Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim Backpacking Day1 and 2

2015 thanksgiving week, we went backpacking in Grand Canyon. The rim to rim to rim backpacking was epic. 

Friday after work, Mr.N and I went to Mr.S1's house, because we planned to leave the Bay Area at 4 a.m. Mr.S1's house was very nice and there was a guest room with a nice bed. Actually it was much more comfortable than my futon.

We got up at 3:15 a.m. Saturday and hit the road at 4:15 a.m. We picked up Mr.S2 and put all the big backpacks on the roof. After we started driving, straps of the backpacking made noises as if it was raining.

I was busy finishing all my experiments before the trip, so I didn't really have time to get excited. Usually packing for the trip is somewhat fun, but I was in a rush packing on Thursday night, so it was a little stressful. Even after we started driving, I was thinking, "Is this really happening? Are we really going to the Grand Canyon?" I also felt like I forgot to bring something important. 

Kelso Dunes

On the way, we stopped by Kelso Dunes in the Mojave National Preserve. When I saw the dunes all of a sudden, I finally realized that this road trip was really happening and I was in the middle of the trip. It reminded me of school camping trips. I was weird enough not to able to get really excited like other kids before trips, but I would start enjoying the trip half a day after starting trips.

The view at the dunes was stunning. The dunes were surrounded by mountains and plain land. The huge amount of sands was gathered in a small area. It was quite different from any other views nearby, so the dunes looked lonely and aloof. The sands piled up over the past 25,000 years. It was fun climbing the dunes. We saw the trace of rattlesnakes a lot.

Then we went to the campground on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was around 10 p.m. It was very cold, so we pitched tents quickly and went straight to bed straight.

I couldn't sleep well at night because it was too cold. However, I couldn't get out of my tent either in the morning because it was again too cold. Finally I went outside at 7:30 a.m. 3 of us were ready to go to the trailhead by 9:30 a.m. but we realized that Mr.S2 was still in the tent. He woke up after we were ready, so the 3 of us went to the Visitor center and learned about the canyon formation. Then finally the 4 of us started hiking at 11 a.m.

South Rim

The view was gorgeous. I couldn't help but take a moment to appreciate the raw beauty of this natural place--what a wonderful place. The first part was really steep and icy, so we needed to be careful. Since I didn't bring crampons, I had to walk slowly. Actually dried feces from mules were on top of the ice and stepping on them allowed me to not slip on the ice. So I made the unsavory decision to step on the crap. To make myself feel better about this, I thought, "I will be in the wilderness for the next five days, who cares?" This day was all downhill hiking, and we descended all the way to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

The canyon is giant and I am small....as we got to the bottom, I got the feeling of being so small in such a vast space. 

Late afternoon we arrived at the Bright Angel campground. It was nice to spend a night in the inner canyon. I wish I could describe well how big the canyon is in reality, because pictures don’t show the actual size.

This campground was interesting.

When we saw a park ranger at the campground, she gave us tips for hiking in the Grand Canyon. She was very friendly and nice. She asked Mr.N, "Is this a commercial trip?" Mr.N answered, "No it’s a friends trip." It was the second time Mr.N was mistaken for our guide. Back in August in an entirely different place, a random chatty hiker thought that Mr.N was our guide. Mr.S2 hypothesized that it was because Mr.S1, Mr.S2, and I didn’t look like Americans.

At Bright Angel campground, there was a restroom. Surprisingly, it was a normal flushing toilet. However, in winter water was not running in the restroom. Users had to manually pour water from a bucket. The timing to flush was also tricky and needed skill. They then had to go to get water for the next person. The bucket was full of water, so it was very heavy. Because of carrying and pouring, the floor was all wet. In addition to that, a door of one of the two stalls was broken (women’s room). There was a curtain instead of a door, but the curtain only moved half way. So basically, there was no privacy. Unfortunately, the stall with the curtain was closer to the entrance, so people had to pass the stall to go to the stall with a door. This was an annoying bathroom. After I went to the stall with a door, I went to bed. It was always nice to sleep near the stream. Good music.