May 29 - United States: Grand Canyon North Rim, Arizona
Sunrise Over the Grand Canyon
In his ongoing quest to photograph natural landmarks lit by beautiful sunlight, Jon dragged us out of bed at 4:00AM this morning. Sunrise was scheduled for around 5:45, but Jon had chosen "Cape Royal" as his vista of choice. Cape Royal is a 45 minute drive from the North Campsite, plus a 10 minute walk. Thus, the 4:00AM wake-up-call. Since we'd packed up everything last night, all we had to do was get up, use the bathroom, and go. Our breakfast of doughnuts would be had on the point.
By the time we made it there, the sky was just beginning to light up although the sun hadn't made an appearance. So Jon set himself and the tripod up on a peninsula of rock that jutted off the main path. And there he stayed, with his camera focused on "Wotan's Throne", a large mesa a mile away.
Sunrise Over the Grand Canyon
You can sort of make out Jon's silhouette on the right by his tripod
The light was beautiful and I have to admit it was worth the early rising. But at the time, I was at least happy that there were doughnuts to keep me company.
We tried to recall the various sunrises we've witness on the trip. The lists keep us entertained for long stretches of time and is also fun to reminisce. We made a little list of the sunrises we can remember.
So there we have it. Each time, we moaned and grumbled and really wished we could sleep in. But in hindsight it was always worth the trip.
Jon would like to go on the record by pointing out that he saw quite a few sunrises in Cairns, Australia when he did his insanely early morning runs. And we did see the sun come up on our overland through Africa during some long driving days. But the list above is for those sunrises we actually chronicled on camera.
Anyway, sunrise was gorgeous, although Jon made me nervous standing so close to the edge. We left Cape Royal at 6:20ish and headed to the trailhead for the North Kaibab trail.
Below The Rim - Hike to Roaring Springs
The North Kaibab Trail is the only trail on the North Rim that goes "below the rim" - meaning into the canyon. It's the trail that the backcountry backpackers take to their campsites down below, in addition to the trail taken by the mules and horses that carry supplies in and out. The Guide we were given when we entered the park lists a few different hikes to do along the North Kaibab Trail, two of which are short 2-3 hours hikes. We were interested in the day hike to Roaring Springs which is, according to the Guide, "extremely strenuous and takes a full day (7-8 hours) - begin your hike before 7 AM. Roaring Springs lies 3050 feet/930 meters below the canyon rim and is 9.4 miles round-trip. A day hike beyond Roaring Springs is no t recommended. Many years of experience have shown that hikers who proceed beyond this point during the hottest parts of the day have a much greater probability of suffering from heat-related illness, injury, or death." Yeah! That sounds right up our alley. And since we couldn't get backcountry permits to camp below the rim, we would just have to make due with a day hike.
We parked in the trail parking lot, sunscreened up, and hit the trail by 7:20. It was nice and shady for a good 1/2 hour of our hike as the sun was still rising. Interestingly enough, we passed some backcountry campers who were on the way up. This is interesting, because the Cottonwood Campsite is 7 miles down. So they had to have been hiking all night. We stopped to chat with two of them who had hit the trail at 3:00AM. They said it was lovely, though, because the moon was completely full and the path was fully lit by the moonlight. And they didn't have to hike up this incredibly steep path in the sun with 50 pounds of backpack weight. Very smart, I think.
The trail really was quite steep. We were constantly turning down switchback after switchback and, although we were making good descent time, the hike up was going to be brutal. But we just couldn't come all the way to the Grand Canyon and not do a hike below the rim. So there were.
Resting in the Shade About Half-way Down
We made it to Roaring Springs at 9:32, 2 hours 12 minutes after we left the parking lot. We were completely filthy from walking down the dusty trail. The cool thing about the dust, however, is the different layers of dust we walked through. It's a tribute to the varying ages and levels of rock within the Canyon. The layers went from white, to red, to white, to red, and so on. We started our hike at the Kaibab Limestone which is 250 million years old, and ended in what I think is the Muav Limestone at 515 million years old. The end result was that our boots (and socks, and legs, and shorts) were pink.
