Yellow Collaborates

“Many moons ago when I visited the Grand Canyon it was tempting to buy the T-Shirt that said I hiked the Grand Canyon. But deep down I believed that I had to earn it than pay for it.”

Well nobody turned the canyon, but this is my travelogue of looking up at the Grand Canyon than the regular look downs. I will also try to get you an idea of what you need to prepare with. The National Park Service has excellent information on the trail, facilities and what to do as well as what not to do. So I will not be a bore with a penchant for such triviality.

We have been only upto plateau point, maybe soon we will do Phantom Ranch or try Rim To Rim. The Bright Angel Trail was chosen since it was our first trip down and Bright Angel has good access to water, shade and is well maintained.

The feeling of pushing yourself harder

Like many of my fellow Indians, I have always wondered : Why is it that the “Angrez” (Englishmen) have time for all the stuff in the world like doing unimaginable things in the Indian family context. They love the outdoors and do a lot of fancy things in a lot of fancy equipment. My first taste was when Hemant introduced me to the Camelback. normally a hike meant a hike..a short walk as in “Take a hike”. But Camelback brought some stark realities to life with its steep ascents. I have been buried way too much into virtualization. I was out of breath, I was panting and every muscle ached. It kind of became my standard measure – How fast can you climb up, run down (negotiating the boulders and steep ascents) and I have been hooked to it.

The Grand Canyon was no less. My friends were of the opinion that the Grand Canyon was not so steep but a smooth climb but I just kept mum. It was another real eye opener with a 10 hr walk and 3000 feet descent followed by the ascent.

Would I do it again? Yes. Sorry “we” would do it again. Perhaps try new limits and who know..maybe the Himalayas or the Andes one day before I consider myself old.

So much am I thrilled with the conquest of the Grand Canyon that I find it difficult to take any other trail in the vicinity of Phoenix. Most of them say 3-4hrs round trip with a flat trail. Maybe we will try them soon until we find another trail worthy of pushing the limits. Until then, its the Camelback!

Prepare yourself

Grand Canyon is no walk in the National Park if you intend to go down. Else just stick to the Rim trail. Its easy to get yourself into the false feeling of ease as you descend carried away by the spectacular views.

Plateau point, in my opinion is easy for someone who can run 3 miles on the treadmill in 30 minutes without a break. I used to do 2 miles in 30 minutes with a 2 minute break at 15 minutes. Get a feel for the outdoors too. We used to have weekly sessions on the camelback and the final week before the Canyon hike, I almost climbed it twice but with no one joining me for an inspiration I turned back at 1.5 mark. But yeah; you should be doing the Camelback in atleast 1hr up and 30 mins down. Ideally I would say 45 minutes up and 20 minutes down. I was ofcourse in the  former.

Invest in a  treadmill. There has been no better thing that I bought. We are all busy bees and deal with a variety of emotions. Don’t let work or your state of mind interfere with your trip to the community gym or your paid healthclub. Just hop on whenever you like to but stick to your measurement goals.

The Gear

Lets start with the most important thing on your hike. Your feet!

Invest in a good pair of hiking shoes. Your cross trainer or basket ball shoes are not recommended. Some folks may disagree saying its all in the mind or its a hype. Personally I used to do the Camelback with my Adidas, but I could feel it slipping (I even fell once) and when gravel, slope and sand mix, I had to be careful as walking on ice. I used my Nike cross trainer and the best thing I liked was that my foot could curve easily around the rocks but was not sturdy enough (means you can easily twist or worse break your ankle).

Salomon, Vasque, Merrell, Columbia have good stuff. I stuck to a Salomon for its ventilation (and it was on Sale too ). My first trip to Camelback convinced me that this was a good use of $60 (reg. $75). I was able to run down the stepped area of camelback without the fear of slipping and could feel the wind in my feet cooling all the heat and taking the sweat away. But buy the shoe for the kind of weather/terrain that you are going into. Not a good idea to use a shoe with too much ventilation in cold or wet weather.

Socks, you need to have a good pair of thick socks. I recommend woolen ones, that will help you cushion the walk. You need windproof, moisture wicking clothes. I love Columbia Titanium clothing for this. You can’t iron your clothes of this type but on a trail who cares. Tip, once you wash the clothes do not run it in the dryer. Soak it in water and hang it to dry without wringing the water out.

Scarf: Get a nice cotton scarf. I used a cowboy scarf that I found in Texas. It can serve as a bandana as well as a mask if too much dust is being kicked around. Don’t need a storm, just the feet moving ahead of you can get it up. It can also protect you against the wind in a moderate climate. And finally do not forget the wide brimmed hat with a neck string.

Sunglasses are a good idea and helps reduce the strain on the eyes. A good spray of sunscreen is recommended (Keep applying it every 3 hrs or as recommended).

Now the most important thing of all..your back pack. For day hikes or a one night, invest in a good one that can carry water and hydrate you as you walk (Believe me, the last thing you want to do when tired is remove your pack to get that water bottle out). Also ensure that the bag is big enough to hold most of your stuff and with handy external pockets as well as ties and straps that can hold stuff. I never realised this until I had to remove my jacket. It was 35 at the Rim and 70 down below. I did not have to stuff it in my bag but rather strap it on!

