Grand Canyon - July 1999 - Page 6

From Phantom Ranch, it's a long hike out.  It's over 3,500 vertical feet and 12 miles.  That's a long day.  Here is Kary about 30 minutes into the hike.  They had to carry out all their personal gear.  Angie hiked with David.  They had become fast friends.  Angie is some kind of demon when it comes to climbing hills.  She probably made another 400 vertical feet above me before she turned around.

We met some of the new people on their way down.  There were the brothers, who were really two brothers and a cousin.  They kept us laughing with their boyish pranks and silliness that certainly became their 60+ years.

Don't think that it's just the climb out that's brutal.  The climb down into the canyon exacts a toll as well.  Angie and I found a client of another trip laying down on the trail.  We stopped and asked how he was.  We stayed with him for a while and told him it wasn't much further.  A lot of people might have resented an intrusion like that but he took it well and thanked us for our concern.  We met guides from his trip.  They were looking for him and an older client who had been having trouble early in the hike down.  I don't know whatever became of him.

We started back on the river.  Getting acquainted.  Missing those who left and growing fond of those who had just arrived.

The river and the land kept working their magic.  This side canyon to the left is called Elves' Chasm.  You swim across the pool toward and under the waterfall.  Back there you can scramble to the point halfway up the waterfall and do your best cannon ball.  Sometimes, I think that the kid in us dies out as we get older but judging by this group, I'd say that's not right.  It's in us all and just needs an excuse to get out.  We all want to be silly and funny and enjoy the thrill of throwing ourselves off a rock into a deep, cool pool of water.

The silliness didn't stop there.  Now Greg is pretty tall, I'm guessing about 6' 2", but here he looks freakishly tall.  It's an illusion.  He's standing on a rock but it's a pretty convincing fake isn't it!?  We laughed anyway.