The Hike Back Up
Roaring Springs was more of a trickling brook, but it was enough to provide a nice oasis for the short time we were there. We each had two granola bars and finished off another liter of water. Jon - bless his heart - was carrying all seven liters in the daypack. And while I'd like to feel sorry for him, I suggested that we take two daypacks and he nixed the idea. I think this is some sort of masochistic thing for him so don't give him too much pity.
Roaring Springs
We stayed at Roaring Springs for about 20 minutes, but we knew that every moment we stayed was another moment of hiking up in the afternoon sun. So, at 9:57, we started the trek back up. Jon was pretty hungry and had decided that we would stop for lunch at a cave-like place on the trail where we knew there'd be a good amount of shade. So the next hour and a half was a mission to get there.
See The Tree-Covered Ridge in The Distance? That's Where We Started.
And a mission it was.
I'm very proud of my marathon-running husband for being so fit and accomplishing three marathons in the past three years. Even one marathon is an impressive feat. Three is incredible. But today, I was ready to kill him. The pace that he set for us was extremely grueling and I had a really difficult time keeping up with him. Granted, I'm not as fit as I used to be. But I'm no slug, either. Regardless, I was so exhausted when we got to the cave-place that I thought I was going to pass out. After a few minutes of sitting quietly in the shade, I ate my turkey and cheese sandwich and felt much better. We stayed for a while longer and waited for Jon's shirt to dry, then we hit the trail again.
Jon slowed his pace a bit, but was still hiking a bit faster than I was. This actually worked out well because the trail was so dusty that it created a "Pig Pen" effect each time we walked. So I stayed a ways behind him to avoid eating his dust. Occasionally, we would take a break in a shady spot and then we'd be on our way again.
The hike up wasn't nearly as much fun as the hike down. Nor was it as shady. All the shade we'd experienced in the morning had disappeared in the afternoon sun. We had purposely finished almost all of our water by the time we reached the Supai Tunnel, two miles below the rim. There was a water pipe here with running water so we filled up a few liters, I soaked my head and hat, and we were on our way again.
Despite the warnings of the Trail Guide, we passed quite a few people who looked as though they hadn't hit the trail until 11:00 or 12:00. They were in for a big surprise when they ended up hiking in the worst of the heat.
We made it back to the parking lot at 1:43, 3 hours 46 minutes after we left Roaring Springs. Total hike time: 6 hours 23 minutes, including lunch and all breaks. Not bad time, we think! We both agreed that we'd sleep like babies. In between bathroom breaks, that is. I drank at least 6 liters of water. That's a gallon and a half in case you're wondering.
We went back to the campsite and celebrated with Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia from the General Store. Then we hit the showers, and each took twice the number of coins so we could have twice the shower. Aaaaaahhhhh!
After The Hike
We spent the rest of the afternoon laying around. Well, that's the way I spent the afternoon. With some quality hammock time. Jon got some amazing burst of energy and decided to go check out the historic Lodge. Then he came back and made pasta for dinner. We had two ears of corn left, and mixed them in with the pasta sauce. An experiment which actually paid off quite well!
Sunset Over the Grand Canyon
As if getting up at 4:00AM to see sunrise and then hiking 9.4 arduous miles weren't enough, Jon wanted to go back to Cape Royal for sunset. He had some good points for why we should do this tonight rather than tomorrow, so that's what we did.
There was a place just off the tip of the Cape that was the perfect place for sunset pictures. Of course, we had to hop the rail to get there, but we figured that all the other footprints meant that we weren't the only ones with this idea. Sure enough, an entire group of people and photographers had congregated there to catch the light on Vishnu's Temple - one of the mesas there. While Jon played with his tripod (please withhold all phallic comments) I sat and talked with three Scottish guys who just graduated from university, and an Aussie who seems to have spent a day in every city in the US. They were all hysterical and while we had a great time joking around, it wasn't a peaceful quiet sunset.
Jon Taking Pictures of Vishnu's Temple At Sunset
The sun went down at 7:45, and Jon decided to pack up at 8:20 or so. We were both dragging, and I don't know how he managed the 45 minute drive back to the campsite. There, we brushed our teeth and went to bed. And were out as soon as our heads hit the pillow.