We started on the North Rim. When we got there, Glen and Julie had already set up their camp. We quickly got our tents up and headed to find dinner. Nearby, there was an outdoor chuck wagon style dinner. We absolutely wanted to participate, so we hopped on the trolley and headed for dinner. We spent the rest of the night at the lodge on the Rim, gazing at the canyon we would be hiking.
Tuesday morning we began to hike down the face of the North Rim. It was 7 miles of switchbacks down. At mile 4 my calf muscles were done. Matt, however, was my hero and took some of my load from my pack and added it to his. By the time we were done with the switchbacks, I was ready to make camp and sleep. Unfortunetly, we still had 10 more miles to our campsite at Phantom Ranch. Glen and Julie took off to claim a good campsite. They were able to do this because they are turbo hikers! I decided I needed to take it at a slower pace. Matt, Tom, Brian, and I slowly made our way. We made it to Phantom Ranch at about 9 pm... Just as the sky opened up and poured rain down on us! We quickly set our tents up and boiled water for our dinners. Matt and I spent the rest of the night wondering about the evacuation system the camp might have. It was down pouring all night long.
Wednesday morning we woke to the continued rain. We were lucky enough to get a coveted seat at the Phantom Ranch dinning room. They fed us pancakes, bacon, eggs, and juice. It was so nice to get dry for a few minutes.
After breakfast Matt and I packed quickly and took off, knowing we would be slower and Glen and Julie would catch up. We hiked all morning and afternoon in the rain. Hiking up hill was a relief to my calves so the day was much more pleasant. We arrived at our next camp in the afternoon, just as the sun came out. We were able to spread our things out to dry. Tom and Brian made it to camp a couple hours later and we were all able to spend an enjoyable evening outside and enjoy each other's company. That evening as were sitting around the picnic table, Julie spotted something coming towards us in the bushes. I immediately recognized it as a skunk. I believe having a skunk mosey through our camp took years off all our lives. Lucky for us, it was just exploring and moved on.
The next morning dawned bright. We woke early and packed up, and once again Matt and I took off early. And once again, Glen and Julie passed us about half way up. We hiked the face of the South Rim in the hot Arizona sun.
To end, I would like to say, I MADE IT! It was quite an experience. I don't know that I could classify it as "fun", but it was definitely an experience, I'm glad I participated in.
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