Reflections on a Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim

The day before we set out on the forty-eight mile death march, we took a stroll over to the trail head and descended a couple of miles - just to see what the trail was like and get a feel for how difficult the following day was going to be. We went down to a set of stairs just below the first stone archway. You can see, far up above, the ridge line where we started. That view proved very daunting on our way back up (the following day) when we were twenty-three hours into the hike. Common advice is, "don't look up".

Before commencing on any such hike (even the brief one that we did the day before), its important to have the right supplies. I chugged a liter of water shortly before leaving. It was in the evening, cool out, and we were only going out a couple of miles so I felt safe without. I crammed into my pockets the other essentials: one power bar, one box of animal crackers, one pair of light-weight gloves and one satellite phone. The next day I found out that the only place I could get the satellite phone to work was on either rim - where there's an abundance of people and telephones. Oh well. It's still cool to pull out (and use) a satellite phone.

One's image isn't everything, but it shouldn't be completely neglected. And you have a lot going for you when doing a Grand Canyon Death March.

It's important to understand that any amount of coolness or macho-props one might be able to acquire by a quick trip out to Las Vegas, a drive to Arizona, combined with several nights of camping, out-door cooking and a scramble, over-night, forty-eight miles through a canyon ... is all entirely negated when one rents a Toyota Prius. I couldn't get the word metrosexual out of my head whenever I saw the car. Or was in the car. Or was thinking of the car.

A nice Audi S4 would have been a much more suitable ride. I do love Audi's. I think I want a boat, more. Thankfully, I can't afford either, so I'm not actually faced with making a decision.