Friday, October 31, 2008

Before:

Came out from a four day trip today and I was shocked, SHOCKED, at the amount of trash on the BA. A pile of gatorade bottles in the Narrows, a shirt, scarf and book in the Supai, and a host of goo packet tabs (Runners: pick up after yourselves. Your mother does not live on the BA.)

And special hall of shame message to Hertzel: Here yesterday: gone today. It only takes a bit of elbow grease to get rid of your stupid bid for immortality at Three Mile Resthouse.

After:

Sunday, October 26, 2008


Friday we hiked to the Tipoff and back. We wanted something gnarly but I didn't want to fight the mules all the way to Plateau Point. Beautiful day: warm with no wind. Passed by a lot of over nighters. Not so many runners on the South Kaibab. Either it is too steep, they have to actually carry water (gasp) or there aren't as many skimpily dressed young ladies to brag to.


Erased a lot of doodles off the Coconino Sandstone. T.J., did you really think you were the first person to make it all the way to Ooh Ah Point?

Saturday we went down to mile and a half. I somehow managed to trip on a big rock on Heartbreak Hill. As sometimes seems to happen, time slowed to the point where I could think about what was going on without being able to stop it. I didn't want to land on the pointy rocks lining the trail, so I did a little sideways dance trying to reach the inside cliff, made it far enough to slam into said cliff and sat down hard on a pointy rock there. Also knocked a bunch of rocks down and managed to sit on THEM. Anyhow, it was amusing for people coming down. Probably have a heck of a bruise tomorrow.

Saw the big horns again. The baby was daintily eating a bush just under Cinch Up corner, and I was waiting for it to raise it's little head for a good picture when Daddy showed up with an annoyed expression. So I dusted out of there.

Saw some macho type guys cutting the switchbacks in the Fault. I yelled at them from a quarter mile away, and I know they heard me because they looked up, but it probably didn't connect. They seem to think that if there is a way to walk, it is the trail. Hey, guys,when you've spent as much time in the out of doors as you would like people to believe you have, you will know the difference between a trail and a switchback cut.

Saturday, October 18, 2008


Hiked South Kaibab to Bright Angel today, along the Tonto Trail. The hiker shuttle was full as a tick on the way to the trailhead, but the crowd thinned as we got down. Someone left a bottle of water and two energy bars on the rocks for pick up later. The water is OK, but the energy bars were just asking for a raven to carry them off and get sick on the foil. I grabbed them. We did ask everyone we passed if they were theirs. No takers. Ate one at Indian Garden. Tasted like chocolate covered linoleum.

Lisa from Scotland, I erased your name from the rocks. Sorry, babe. Maybe I can come to Scotland and scratch my name on the Stone of Scone and see how you like that.

Only saw one person on the Tonto. Nice and quiet sitting at Pipe Creek.
Brad was determined that some rim to rim runners were NOT going to pass him, so he blasted out from Indian Garden in 90 minutes. The first runner passed me when I stopped to pick up a piece of trash. Then just below mile and a half, the trail crew were jostling rocks around, so I had to wait to be sure they weren't going to jostle it onto my pointed head.


Hiking out we saw the baby goat again. Brad saw another kid throwing rocks over the edge at the trailhead and admonished him. The father looked as though he wanted to start a fight, but didn't want to approach Brad. Fifty or more people witnessed the rock throwing and no one said a thing. Do they not realize how dangerous it is? I mean, one doesn't throw rocks indiscriminately in the city, either. Or maybe they are just afraid of confronting morons.

Friday, October 17, 2008

On the trail at 5:15 AM. Really nice moonlight. Too flat for me to see all the water bars and big rocks, but I had a nice view of the Canyon for a change. Light enough to see to walk out without lights once we turned around at Mile and a Half.

Normally this time of day one is alone on the trail except for the occasional predator in hiding. Today we met a couple dozen people who did not look like the typical rim to rim runners (IE, half naked, one water bottle and a big stopwatch), so I don't know what was going on.

We have decided what it is about rim to rim runners that bugs us. It is not hiking fast, because we do that when we are by ourselves. It is not being competitive, because we have both been known to increase our speed when we are being overtaken by snot-nosed kids (not to be confused with nice kids, who are allowed to overtake us if they can do so). This May, on the first weekend the North Rim was open, I was in the North Rim Lodge looking out the windows. Two runners were telling all and sundry that they had finished their rim to rim in eleven hours.

"So, it takes about 12 hours to go rim to rim?" one of the women in my group asked.

"Eleven, eleven!", they corrected her testily.

"But we are taking five days to do a rim to rim," she said,

"Well, I don't know what in the world you're going to do down there for five days!"

And there you have it. If anyone who has been down in the Canyon does not think it would be nice to go back and spend more time sitting under waterfalls or napping under the cottonwoods or drinking lemonade at the Canteen, they are not my kind of people. They can keep their eleven hours.

Saturday, October 11, 2008


Hiked down the Bright Angel to Indian Garden. Met a group of big horns, including a little kid. I guess they like Cinch Up Corner.

Passed by a mule train. One of the ladies was taking a video (I bet that movie will be riveting), and as she passed us she said, "And here are some hikers". Couldn't resist. I said, "Do you think you're going to forget? We're the ones walking."

Last rim to rim, I noticed a huge pile of trash at the redwall Trash Stash where people will often dump their load prior to starting up the Redwall. At the time, I had no room in my pack, so this time I brought two big trash bags and filled them with a pot, a propane bottle, a pair of boots, a pair of sneakers, a pair of Levis, and assorted other crud. Then I hauled it all down to Indian Garden and handed it over to the Ranger. (Todd told me I could do this anytime I find a stash like that). He was impressed and thanked me profusely. I gained massive karma points today.

Then when we got to the rim we yelled at a boy who was throwing rocks over the edge, and his father came over and yelled at US!. He said they are from out of state, so they didn't know they weren't supposed to throw rocks at the trailhead. We had a lively exchange, culminating in my telling him to report me to the first ranger he sees, and tell the ranger that Slim (be sure you get it right!) told his kid not to throw rocks over the edge.

Monday, October 6, 2008


Saturday took a small group to Cedar Ridge. It was cool on the way down, then it rained and gusted nastily, so we dusted out of there. Passed a small group sitting below Ooh Ahh clustered around a hiker, then a ranger came bopping down, then a litter carry team. Don't know what that was about.

Sunday Brad and I went back to SK to do Skeleton, and this time I brought wool undies, rain gear, winter coat, etc. So the sun came out and I was sweating. Can't win, I guess.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Last night we hiked to mile and a half after work. On Heartbreak Hill we came around a corner and surprised a female big horn sheep and two kids. In fact one of the kids scampered off down the trail and almost took out a watching hiker. When they moved out of the way and we moved on, we could look down on a herd of one male, a few females, and the little kids.

Going on, we were chatting and passed some boy scouts from Chandler. The last one called Brad by name, so we turned around. It was someone who used to work with Brad. They walked out together, so I went ahead, turned around at the top, and hiked back to Cinch Up to meet them. On the way I passed a lady three times, and the third time she said, "Here you come again! Once I get out of here, I'M done!"