Manhattan’s Broadway is called the “canyon of heroes”, because it hosts parades honoring victorious sports teams and other celebrities from around the world. I walk down Broadway every morning from the subway to my office. Recently a trash can appeared there featuring an ad for a more spectacular canyon. Since I was already planning a trip to the Grand Canyon, this daily reminder never failed to lift my mood.
Technically, our Grand Canyon trip wasn’t a dayhike, because the three day agenda included camping. I call our expedition “almost rim-to-rim” because we did get down to the Colorado River, but we emerged on the same (south) rim. The camping part sounds a little more hardcore than it is: we used an outfitting company to carry the camping gear on mules, but we did get ourselves in and out on foot, carrying daypacks for personal items. If you’d like to sign up for this trip, you can find details at Wildland Trekking.
We had an appointment to meet our group the evening before we headed in. Since we had several free hours before the meeting, we walked around the Rim Trail. The weather was colder than we expected, it drizzled on us, there were way too many tourists. These are all quibbles, though. The Canyon is every bit as spectacular as it is reputed to be. We’ve been there before, and it still amazes.
Besides the Rim Trail, we also went to the Geology Museum, which perches on the rim with panoramic views. There is also a nice History Museum in the Bright Angel Hotel, focusing on the original native inhabitants and the people responsible for this park, national parks generally, and the architecture of the buildings in the park. Nearby is a gallery featuring the work of the Kolb Brothers, early photographers of the park. All recommended.
We met our group. Besides me and Marcy, there was our guide from Wildland and three people from Calgary, Alberta. We exchanged gear with the guide (giving the clothes we wanted taken to the campsite, and receiving backpacks and trekking poles), went over a few details, and agreed to meet at 6:30 the next morning.
Daring Dayhikes 