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- Mar 11, 2008
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Last year my buddy Joe invited me to help celebrate his retirement by joining him on a three day backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon. We did the trek in Nov. 07 shortly after Joe turned 60. I was 63 at the time and had spent the previous 6 months training for the event.
Joe carried a typical backpack that weighed 40 to 45 lbs.
My own pack weighed only 20 lbs including water for the first day and food for all three days. I used super-ultra-light (SUL) gear, hence the low weight.
The first days trek involved a 4,860 ft descent on the South Kaibab Trail.
We started on the morning of Nov. 5. 2007 while the south side of the canyon was still mostly in shade.
After an hour or so the view really opened up:
Eventually, we reached a table area where Joe took a few photos:
Here's me at Skeleton point. I dunno. Maybe they found the bones of a hapless hiker in this area.
Here you can see a series of switchbacks descending from left to right across the frame of the photograph.
Joe follows the trail to the right:
Finally, we got a glimpse of the Colorado River. You can see the trail proceeding along a talus slope in about the middle of the frame.
Here's a better view of the river. You can see the River Trail on the left (south) side of the Colorado.
Finally we approach the black suspension bridge, which will take us across the Colorado to Bright Angel Campground. The bridgehead is approached through the tunnel in the foreground.
We crossed Black Bridge to the Bright Angel Campground where we spent the night. The trek down had taken about 6 hours, and our legs were too sore to be able to squat without having to use a trekking pole to get back up again. We set up camp, had dinner and slept well in preparation for the second day trek to Indian Garden Campground.
Joe carried a typical backpack that weighed 40 to 45 lbs.
My own pack weighed only 20 lbs including water for the first day and food for all three days. I used super-ultra-light (SUL) gear, hence the low weight.
The first days trek involved a 4,860 ft descent on the South Kaibab Trail.
We started on the morning of Nov. 5. 2007 while the south side of the canyon was still mostly in shade.
After an hour or so the view really opened up:
Eventually, we reached a table area where Joe took a few photos:
Here's me at Skeleton point. I dunno. Maybe they found the bones of a hapless hiker in this area.
Here you can see a series of switchbacks descending from left to right across the frame of the photograph.
Joe follows the trail to the right:
Finally, we got a glimpse of the Colorado River. You can see the trail proceeding along a talus slope in about the middle of the frame.
Here's a better view of the river. You can see the River Trail on the left (south) side of the Colorado.
Finally we approach the black suspension bridge, which will take us across the Colorado to Bright Angel Campground. The bridgehead is approached through the tunnel in the foreground.
We crossed Black Bridge to the Bright Angel Campground where we spent the night. The trek down had taken about 6 hours, and our legs were too sore to be able to squat without having to use a trekking pole to get back up again. We set up camp, had dinner and slept well in preparation for the second day trek to Indian Garden Campground.
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