Thursday
This night has not provided us with
hours of uninterrupted sleep, although there should really be no
reason for it. I woke up almost every hour, partly from a stuffy
nose, partly because it felt as if I had lain in one position too
long. It was quite cool, too, probably not much above freezing,
although this is not an issue with my super-light, wonderfully cozy
down-filled sleeping bag. Still, when we decide to get up close to
seven we feel reasonably rested.
Getting up and walking is quite a
different matter, however. Every thigh and calf muscle screams:
pain!, I can feel my right hip joint, and sore spots on my clavicles
indicate where the pack pressed yesterday. Hmmm.... this might be
interesting. Trusting that, just like the day before, things will
limber up once we get moving we go about making breakfast for now.
Dressed in everything we brought because it is so cool we watch again
the descent of sunlight on the rocky wall beside us. Rosy-golden
streaks of light criss-cross the light blue sky: there is a lot of
air traffic here, yet since we don't hear the noise that, too,
becomes a source of beauty.
And then there is no delaying the
inevitable anymore: we have to get going. Apart from the aching
muscles filling us with slight apprehension there is, at least for me, another feeling
already, too, a familiar feeling I try to suppress because it keeps
me from enjoying the present moment as fully as it deserves: it is
that of regret, the regret that soon this will be over, and we will
turn our backs, and this experience will lie behind us instead of
ahead. Resolutely I push it aside: this is not the time to dwell on
that!
We shoulder our packs and look up to
the wall ahead. It looks insurmountable, forbidding. However are we
going to get up there? We have a scant five miles left, but more than 900
altitude metres to overcome. Johann suddenly says, 'Three flights of
stairs.' What? 'That Jack Nicholson movie, you know?' Ah, yes:
Something's Gotta Give. Now I remember. Well, we'll just take it one
step at a time.
Surprisingly, the walking is not as
painful as we thought, and it becomes easier as time progresses. At
first it is cold enough for us to wear our toques, but soon we can
shed them, along with the warm sweatshirts. Bird song accompanies us
on our way out of this lush, verdant valley. Every once in awhile we
stop and look back, surprised how quickly we gain altitude.
There are rest areas about every
mile-and-a-half, each consisting of a covered shelter and a bathroom.
It is nice to have the total hike broken up into smaller increments:
that way it doesn't seem quite as overwhelming. The first major stop,
Three-Mile Resthouse, comes after 1.7 miles, at 1450 m elevation. We
enjoy the great view of the valley opening below us and can easily
make out Indian Gardens with the ranger station.
We stay a while, rest and eat some lunch,
closely observed by a rock squirrel. Brazenly it comes right up to
our backpacks on a big rock, ready to snatch what it can. We shoo it
away: these squirrels have become much too used to human presence.
Several times we pass signs at the side of the trail warning not to
feed them since they may bite.
The trail becomes steeper, and we are
glad to reach the 1.5-Mile Resthouse. Much of the hike today has been in
the shade, which makes it easier as well. It is one of the reasons
why Bright Angel Trail is suggested for the hike up: South Kaibab is
much more exposed, and even though it is two miles shorter it would
be much harder to hike up, not only because of the lack of shade but
also because of the steeper trail and the worn-down steps.
On the last third of the trail the
amount of people coming down increases considerably. It is easy to
see that this is the most popular of the hiking trails in the park.
It seems that many more people hike down at least a little bit on
Bright Angel trail than walk the rim trail, although that, too, is a
very rewarding hike, especially – at least from our perspective –
where it isn't paved.
We keep our eyes open for petroglyphs:
on Sunday evening we had listened to a ranger talk on this subject
and heard that there were some along Bright Angel trail, although the
ranger didn't tell us where exactly we had to look for them. We find
two; one under a roof-like rock overhang, the other very close to the
top just below one of the arches. Whatever inspired these early
inhabitants of the canyon to put them there we will never know, but I
can understand why they would have chosen this location to express
themselves. It is a place of great beauty, and, standing where I do
now and where they did then, a place to feel awe at what surrounds
us. It is a sacred place, and a place to give thanks that we can call
this amazing planet our home.
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