OT: Grand Canyon

[Ross Brown]

Not much to do with bass playing, etc but I just got back from hiking the Grand Canyon. Did one of the rim trails. Found myself standing 3000 feet above the ground with 6 inches to spare on several occasions (hiked 8 miles). I am scared of heights but did it anyway. My wife is a crazy woman and was in front of me. Half of our group had the sense to go around. I made it out alive!

 

Missed bass practice for 4 days though. Got 8 hours in the last two days. Crazy wife, but understanding!

 

Thanks for letting me share.

[wraub]

Congrats on surviving!

 

Seriously, I love the canyon, and have visited many times. I grew up out there, and still miss it.

 

Looks like it was a trip for you from PA, but good to hear you enjoyed it.

Now, go practice!

 

Peace,

 

wraub

[thanny XIII]

Grand canyon thas kida cool never been down in it cause my parents are wimps but it was kinda pretty.

[Eric VB]

Some crazy stat like the average stay at the G.C. is 30 minutes. We stayed about a week.

 

Nearly got lost trying to come out of the Hermit Trail that was mostly washed out. No problems on Bright Angel or Kabab. (Didn't get a chance to visit the North Rim.)

 

Extraordinary place. Wish to visit again.

 

May try the train trip through the canyon in Mexico someday, too, but would rather do a "through hike" from rim to rim in the G.C.

 

Thanks for stirring up fond memories, Ross.

[Gab]

Funny, i never felt the urge to visit the Grand Canyon, but your adventure has left me longing for days of hard core GC trekking!!! I am going to visit some pages on the net now. I bet the sun was shining and the sky was crytal clear...

[jlrush]

The GC is a stunning place to visit. Tip of the hat to anyone who has hiked it. I was there twice as a kid and was one of the "average stays" of 30 minutes or so.

The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest are also interesting places to see, but not as impressive as the GC. God's creation is awesome.

[saxofunk]

My wife and I have been there twice; once when we were on a college trip and did the typical South Rim 30 minute tourist stop, then again after we were married a couple years we camped on the North Rim for 3 days.

 

It's a beautiful thing, one day I hope to get involved in more hiking there. It'd be a good idea to reduce my presonal gravity a bit first.

[Ross Brown]

Yep. We are looking forward to a hike to the river (2 days) and a rim to rim (and back?) hike. Also white water rafting peaked our interest.

 

We got the fever. It was humbling...

 

I saw the folks that were only staying about 30 minutes. Incredible! I could stay there for days. We actually trained hard so that we wouldn't die in the heat. I forgot about the heights. That is what I found to be the biggest challenge.

 

I always take my bass on vacations. I left it home this time. I will leave it home next time too!

[Eric VB]

Originally posted by jlrush:

The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest are also interesting places to see

And if you're there you have to make the obligatory stop in Tuba City if you've ever played one.

[alexclaber]

Whilst standing admiring the view, I heard the following:

 

"Hey Jimmy*, isn't that awesome?!!"

 

"Wow Mom, that IS awesome!!!"

 

Which both established that the Grand Canyon is definitely awesome, and definitely in the USA.

 

Alex

 

* Name changed to protect the innocent.

[chubby]

Well I can say I have never been thier but I did run up pikes peak That was a bad IDEAL for this fat boy.

[thanny XIII]

Originally posted by jlrush:

The GC is a stunning place to visit. Tip of the hat to anyone who has hiked it. I was there twice as a kid and was one of the "average stays" of 30 minutes or so.

The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest are also interesting places to see, but not as impressive as the GC. God's creation is awesome.

really I just think the sucky guitarists are annoying and the "sales" aremade up. Oh wait not that GC Ohhhh... nevermind.

[Dan South]

Originally posted by Ross Brown:

Not much to do with bass playing, etc but I just got back from hiking the Grand Canyon. Did one of the rim trails. Found myself standing 3000 feet above the ground with 6 inches to spare on several occasions (hiked 8 miles). I am scared of heights but did it anyway.

Sounds as though you were heading west toward Hermit's Rest. The 3000 foot sheer drop is called The Abyss. People do fall into the canyon with some frequency, and these falls are almost always fatal. You have to be very careful when someone is taking your picture and they tell you to "step back." Watch your footing, and be VERY careful to carry enough water, sunscreen, and salty snacks, plus clothes warm enough to keep you alive when the temperature plunges at night. The high desert is no place to take chances.

 

Safety issues aside, I'm glad that there are no guardrails to spoil the view in most of the park (just in some spots in or near the village). The Grand Canyon is one of my favorite places on earth. This may sound crazy, but I find that there are places that I connect to spiritually. I don't claim to understand the mechanism, but the Grand Canyon is one place on Earth where I feel this sensation most powerfully. Big Sur, California is another place with a similar feel. It's difficult to predict this phenomenon; I don't get the feeling at all from Yosemite, for instance.

 

Now that you all think that I'm nuts, I'll shut up.

[Dan South]

Originally posted by RicBassGuy:

No problems on Bright Angel or Kabab. (Didn't get a chance to visit the North Rim.)

 

Extraordinary place. Wish to visit again.

The North Rim is pretty, but far less accessible. And even when you can get there (it's closed October - May due to heavy snow) the overlooks are far apart. Probably a great place to hike, but I just day tripped it a couple of times from Utah, so I didn't have much time for walking.

 

I definitely want to hike the Kaibab Trail on my next visit, whenever that will be. I hiked down the Bright Angel Trail once. It was an overcast day in February, and the first mile and a half were extremely icy. I would not have been able to hike it without the strap on boot spikes that I picked up at the trading post (just little things that strap around your arch, but they make a big difference!). After that came a bit of mud, and then it dried out and warmed up. I kept peeling off layers. By the end of the switchbacks, I was wearing one thin shirt and had stowed my spikes in my backpack.

