A little after 8, we started the journey. the descent down bright angel was incredibly fun, incredible views and a very runnable grade, nothing technical, all dirt, and temps in the 40s to start. My legs were anxious to let it go a bit on the descent. i rolled with it for a bit before i started to have some stomach discomfort. At which time i dialed things back a bit, and paused periodically to take some photos of the group and views along the way.
between the stops to regroup, take photos and enjoy the views, we were moving along at a leisurely pace, everyone stayed pretty well together down to Indian gardens, at which point some of us opted to stretch our legs and press on to the river crossing before regrouping.
By this point it was starting to heat up a bit and time to shed some clothing and take in some calories. we spent a good bit of time here before moving on to ribbon falls. Mindy, Tyler, and i started the gradual climb to the falls a bit ahead of the rest of the group. after 5 minutes or so, my calves tightened up pretty good, causing some tingling in both feet, and relegating things to a pretty mellow pace for the 6ish miles to the falls.
Victor caught up to us about 2 miles before the falls, and proceeded to pass and cruise ahead to the falls turn off. By now, my pack had rubbed my back pretty good in a few spots, causing a bit of discomfort. i opted to put my shirt back on and try to mitigate the rubbing going forward.
We sat back and relaxed for a bit as the rest of the group trickled in before heading over to the falls. The falls are pretty incredible, some very vivid greens to contrast the browns and reds of the canyon. we spent close to 1 hour down here relaxing in the falls, eating, and just enjoying the warmth and beauty before heading back towards phantom ranch and our last stop before climbing out of the canyon.
Dave, Stacia, Deborah, and Tyler started back a little ahead of the rest of us. When Victor, Tom, Mindy, and i started towards phantom ranch, we were moving pretty good. it wasn't long before my stomach was grumbling again, and i had to take a bathroom break. That helped immensely, and i was promptly back on track chasing Victor, Tom, and Mindy. It took a couple miles before i caught any glimpses of them. Once i did, i started to press a little more, and passed, Dave, Mindy, and Tom feeling pretty good. I could see Victor ahead holding steady, and eventually pulling away. about 1 mile out of phantom ranch, as i was getting pretty uncomfortable and starting to slow, i caught sight of Deborah, and that little spark that's been building inside me burned a little brighter. i continued pressing the upper edge of discomfort and closing the gap.
with about 1/4 mile to go, i caught Deborah and cruised into phantom ranch with her. Victor was waiting outside, while Tyler and Stacia were inside. i proceed to take off my pack and lay down to relax for a bit while the rest of the group trickled in. Tom and Mindy came in together, followed closely by Dave, Mario, Alfredo and Steve, Andrew, and Whitney. We hung out at phantom ranch for a bit, again eating, drinking, and being merry in general.
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| someday i may figure out milk doesn't do well on long runs |
Several of the group were pretty anxious to get after the climb out and headed out early, the rest of us were pretty content to hike out of the canyon and enjoy the views. The climb out took a good bit of time and energy. We stopped periodically to enjoy the views and rest briefly. Near the beginning of the climb, we were greeted by a big horn sheep coming down the trail.
several of us were pretty humbled by the climb out and would have been happy for it to have been over much sooner. As usual, groups formed on the climb and everyone had some support to help them through the difficult spots. And of course Victor perpetually reminding "we don't have race numbers, don't lose sight of the purpose, look at the views".
the abbreviated trek is significantly easier than the full rim to rim to rim, though every bit as spectacular. once again a great day with a great group of people. Lesson learned, shirts are good to avoid chafing from the pack:
Garmin Data
full collection of photos on photo-op.smugmug.com
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