Rim To River

i've always wanted to go to the grand canyon, but something always came up and a trip never got planned. and somehow i ended up being the only one in my family that had never been. so... a few months back, i just decided to go. i got online and booked a room and figured that i'd work the details out later.

i started doing a little research and decided i wanted to go big and hike from the south rim to the colorado river and back. it is just about 16 miles in trail distance, but the thing that gets you is the elevation change... about 4500 feet each way. you start at 6860 feet (ASL), hike all the way down to 2380 feet and then back up to 6860 feet again.

there are all kinds of warnings against hiking this roundtrip in one day, but i think that is just to sift out the weenies from the hardasses like myself. HA! RIGHT! just kidding! but, check out what the national parks service has posted on their website:


DRAMA! but i tried to be smart about it. i did a lot of research, took a few training hikes and i even dragged a fire fighter with me, just in case i needed medical assistance. no seriously, i did. meet my friend brad:

he is a kern county fire fighter and was nice enough to be my emergency medical support team. luckily i made it through the entire trip without breaking myself, but i'm glad he was along for the ride. he was a great partner in crime!

anyway, my best friend, jenn, has been referring to this as my "come to Jesus hike" and although it was a joke, i have to say, it turned out to be a pretty fitting name, as i've rarely felt closer to God.

we managed to make it down to the river in about 3 hours and back to the top in just under 5. and although it might have been slightly over-ambitious considering i bailed on my training schedule a month and a half ago, i'm glad we made the effort to go all the way.

this experience was a giant blessing, that i know. life is flying by so fast lately, it's getting way too easy to let opportunities like this pass by, with the thought that you'll get to them eventually. i've enjoyed so many amazing adventures in my life, loads in the last year, i can't help but be excited about what is still to come.

stay tuned!