 

You don't see much right away on the Bright Angel Trail, because you're descending switchbacks for 4.5 miles (7 km). But when it levels out, the views become spectacular. I saw a bobcat and a bunch of deer as I hiked out to a point (Bright Angel Point) where I could see the River still some 2000 feet below me. As I hiked back out, I was careful to sit and rest my legs regularly (important to keep the lactic acid from building up). This was just three months after I ran the NYC Marathon, so I was in pretty good shape, but it was still a demanding climb. You have to take your time. At one point, I looked up and saw a bighorn sheep trotting down the path right at me. I stepped aside and turned ninety degrees so as not to make eye contact, and he lept over a small cliff and continued down a slope that no human could scale without ropes.

 

About two miles from the top, I passed an older lady who was walking slowly and taking frequent breaks. I asked her if she was okay, and she assured me that she was and that she and her husband had hiked the Canyon many times before. She had been staying at the Ghost Ranch at the bottom of the Canyon for a few days with her husband and another friend. She had told them to go on ahead, because she wanted to walk slowly. After a while I caught up with the friend, another lady in her late fifties. "I passed your friend down there. She was walking very slowly. Do you think that she's going to be okay?" He friend assured me that all was well and that they were experience hikers.

 

I walked a bit farther, but I had a nagging feeling that something wasn't right. At the edge of one of the switchbacks where I could see down over a good bit of the trail, and I didn't see the first lady at all. What I COULD see was a storm approaching from the North Rim. I muttered some choice words to myself, turned around, and started walking back down into the Canyon. Dinner and that hot shower would have to wait. When I passed the friend, I told her that I was going to walk out with the slow lady to make sure that she got out alright. I asked her to fetch the husband when she reached the top in case we needed help getting her out.

 

The lady was exhausted by the time that I reached her. I carried her baggage and tried to encourage her, but she could only walk eight or ten steps before stopping to rest. I asked her how she was feeling, and she first claimed to be fine but then complained of nausea. I guessed that she might be dehydrated, so I offered her the extra bottle of Gatorade that I had in my backpack - I had over-packed, thank goodness! The Gatorade seemed to help her, and after a little while she was walking fifty to a hundred yards at a time.

 

Two gentlemen came down to meet us. They had heard from the friend that the lady was in distress. We all talked to her a little bit, and the guys decided to carry her out. This lady was no waif. She was prbably 5'11 and well over 200 pounds. Nevertheless, these two guys took turns carrying her while I carried the gear. I was impressed with their strength. Climbing YOURSELF out of that hole at over 6000 feet is a challenge. An off-duty ranger came down and joined in the fun or the last 3/4 mile or so. We got her out, I cleaned up, and I pigged out that night like your would not believe!

 

[Ross Brown]

Yep. We were at the abyss. 3000ft straight down. It was 105F on the rim (hotter down in). We drank and ate a lot. People die quickly in the Canyon. It is hot, altitude is a problem (no oxygen), and it is high up with lose rocks and narrow trails. I have never minded the heat. The height is another thing. I hate to fall to my death. Messes up my bass playing... I think.

[saxofunk]

Originally posted by Dan South:

This may sound crazy, but I find that there are places that I connect to spiritually. I don't claim to understand the mechanism, but the Grand Canyon is one place on Earth where I feel this sensation most powerfully. Big Sur, California is another place with a similar feel. It's difficult to predict this phenomenon; I don't get the feeling at all from Yosemite, for instance.

 

Now that you all think that I'm nuts, I'll shut up.

If you are, I am to. I wrestled with angels in the painted desert once. There are those places, and most of them are not along my daily commute.

[JBFLA]

I'll be there in 2 weeks, and hope to experience as much as I can. 1st time for me - certainly for my 16 YO daughter. We'll make the most of our time there, and if we need to go back to visit what we missed???... Hey, that's vacation time is for,eh?

 

Thanks for the tips, y'all!!

 

Jim

[Dan South]

Originally posted by JBFLA:

I'll be there in 2 weeks, and hope to experience as much as I can. 1st time for me - certainly for my 16 YO daughter. We'll make the most of our time there, and if we need to go back to visit what we missed???... Hey, that's vacation time is for,eh?

 

Thanks for the tips, y'all!!

 

Jim

Have a great time, Jim, and please be careful to observe the precautions that we've mentioned.

 

UV radiation is more intense at high altitude - Apply sunscreen liberally. Everyone needs to wear a HAT.

 

Dehydration - You can dry out walking across a parking lot. Keep lots of water in your vehicle, and if you go for a hike, EVERYBODY carries more water/Gatorade than you think you'll need. And never, ever, EVER try to hike to the bottom and back in a single day. That goes double in summertime.

 

Heat - Hike in the early morning or late afternoon. Avoid exertion at midday.

 

Snakes - self-explanatory. Never put your hands or feet into a hole, and never, ever reach in the direction of a snake. Oddly enough, reaching is generally our first reaction after a quick jump back.

 

Falls - No railings of the edge. Hundreds or thousands of feet down. Slippery footing. Rocks on the bottom. You do the math.

 

Exposure - The Canyon can get VERY cold at night. Prepare for this before you begin a hike.

[moot]

Was there a couple years ago with my ex and son and it is truely amazing. We stayed 4 days and barely scratced the surface. As a suprise, my ex in laws bought us the helicopter tour - highly recommended!!

Our trip to GC was on the tail end of a canyon tour that included Bryce Canyon and Monument Valley, Utah, which I also highly recommend.

[ATM]

Congrats. I wish I had more time when I was there, but I was on the company card.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v506/atmofmn/FiberCare/GrandCanyonATM.jpg

 

Wintertime was an interesting time to visit. You never really see it advertised with snow.

 

ATM