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Showing posts from December, 2013

Grand Canyon: Day 3

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I wake up at 7am. Even though I spent many hours in bed, once again I didn't sleep very well and feel very tired in the morning. On autopilot I go, eat breakfast, check out and head towards the park. It's my last day. Originally the plan was to just do some hiking along the rim and then head back to Las Vegas to catch my return flight. But I did part of the rim trail the day before and with the ever present fog it just isn't much fun. However, I did not manage to do the Grandview trail yesterday so that is where I'm headed now. The fog is of course there, although today it’s slightly below the rim, so one can see a Grand Canyon's worth of fog with bits and pieces of rocks protruding here and there (photo to the right). It feels like being on a plane, flying above the clouds. I snap a few pictures and get ready to start down the Grandview trail. The previous night I read that it's a much wilder trail than those I did on two previous days and that one should

Grand Canyon: Day 2

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The previous day was really tiring and when the alarm went off I just couldn't help it and snoozed it... for another hour. Being that tired I expected to sleep like a baby, but it wasn't really the case. Not sure whether it was noisy neighbors or the room being too warm but I spent the night tossing and turning and not getting as much rest as I was hoping for. My original plan for the day was to drive to the Havasu Falls . The reviews I read of that place were promising it to be one of the best sights around. It also featured on Roadtripper's 5 Must See views around the Grand Canyon (click through for some truly stunning photos). Apart from the obvious desire to see this place, I thought it was a great plan as going there would mean quite a bit of driving, but hence less walking and I thought my injured knee could use some time to recover. But the little research I did indicated that this may be too ambitious plan for a day so I decided to double check in the Visitor&#

Grand Canyon: Day 1

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Thanksgiving equals 4 days off work equals an amazing opportunity to do some sightseeing! Last year that's how I saw Yosemite and this year it was time for Grand Canyon. I had a morning flight from San Francisco to Las Vegas, where I rented a car (I got a free upgrade for a convertible 8^) and then a not-so-short ride to the Canyon. Initially I was hoping to do some sightseeing still on that day, but that turned out totally unrealistic. I was thinking of at least seeing the Grand Canyon Skywalk on the way, but I’m glad I didn’t even try. The drive from Vegas is a long one; I left around 1pm and by the time I got there it was totally dark. All I did was to grab some Thanksgiving buffet dinner at the hotel (not too great) and hop to bed. The plan was to get up and start very early on the following day. It kinda worked. I was up at 6:45am, although I could have easily used some more sleep. Instead I grabbed some breakfast and, still half asleep, was on my way to the park. My fi

Confessions of an ultra runner.

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This post is almost 3 weeks overdue and will talk about my state of mind as it was 3 weeks ago. But let me start with a greeting. Hi, I'm Adam and I'm a running addict. Let me explain. It was the weekend. Barely one week after my 100-mile attempt at Chimera . I was a wreck. My busted knee was hurting. I lost two toenails. And my feet were a total mess. So much so that I could only walk on the edges of my feet (I kid you not), which looked kinda funny. Or not. You see, the amazingly kind lady that taped my blistered feet during the race warned me that this tape is no joke and that it may help me finish the race but removing it afterwards is not going to be pretty. It wasn't. Together with the tape I lost substantial amount of skin from the soles of my feet. Resulting in two gaping holes. I was even contemplating taking a photo and putting it on the blog but then realized that it was too gross even for my wrecked standards. And yet what was I doing on that weekend? No, no