<p>I first have to thank each of you for all of your support and encouragement. It meant so much to me!</p>
<p>Short Report for those who have little time or interest:</p>
<p>The walk down and up went great. My workouts helped a lot.</p>
<p>Long Report for anyone who cares:</p>
<p>We arrived at the rim the day before the Big Hike. Ate lunch at Bright Angel Lodge, then took the shuttle to the various look out points leading to Hermits Rest. At the first shuttle stop there was a huge line so we walked the first .7 mile…the girls protested mightily because they had been promised no hiking that day. At one of the lookout points, we saw the kids’ voice teacher and her family. We always see people we know on vacation.</p>
<p>We checked into the Maswik Lodge. As an aside, let me say that the Xantera Corp, which has the contract to run the GC hotels, restaurants and gift shops, is ripping the American taxpayer off mightily. Food is generally grade school cafeteria quality at very expensive prices, and we paid around $200 per night for a motel room that should go for about $79. I know it’s all in the location, but I feel like writing the National Park Service to tell them to renegotiate the contract.</p>
<p>We got up very early the next morning to be on the shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead at 8. (In the winter, shuttles run at 7, 8 and 9; in the summer they run at 5, 6 and 7). The South Kaibab trail is a very steep 6.4 miles down (another half mile to Phantom Ranch). There are toilets at a couple of places but no water. Everything you read says to go DOWN it, not up, but we passed plenty of folks walking up.</p>
<p>People hike the South Kaibab for the views of the canyon…very expansive. What blew me away was how green it was. You think of brown and red stones when you think of the GC, but lower down it is very green. It took us 6 hours to go down…some folks make it in 2-4 hours. I didn’t think we were hiking particularly slowly…the path varies…lots of gravel, bigger rocks, logs to step on or over. I really don’t see how folks hike quickly and maintain their footing.</p>
<p>We arrived at Phantom Ranch at about 3 pm. When you’re down there, you can’t see “the Grand Canyon”…you’re just in a shady gorge by a creek. We were staying in the bunkhouses…there are two for men and two for women, each housing 10 folks, with one shower, toilet and sink. We all showered (felt so good!!!) and laid down in our bunks for a few minutes.</p>
<p>We got drinks from the cantina and listened to a ranger program, then sat by the creek until it was time to eat. The food was very good - may have been the same “grade school cafeteria” quality about which I complained earlier for all I know - but we were so hungry. (The salad was remarkable, so the food must be a better quality than on the rim.)</p>
<p>After dinner it was dark…the kids went inside. Husband and I looked at the stars for a while but then the bats started swooping a bit low for comfort, so we went to our respective bunkhouses.</p>
<p>Lights were out by 8 pm. It was one of the longest nights of my life. I slept until midnight, then just laid there. I must say that the bunkhouse experience creeped me out a bit…there is someone moving around in the bunk above you, and on two sides of you, but you don’t know them at all. I finally got up and brushed my teeth, etc. (using a flashlight for light) at about 4:15…woke daughters up at about 4:45. D16 amazed me…sitting crosslegged on her bunk with only a flashlight and tiny mirror, she was able to put on her heavy eye makeup perfectly. That dance company experience has served her well.</p>
<p>Breakfast at 5:30 am. The girls were totally packed and ready to go by then…after breakfast, we sat for 40 minutes waiting for the *guys *to get ready. Then…what I had been worrying about for a year…the hike up.</p>
<p>The first 6 miles were great…almost always a stream nearby, nothing very steep. A nice break and lunch at Indian Gardens. Then 4 miles of non-stop switchbacks. The hike between 4 and 2 miles from the rim is where I lost the will to live. It wasn’t so much lack of cardio traning…it was just flat exhaustion, even though we were eating and drinking a lot. The kids zipped along, but Husband and I hiked very slowly. I pictured the treadmill, dialing back the speed from 3 to 2 to 1.5. About two miles from the rim there were still two more miles of switch backs (plus ice plus mud) but at that point it got noticably cooler, so it was easier going.</p>
<p>We made it up in 8 hours…some folks take half that, but I’m pretty proud of the time since they say to allow twice as much time for up as down. One guy jogged all the way down and up in about 6 hours…I notice that those kind of folks are always alone.</p>
<p>We each had a set of hiking poles…we loved those for both down and up. Four of us survived the experience without a blister…Husband wore his 30 year old boots (the kind that are hard leather and weigh about 10 lbs each) and got terrible blisters, despite moleskin and everything else we brought with us. He wore slides the rest of the trip and I persuaded him to leave his boots behind. Our toes survived the hike down quite nicely because I bought lambswool pads that ballerinas wear with their toe shoes.</p>
<p>I was prepared physically. All of your tips were so helpful. I would never ever ever hike it in the summer. When we reached Phantom Rach, it was almost 90…in the summer it’s 120, and no A/C. </p>
<p>At the top we went to the car (wisely parked right at the trail head), changed shoes and had lunch/dinner. It was very hard to walk after sitting for the meal. We checked back into Maswick Lodge. I filled zip lock bags with ice to D’s legs, since she had to dance the next day. The next morning we got up at 3:30 am (on my birthday!) and drove to Phoenix to put D on a plane home for drill team nationals. Her team ended up winning the whole darned thing (highest points of any kind of group) so it was worth the logistical worries. The rest of us spent three nights at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs resort…lots of pool time. We saw the “farewell tour” of *Rent *on Saturday night, which was the trip highlight for Son.</p>
<p>Thanks again, everyone!!!</p>