"Highway to the danger zone..."

Day 24

Grand Canyon National Park in Tusayan, AZ to Sedona, AZ  (114 miles, 4,265 total) 

Hopeful to (finally!) land a picturesque sunrise, I crawled out of bed well before 7 and made my way to The Rim in the frigid early morning temperatures. Though an icy wind assaulted my face and numbed my fingers, the vibrant spectrum that gradually crept across the canyon walls made the harsh conditions a price I was happy to pay.

With an uncharacteristically short drive to our next destination ahead of us, we decided to spend a bit more time in the Grand Canyon and take in another hike. Still heady from my previous day's success, I agreed to venture along a stretch of the more challenging Kaibab Trail (which Jon insisted upon calling the Kebab Trail, as though he expected to be rewarded at the end of the hike with a falafel). I quickly discovered that this was no Bright Angel.

The morning's winds grew stronger and the temperature dropped as the skies turned overcast. I was bundled up like the kid brother from A Christmas Story as we set off. Almost immediately upon leaving the trailhead, there was a sharp drop and I knew that this would be a much longer day. My knees knew it too.

It was a beautiful hike but, as the storm clouds rolled through and it became abundantly clear that some seriously bad weather was heading our way, we decided to turn around just two hours into our descent. Our trip back up to The Rim was not an easy one. As we raced to beat the rain that grew ever nearer, our faces felt as though they were being sandblasted by the wind-whipped dirt.

Half-way back, we encountered a cluster of people, carrying another hiker who had collapsed along the trail. Like the person we'd seen struggling mightily on the prior day's hike, this was another athletic-looking, thirtysomething man who had turned the most awful shade of blue. Clearly, the warnings along the route were not to be taken lightly. 

Nervous about overdoing it but equally concerned about the safety of the trail in the imminent downpour, we pushed ourselves as hard as our legs could support and made it back to the top with only a few minutes to spare.

Warm and dry inside the rig, we set off for Sedona, just a few short hours south. When we arrived at our new home for the next few days, it became obvious that we'd brought the bad weather with us from the Grand Canyon.