Blakes Rim to Rim

I have been meaning to post, or have Blake post a bit about his Rim to Rim, he did the end of October. With it now being December, I guess we are slacking! I'll get some of his amazing pictures up and then he'll have to fill in the rest!

I am here to 'fill in the rest!' After a fun filled day with my sister Staci and her family, I headed over to P.D.s home in Surprize. We loaded up the truck and grabbed some last minute supplies. On our way to the North Rim, we stopped at a popular tourist spot called Montezuma's Castle. They were Native American cliff dwelling ruins around Camp Verde. Pretty cool to see the cliff dwelling, and the mock-up of what it looked like ages ago. The cool thing is the one in the picture is the smallest of the several dwellings in that little canyon. The others have not been restored.


After this, we headed to Flagstaff to meet up with a friend of P.D.'s and we all jumped into P.D.'s truck to make the trek to Jacob's Lake and our campsite. A brief stop at Lee's Ferry ( you history buffs would appreciate it. The ferry was run by a Mormon guy until he got himself wrapped up in the Mountain Meadows deal. A bridge was built later which rendered the ferry obsolete) and then we were off to drive the Vermillion Cliffs and up to the North Rim . Here is a view looking at the Colorado River as it flows west towards the canyon.

A great night with awesome steaks and some peach cobbler got us ready for some shut-eye. We started our journey at around quarter to six in the morning. We would have started earlier, but a dead battery on the truck slowed us down a bit till a kind family lent P.D. their jumper cables. At the North Rim in the early morning it was more than cold..it was FREAKING COLD. We were glad to get started and warmed up as we descended from over 8200 ft. in elevation down Roaring Springs Canyon following Bright Angel Creek.

Here is looking back up at the North Rim. Long way up there and we are just getting started! Now for a view down Roaring Springs Canyon. The green trees way down there are the first water stop. Come on agua!
Here is a pic of Deb (one of our hiking companions) and P.D. as we work our way down the canyon and the North Kaibab Trail.

P.D. got hung up with a foot problem, so Deb and I took a quick side trip ( that ended up taking about an hour cause the place was so dang COOL!) to Ribbon Falls. Awesome trail that you can climb up to the top of the falls. Thats me way at the top in the red shirt.

Then we decided to take a different trail back to avoid a big hill. We got lucky and found a creek to ford in the process. Oh how nice the cold water felt on our poor feet! Doesn't the water just look delicious!


Several miles later we got to Phantom Ranch, the 15 mile mark. I was too tired and hungry to take any pictures. After refueling, Deb and I continued our trek across the Colorado River. All I can say is deep, wide and COLD!

Then the real fun began. The Bright Angel Trail....not bad up to Indian Gardens, pictured below. You can see the little oasis of green trees with a side trail that goes to a viewpoint. Needless to say, I passed on the viewpoint. I had seen the canyon the whole way along.

The cool thing is if you look at the upper middle of the picture, you can just see Roaring Springs Canyon where we started. I couldn't believe we had come so far! However, the butt kicking was about to begin. Imagine being on a stairmaster for 5 long miles. That is the climb up to the South Rim on the Bright Angel Trail.

I finally boinked at about the 3 mile hut and had to slow down. Deb was still rollin along so she headed on up to meet her husband at the top. Those last 3 miles were a killer, with the sun going down and the dust/wind kicking up. By the last 1.5 miles, it was completely dark except for little headlamp dots along the trail. I finally got some cell service at about the last 1/2 mile and called Sarah for some encouragement and a voice to take my mind off of my pain (pulled ligament in the left foot and a silver dollar sized blister on my right foot thanks to not drying it off good enough after the creek crossing. Thank goodness for moleskin!). Her melodious voice and atta-boy's lifted me up and I finally crossed the South Rim at 7:15 p.m., 13 1/2 hours later.

Jess, Liam and the rest of the Cowand clan were there to greet us with big hugs. Since my ride was still on the trail behind me, we went on a fruitless search for his truck so we could head back to our hotel in Flagstaff. We did find out later that the courier had parked it in some obscure place because there was no parking at the Bright Angel lot. Amongst all the hubub, I snuck away to the lodge and downed a huge cobb salad and a soda. When P.D. and his other buddy rolled over the edge a little while later, we all crammed into their van (he and Jess went back the next morning to find the truck so we could get back to Phoenix...while I laid in bed because I could barely walk!) and finally hit the hotel at about midnight.

Needless to say, an awesome experience, dream come true, and unforgettable time. I would do it again, believe it or not! Thanks P.D. for making it a reality and thanks to the AT Project for their support in helping us with the logistics. Another thanks to Staci and Alex for their hospitality! Finally, a huge thanks to all who participated in helping us raise money for AT Research! GO TEAM LIAM! Now...what are we gonna do NEXT year??