Hiking Dude Blog

I walked 80000 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 40 miles today.
I found out my pedometer stops counting at 65000 steps in a day so I have to estimate for today.
I started my day feeling great, but bummed that my phone wasn't working. With some water left from yesterday, I started at 6:30. By a bit after 9, I reached my cached water which was 10 miles away. Some people cache water and then leave the empty jug. Seems wrong to me, so I packed mine out.
There was no water available all day until I reached Russell Tank 40 miles from my start point! I can't believe I did 40 miles. I got a couple blisters and my legs are very worn out, but I should be good to go tomorrow. I went this far because I decided to reach the Grand Canyon in 3 days from Flagstaff last night when I saw how far along I was. Tomorrow will be a 31 mile day to make it happen.
While hiking, I was hoping for a small cloud to move under the sunbso I could get some shade - it was HOT today. Well, the cloud grew into a thunderstorm but I only got a little wet.
At Russel Tank, there's actually a trailhead with a very clean, large toilet. Guess where I'm sleeping tonight? It's warm, flat, dry, and no critters. Practically a free hotel.
The trail data said Russell Tank is muddy so I was concerned about getting water. But, it is just fine. The water jug I packed out came in handy to scoop water.
It was a long day of challenges that turned one by one into blessings. I even got to wash up in the pond.

View from the top of the GrandView lookout tower! I climbed to the top but the trapdoor is locked, so it's not QUITE the top.
There's been a swarm of helicoptors heading east, maybe tours or maybe something more serious. I'm heading to Grand Canyon Village now and should get there this evening.
'

I walked 70000 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 35 miles today.
Made it to the South Kaibab trailhead by 6:00 this evening. That is the starting down point for the Grand Canyon. Then I took a free shuttle back to Grand Canyon Village to figure out camping or hotel. The silly GC Visitor Center closes at 5pm - how dumb, so no help there. Finally found Mather campground which is just $6/nite for a tent - cool!
I met two guys, each doing their own bicycle tour around the country - one has been going 11 months, the other 13. Makes my 6 weeks seem paltry.
Today's hike wasn't too excitin, but I did see my first antelope and a bunch of elk. Sprinted (well hobbled) into Tusayan and got a chicken sandwich at McD's. Met a couple cool NPS employees at the park entrance and they said, 'Hey, anyone ever tell you that you look like...'
I said, 'Yep, all the time.'
Met a guy from Michigan, a Bulgarian couple living in Chicao, and a couple from Ontario. I'm getting better at starting conversations with strangers, obviously. :-)
Tomorrow hopefully sees me getting a permit to hike the canyon or else I wait here a day.

So, here I sit at the Backcountry Info office waiting until 8:00 to find out if I can get a permit to camp at Cottonwood campground tonite - it is part way up the north trail. But, if none are available, I met two great guys from Dallas that are camping at Bright Angel campground at the bottom. They have a permit for 3 but one could not make the trip and they'll let me camp with them! Yet another example of wonderful people in the world. I'll let you know.

General Springs snow

I walked 36103 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 14 miles today.
So many things keep coming together and working out on this trip, it's amazing. I got to the Back Country office for a permit so I could camp in the canyon. Everyone I met said I 'might' get one for the next day, but no way for today. A bunch of people didn't show up to get their permits so I DID get one. Not only that, it was for Cottonwood Camp up the north side so it shaved 1200 feet off the next day's climb.
There was a campsite perfect for me.
I got plenty of water - which I didn't have to filter.
I got to rinse off my shirt.
The big rattlesnake some people startled right by my site didn't bite me.
It doesn't take much to make a hiker happy. :-)
The Grand Canyon is much more than you see from the paved paths on the South Rim. An astounding amount of work has gone into the trails and structure. I did finally discover where all the dust from our vacuum cleaner bags goes - they pour it on the South Kaibab trail to make it soft for the mule trains.
This is me on the bridge at the bottom of the canyon. I rocked going down, and then it was HOT at the bottom. I have a parcel of pics I'll post in a bit.

more of the trail

You may remember I was passed by a biker on the trail days ago and he was racing the entire trail. Well, I met another one hiking down into the canyon. His name's Marshal. Since they can't ride through the canyon, they have to 'hike-a-bike' for about 20 miles from the south rim to the north. Marshal was planning to do this in one shot since he didn't have a permit to camp in the canyon.
After passing him, I tried to figure out how I could help. I tries to call the number on my permit to see if I could add a persn - no coverage. I kept my eyes out for a ranger that might change it for me - none around. Finally, when I got to Cottonwood camp, I asked the individual campsites there if they possibly had a permit for more people than were actually in their group - jackpot!
When Marshal drug into camp around 7pm, a spot was open to him and he got to rest before climbing the north rim the next day.
He got an early start but I caught up to him. We talked as we walked which made the hike less arduous, but no less steep. He gave me some 'RockTape' for my sore leg and I eventually moved on ahead. Once the rim top was reached and he could ride, he overtook me on the way to Jacob Lake where he decided to spend the night in a hotel.
How do I know? Well, I hitch hiked and got a ride and bummed his spare bed! More about all that next.

I walked 44426 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 27 miles today.
After a very warm night down in the canyon, I hiked out the north rim. Simply spectacular scenery the entire way. The trail was terrific and the hike went quickly even though my left leg is nearly shot.
On the north Kaibab, there is usually still snow this time of year. There's less this year, so I took off on the trail - immediately hitting some drifts. To get water, I dropped off the trail to the road where there was a small lake. That's when Marshal, the biker, caught up to me so it was fortunate I did that bit of road walk. I rejoined the trail at the Natl Park entry station, heading east back into the forest. Immediately, I hit more snow and saw only 1 set of footprints through it. I followed for almost 3 miles over mostly clear ground but some knee-plus deep drifts.
If it was sunny weather, I would have continued but it was sprinkling all day, temp dropping, and forecast of fairly severe storm coming. With no GPS, I knew I couldn't follow the trail the next day if it snowed. Being a wimp and opting for safety, I bailed off the trail and walked 10 miles down some forest roads to the main Hwy 67. I walked it for a few miles until a couple guys doing work on the rim stopped and gave me a ride to Jacob Lake. They were 2 Navajo men heading home to NM and were great to stop and help a stranger. Thanks, guys!
So, when I got to Jacob Lake, I phoned Marshal from the lobby, got a burger dinner, and then a great bed and shower.
All in all, not a bad day even though I will not hike the whole trail due to snow. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Here at the Jacob Lake Inn, I've met a few of the nicest young folks on my hike. It's a small and comfortable inn with souvenir shop, small 'junk food' store, and fun diner area.
Jake was handling the diner when I came in. I sat as far from everyone else as I could since I hadn't showered. ;-)
Jake was friendly, efficient, and extremely helpful. He's a college student in Idaho. The food was good, especially the chocolate shake.
Walt does registrations and (as far as I can tell) pretty much everything else as needed. I've never met anyone as conscientious, carrying for the comfort of others, and seeming to enjoy their job as Walt. His fast smile is contagious and his efforts to make everyone welcome is admirable. He got weather forecast info, showed me the way to a local lookout tower, and even insisted I use his personal cellphone to call home when mine had no coverage.
A couple girls working here seemed just as good as Walt and Jake, but I didn't really talk with them.
A funny thing - these guys have just started working here as summer jobs so they are still learning. When I ordered my shake, neither Jake nor Walt knew how to run the shake machine so they got another buddy to do it. I have to say, it was one of the best chocolate shakes I've had. Thanks, guys!