Sept 11

Another o-dark thirty hike to get a workout in before work.

This time two dudes start down immediately after us: we are being followed. Who are those guys, anyway? Probably headed for the River or the North Rim.

I've done one rim-to-rim in a day. Back when I was in college, a bunch of us started from both rims and exchanged car keys in the bottom (my idea). I received my key from Jim and asked him where he had left my car: at the North Kaibab trailhead or at the lodge?

"Neither", he replied.

"Oh," I said, calmly. "So where exactly is my car?"

"I came down the Old Bright Angel Trail instead. "

"And you were going to share this with me when?"

So the one occasion I did a rim to rim in a day, I hiked an extra four miles and came out on an unmaintained trail. So there.

Usually there is no one on the trail this early, but today we meet dozens of people on their way down. Some with day packs, some with backpacks, some with musical instruments!? Oh, yeah, the music festival is under way. As is Members Weekend for the Grand Canyon Association. All them Canyon lovers just can't stay away, I guess.

Today is Nine-eleven. I'm sure everyone who saw the footage of the World Trade Center figured that they and all other Americans would always hold this day in reverence. I'm sure that's what people thought about Pearl Harbor Day, too, and does anyone even remember when that is? I remember when I was in college, a disgraceful "Pearl Harbor Memorial Wet Tee Shirt Contest" at a local bar. Not to belittle Nine-eleven: just to point out that memories fade.