leaks, it was time to head north. Each time I’ve repeated this exercise it makes me wonder why I have so much junk. Junk that I am happy to live without for half the year, and that I won’t even think about during that time. It’s one of the nice things about being mobile. You are continually reminded how little you really ‘need.’ It can be easy to forget.
On the way north Eszter had a bit of a dubious plan:
Run the Grand Canyon.
dire warnings and hilarious illustration, but if anything it’s understating the danger
Though it was only May 1st, it was officially summer in AZ. It was the pre-summer before it started raining every day.
My longest run in the preceding months was five miles. That should be plenty, right?
Again, understated, and I did wonder if we should perhaps be heeding the warning.
Without bikes, how hard could it be?
I’ve hiked across the canyon three times with a bike. But had never even been to the canyon without a bike.
It was refreshing, to say the least. What a place. These trails really are some of the most impressive and awe inspiring, anywhere.
The heat was inconsequential while “running” down the trail.
Even still, I insisted we take a dip in the icy river.
best $1.10 ever spent on an apple
And plant our butts for several hours during the heat of the day. There’s fun people watching to be had at Phantom. It was nice to have some time to just hang out down there. We saw many people leave in the afternoon to start climbing back up, including one runner that was so shelled he could only hike twenty steps before keeling over or ending up on his knees.
Eszter got impatient with my conservatism. She was rearing to go attack the uphill, 100 degrees and sun or not! I had to keep a firm grip on the reins. Given our lack of preparation, I thought it wise to play it safe. Besides, there was no hurry, and hanging out with feet dangling in Bright Angel creek is a good use of time in my book.
We waited until the sun was off the canyon walls. OK, it’s go time!
The climb up was far easier than expected. We didn’t run the whole thing, by any stretch, but compared to hiking out with a bike on fried legs, it really was like cheating.
We got commended by a ranger at Indian Gardens for hiking up in the evening, and for taking a break in the shade. “It’s so nice to see people relaxing and enjoying the hike back up.” I suppose that’s rare to see. She told us about the recent rescues (and body extraction), not to mention the statistics on rescues. Not sure I’d want to be a ranger there.
We camped just outside the park, thinking ourselves pretty fancy for pulling it off with little consequence. “My legs aren’t even sore! I think we got away with it.”
At some point in the middle of the night Eszter rolled over, “Hey Scott, are you awake?”
“We didn’t get away with it….”
Legs did protest some, but it wasn’t crippling. We were back riding, and even running, shortly after.
(Versus every time I’ve hiked it with a bike, crippling soreness did result).
My Dad joined us for my birthday ride out on the new trails at JEM.
He’s gone thru-rider style: long sleeve, collared shirt.
We also got out with Dos Epic (Dave and Lynda). It was so great to hear Dave giggling as he rode behind me, carving a twisty and rowdy descent.
One of my favorite views in St. George.
This was a new view for me, and new trails.
Honeycomb slickrock! Kurt recommended this loop as his favorite in St. George.
The locals don’t seem to agree — the trail seems little used.
I kept riding after the first tumbleweed got caught under my bike. Rolled on through the second. But the third brought me to a halt, laughing hysterically.
Broken Mesa is a fun trail — more fun than I remembered. Thanks for the recommendation, Kurt.
Broken Mesa was my first hint of what was in store for May. Even in the desert I was shivering in the wind and getting rained on. Pre-summer was over and spring (winter?) was back. It was hard to believe that anything other than summer was in effect sitting down at the bottom of the canyon, but our expectation proved wrong. There was fresh snow in the Pine Valley Mountains.
salt lake city, or a rainforest?
I rolled on to Salt Lake City for some good time visiting the family. Riding and adventures were less the focus, especially as the rain continued in earnest. We started checking the weather for places like Seattle and Bellingham. We quickly realized that if we were going to find some dry trails and sunshine, we were going to have to head to the pacific northwest!
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