Gloves and hiking poles are highly recommended. Train yourself on the right use of hiking poles. As one reviewer said, its the difference between a 21-Speed bike and one without it. It really helps you by taking the load off your legs and especially when you have to balance yourself. A crash on learning is downhill you extend the pole opposite to your forward foot for braking and uphill use same foot/pole. For steep ascents/descents use it like the ski pole both together.

Additionally you might want to get a first aid kit, whistle, a torch and a firestarter. Don’t think of rushing to CVS but try SportAuthority. They have really lightweight, waterproof first aid kits. Whistle is useful if you get into trouble or want to signal your partners. Its hard to shout out to another person when you are dead tired.

Keep a poncho handy for rains (Dont rely on forecast, local weather can change rapidly). A cheap $1 will be as good as the one you get in amusement parks. Go get yourself a decent one.

The food

“Eat before you are hungry , drink before you are thirsty” commented my colleague when I was eating an Apple Crisp at my desk. He was ofcourse referring to an advice we recieved by a friend of friend who had done the Canyon recently. But we realised that it was crap, the hard way around. Not being seasoned hikers we took the advice seriously and loaded our bags with enough food that can feed an African village for a few days. Here is what I think is optimal

2 bars on the way down. (Apple crisp or fig bar. If you need high energy get some of those)

Lunch. Stick to something light and easy. It will help you save some time. Its a not a picnic. And a fruit. No bananas as it gets squishy. An apple or pear can be a good choice. I recommend the beef jerky. Its salty, dry, light and feels good to chew on when tired.

Supplement your water with a bottle of Gaitorade or an energy drink. This will give you some of the needed salts.

On the way up, you probably can have one food bar and a fruit. I did want to stop, remove my pack and restart again. So plan what you will eat on the way up and put it in easy to access areas. Carry some electrolyte chews. That would be easier than reaching out for a bottle of Gaitorade. Why not fill your Hydration system with Gaitorade you might ask, but that is not recommended as it can be hard to clean out your tubes.

2Liters of water should be good enough to Plateau Point. I would have used about 1.5liters but the weather was cool on our day. It was forecasted for 35/18 and we were in thermals dealing with 70/32

No we did not do a separate breakfast, but ate a hearty dinner on the day before and treated myself to a double whopper with cheese after the hike.

The trek

Plan to start as early as you can. You will need the torch. We targeted 5.30A and finally started out at 6.30.

At 6.45 AM we were at the BrightAngel Trailhead with full of gusto and went down in a breeze reaching Indian Gardens by 9.30 A. The view here is awesome. Who can imagine that such a beautiful green patch can exist in this arid terrain. Looking up at the Rim you understand that you see something that not many experience.

From here to Plateau Point is not as easy as made out in the hiking guide. There is no shade, it a real desert and an unforgiving terrain even thought is a flat terrain. But the reward at the end of this is the O in the you know what. Sitting atop Plateau point, listening to the howling wind that can blow your bag away, taking in the sights of the GrandCanyon with a 360 view, the lush green colored Spirit Trail (thats the Colorado River) makes it a trip of a lifetime. We were there by 10.45A making it 4 hours to the target from the RIM. You can save some time, if your food is light and photo stops are limited or non existent.

On the way up reaching the 3 mile rest house (Thats 3 miles from the RIM and 3 miles from PP) I was already exhausted. By the time I reached the 1.5 mile resthouse I was totally fagged out and one of my thigh muscles pulled scaring me if I could make it. Thanks to my trekking poles, I would not have made it otherwise.

Watch out for the mule trains. The scarf comes in handy as it kicks up quite a bit of dust. One lady on the mule jovially asked me…is it the smell or the dust?

The final 1.5 mile up was nothing short of a crucible. You need to beleive in yourself to get out of this mammoth. Each step that I took was strenous and it took a lot of moral support to get out. If you are in a group make sure that you are in a considerate team that changes pace as you do and not race ahead. Also be considerate and slow down for your partners. Ideally if you are in a large group pair yourself up. There is no booty, citation or prize to be earned. Its all about the experience. But those who do exactly that I think is in the eagerness to get through with this ordeal.

Of course, you will meet folks who would be just running up or moving smoothly. But they my friend are in a much better physical condition. But most of the time you would be passing someone only to see them pass when you rest and the cycle continues to the top.

The Kolb Studio is a welcome sight because thats when you know you are about to end this ordeal. In fact you start smelling it a lot earlier when you see the casual tourists wandering down.

The Euphoria is great once you are back at the top. People look at you with respect with all your gear and shoes covered in dust. Its no ordinary feat and you have earned it!

To complete; I rushed to the gift shop to buy my “I hiked the Grand Canyon” tee and I wear it proudly!

Will I do it again? Yes I will. Will it tire me out again? Yes it will. But I will try to keep pushing the limit.

To corroborate my previous post- This is in part from my iPhone seizing the inspirational moment as I woke up in bed. Was not patient to get my laptop booted