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 May 29-31
 Photos (10)
When I finally arrived at the Grand Canyon, I couldn't handle any more natural wonders. I had reached my limit over my first few days in the Four Corners area and Monument Valley. When I drove through the gates of the National Park and found the first lookout, I nearly threw my camera away in disgust. The Grand Canyon, as I could tell from my first glance at it, was far too vast for me to even attempt to photograph it with my poor little digital camera.

As the photos below prove, I did attempt it. Notice how the opposite rim comes out a blurry haze because of its distance.

I spent the better part of two hours trying to secure a campsite, and looking for information about hiking trails into the canyon. I wanted to hike to the bottom, camp, and hike back up for a three day trip. Unfortunately, as I found out when I arrived, it is virtually impossible to book a campsite at the bottom less than a year in advance. This meant that I would have to climb down and back up all in one day.

I camped that night and made sure to be well-rested for the arduous trek the next day. There is no shortage of warnings about attempting such a foolhardy hike, but I ignored them all. I packed six liters of water and headed down the Bright Angel trail at about 9 AM Mountain Time.

I had heard from park rangers that the camps at the bottom of the canyon were reporting temperatures of 115F (45C). There were water stations every few miles, so I didn't need all the water I had packed. I watched the vegetation change as I hiked down, from pine trees at my campsite to cactus halfway down. The midday sun beat relentlessly on my poor head, and there was absolutely no shelter. I got to within 3 miles (according to people coming from that direction) of the bottom when I decided that I could not continue and have any hope of making it back up by my own strength.

The hike back up was excruciating. I stopped at Indian Garden, the halfway point, and rested for an hour. I was already suffering a significant heat stroke from the intense heat and sun. I still had hours of steep, uphill climbing ahead of me. I walked with a middle-aged British couple for most of the way. I could barely walk anymore when it suddenly occurred to me that I could dump the 4 liters of water I had left, since I wouldn't be drinking them. I felt as though the weight of the world were lifted off my back. When I finally got to the top -- 10.5 hours after I started -- the sun was setting, and I took one last photo before I crawled back to my campsite and slept fitfully for about 12 hours straight.

I still had many days left to travel, and I had already seen my major destinations. I still wanted to see the meteor crater, the Petrified Forest, and the Painted Desert in Eastern Arizona, but I had no desire to stand around in the sun anymore. On a whim, I decided to head for Tombstone to recover a bit before resuming my trip.
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