Grand Canyon rim to rim - sort of

Our varsity and venture scouts left on Memorial Day to backpack through the Grand Canyon. They started on the North rim and planned on exiting the South on Friday morning. They needed someone to shuttle cars and I volunteered for a couple of reasons. I'm not in the YM anymore, but I still had some priests on the trip, and ever since I had some friends do this in high school, I've wanted to. So on Thursday I left with a neighbor and drove to the north rim, picked up two cars and drove to the south to leave the cars. He couldn't hike, so he stayed and waited for them to come up the next day. I had a pair of shoes to deliver to a friend who had busted through his, so I went down 5 miles and met them at Indian Garden campground for their last night. I got in about 7:30 and was supremely confident that I would be able to keep up my 3 mile an hour pace for the remaining 19 miles, so I predicted I would be done in about 7 more hours of hiking. Shows you how dumb I am. I failed to respect the fact that in the last 6 miles of the hike, you gain 6200 feet. Because I was packing light, I only took a solar blanket to sleep in that night. It was so loud I kept up the other leader next to me all night. I really am dumb. It rained for a couple of hours as well, so by about 3:00 I was ready to abandon my plans to leave around 5:00, so I just took off about 3:30 - alone (you people that abandoned me - you know who you are). It was actually a magnificent experience, and whoever came up with the especially creative name 'Grand Canyon' was really on to something. The climb up the North rim was brutal and seemed to go on forever, but I made it out safe and sound at 12:30 - thinking that I'd never do that again. But actually - if anybody wants to - just let me know. A few things: 1- Mule urine really really stinks 2-I met a hermit with no teeth that lives at ribbon falls for weeks at a time, hiding from the rangers 3-I met the funniest German couple with twin 5 year old boys 4-I met an even funnier English chap 5-I met a couple from Price that I had never met before - in the bottom of the Grand Canyon 6-Mule urine really stinks. Thanks to M for letting me take off for a few days to do this.

All fat and happy Thursday evening on the South rim.

Rim to rim to rim runners leave at like 2 in the morning and run down this. I would break my leg four times in the first mile.

Black long sleeve shirt, black vest. Stay classy.Colorado river.

I cannot take artsy photos.

Coming down

Warning - do not do what you are about to do.

Going up.Ribbon falls
The post-mortem