2006 Grand Canyon Adventure :: Day 2
While yesterday was a day of wonderment, today has been more a day of wonderful reflection. I did make an error today that may prove to be a bit of a challenge. I camped beside Bright Angel Stream and did not sleep all that well considering how tired I was. It was my first night in the tent and the stream, which was about 10 feet away, was a little loud throughout the night. It was also a little cold, and I did not remember until later in the day, my son Ryan's instructions to wear a wool hat at night. I woke at about 6, took down the tent and packed the backpack. Before I left I gave Megan and Kate, the two young women I had met on the way down the Kaibab trail, two of my Carrot Cake Cliff bars. They had commented the day before how much they liked them but could not afford such luxuries (at $1.50 a piece). I had ordered a sack lunch from Phantom Ranch to be picked up on the way out, and thought that would more that make up for giving away the Cliff Bars. About three miles into the hike I realized that I had forgotten to pick up the sack lunch. What made it worse, before leaving the South Rim, I ditched some of the planned meals to try and reduce the weight of the pack. I had planned it out, or so I thought, that I would eat less but still have just enough to get by on. A big lesson learned but I have
decided to just have fun and not worry about it.

Today I walked across the canyon floor following the Bright Angel Creek. It was beautiful to see the creek, which is an average of about 15 feet wide and fast flowing, winding along the base of the sheer cliffs of the canyon. For most of the 7 mile hike to Cottonwood Campground I was completely alone, giving me a great deal of time to just enjoy the moment and decompress from the day before. Along the way I saw a family of mule deer standing in a smaller side creek that I later learned was Phantom Creek. I watched them for some time as they slowly walked up the stream into a side canyon, completely out of reach of any form of human
existence. It seemed like life must be pretty good for them up there. It seemed as if every step I took sent small lizards scurrying for cover. The braver ones would jump onto rocks and watch me pass by. I went off the trail briefly to climb up and explore what looked to be the remains of an ancient waterfall. The rock had been warn as smooth as glass and there were giant bowls with markings that looked as if they once carried swirling water into the canyon. I also explored a beautiful waterfall named Ribbon Falls and was able to hike to a place behind the falls to
see the water cascade into the canyon.

I chose this particular adventure because I have been fascinated with the GC since I was a teenager and I have long dreamed of hiking it. Not just a brief excursion down a trail and back, but a hike that would immerse every sense and allow myself to literally walk through a representation of time itself. It seems somehow easier to evaluate our time here on earth when surrounded by a land that was sculptured by time over the period of millions of years.

Sometimes, we are presented with certain opportunities that may only come along once in a persons life. Our lives are so brief, and we move through it so quickly, that these life changing opportunities sometimes pass us right by and we do not even notice them. Or, if we do notice these opportunities, we are often too afraid to disrupt the flow of our lives to explore the pathways that they may create. If I had not taken this trip now, I very well may never have. As a teenager I could not have comprehended my lifetime. Now, 30 years later, I hope that I do not delay other opportunities. The human lifespan is simply not that abundant. I feel a greater sense of urgency now for many things in life. Building more Believe In Tomorrow housing is one of them. The families that stay in our BIT houses are having struggles against time far greater than I have ever experienced.

I guess that a full and satisfying life is knowing at the end that you have followed the path of your hopes and dreams to the best of your ability, and that you have along the way taken more right paths than wrong ones.

I am quite certain that today I heard a rattlesnake. As I walked along the trail I heard what sounded like a baby rattle moving away from me. It frightened me so that I did not know what to do and I wondered later if just standing there was the right thing or not. Maybe it was just a cricket and my imagination.....

At Cottonwood I found a perfect campsite about 50 feet from the creek with a very sandy base to set the tent up on. It has been much warmer at the bottom of the canyon. Today was in the upper 80's or low 90's. The weather forecast posted on the Rangers bulletin board here shows temperatures going into the high 90's in several days. My dinner was instant mashed potatoes and I have rarely tasted anything as good. My tent is in an open area with views of canyon walls on all sides. I have kept the rain fly off as it is a clear and rather warm night and there are a zillion stars in the sky. As I am laying here I have already seen several shooting stars. It is 7p.m. and I am going to bed.

Day 3