Grand Canyon: Day 1

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 first stop was at the Visitor’s Center where I gathered some intel. In general park authorities strongly advise against trying to go all the way down to the Colorado river and back in one day. The lady I talked with did not seem to be too concerned about that (it was winter, it’s much more risky in the summer), but she thought it was too late -- it was after 9am -- and that I should probably not do it on that day. That didn’t sit very well with my plans so I decided to try anyway. If I saw I was progressing too slowly I could always turn around early.

Down the South Kaibab trail

After a short bus ride I was at the head of the South Kaibab trail. The Canyon was covered in fog as you can see on the first photo above.

At first I started jogging but the trail was steep and technical so soon I switched to a fast march. When I reached the "Ooh Aah" point I still could not see anything due to the fog, but shortly it cleared and the Canyon revealed itself in all its glory. What a sight!

Up the Bright Angel trail

I was moving at a decent pace and it seemed going to the river and back should not be a problem. I reached the river and started my way back along the Bright Angel trail, which was longer but supposedly less steep.

One of the highlights was reaching the Indian garden (photo on the right), an unexpected oasis full of life and colors.

By that time my knee started to hurt again (an after effect of the Chimera 100 miler) and I was faced with a dilemma. I was doing a good time and was hoping to make a 5km detour to the plateau point, which promised a great overlook of the river down below. However, extra 5 kilometers with a slight pain in the knee was not to be taken lightly.

Eventually I decided to try. And I'm glad I did. The view was pretty spectacular and the photo below really does not do it justice.

From then on it was just a grueling climb back to the top. Even though the knee was slowing me down somewhat, I finished well before the sunset. Although it ended just being a hike, not a run, I did a total of 32km and almost 2000m of elevation gain, managing to go all the way to the river and back; not too bad. I grabbed some quick dinner and went to bed to get some rest before the following two days of this adventure.

(Click for some Photo highlights from day 1; click 'All photos' for even more)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Budapest, marathon

Image
2/10/2011 marathon Budapest, Hungary 3:25:51 4:53 min/km 165 hrm 256/2990 (8.6%) That was supposed to be my 10th marathon. And my hopes (as usually) were high :). I wouldn't settle for anything less than a new PB... It didn't start so well. I arrived to Budapest on Friday and it was really hot. I mean, like summer hot. And when I arrived to the hotel it only got worse -- the room was sooo bloody hot; it was like an oven! Now that I think about it I should have tried to change rooms. I didn't. And I payed for it dearly as I hardly got any sleep that night. Next day -- business as usual, picking up the starting number, working out the logistics, stuffing oneself with pasta... and trying to go to bed early. Thankfully it kinda worked and I even managed to get a decent night of sleep. The race was starting at 10 so I woke up, ate breakfast and got myself to the starting line without too much hurry. The starting sections were for the grabs, that is one ...
Read more

Week 19 & 20, 2012

No activity week, followed by the best week ever Cannot display training data. If you're viewing it in an RSS feeder (such as Google Reader) you'll need to open the original post to see it. This was a crappy week; I was in Portugal and didn't feel much like running. I only went for one run on Friday. If you look at my speed during this training you may think I was out for a walk. Not so. I don't know good places for running around Braga, so usually I end up going up the Bom Jesus hill ; and that's a hell of a hill to climb. During this session I did a total ascent of 560m; and such an ascent can do that to your pace! Cannot display training data. If you're viewing it in an RSS feeder (such as Google Reader) you'll need to open the original post to see it. The following week I decided to step up my game. On Monday I again attacked Bom Jesus, but this time with a twist. I would go 4 minutes uphill and then back up and go down for 1 minute. That means that ...
Read more

My goals for... the lifetime.

Image
The other day I was thinking about my running goals for the next year (completing a milestone event such as the Lakeland 50 often does that to me ;) and then I though that it would actually be nice to put it in the perspective and first come up with goals for the lifetime. Things I would like to achieve sport-wise before my expiration date. Quite a biggie. So without further ado, let me outline them and then I'll talk a bit more about each one of them. Qualify for and run in the Boston marathon . Complete in a good time a demanding trail ultramarathon. Complete an Ironman Triathlon (for those in the dark: 3.86km swim + 180km bike ride + 42.2km run) I have no illusion, those are all grand goals and each one of them would require total dedication and a lot of training (possibly over some years) to complete; and even then there is no guarantee of success. But, hey, as they say: Better shoot for the sky... . Anyway. Let me elaborate on those goals. Qualify for and run in the ...
Read more